IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jouret/v99y2023i2p228-246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multiple psychological climates and employee self-regulatory focus: Implications for frontline employee work behavior and service performance

Author

Listed:
  • Sok, Keo Mony
  • Danaher, Tracey S.
  • Sok, Phyra

Abstract

Frontline employees (FLEs) play a critical role in shaping customer experiences and purchase intentions in retail settings. Yet not all FLEs display the same work behaviors or motivational tendencies. Adopting person-environment fit theory, this research investigates whether multiple work climates can coexist within a workplace to support FLEs with different work behaviors. Using multisource data from 285 FLEs and 31 supervisors in the retail banking sector, this study examines whether a quality-focused climate and an initiative-focused climate positively influence FLE service performance via different FLE behaviors. It also examines the moderating effect of FLE self-regulatory focus on the relationship between work climate and FLE behaviors. The results demonstrate that when FLEs are willing to innovate and take risks, a work climate that supports initiative-taking will encourage them to go beyond prescribed job roles to satisfy customer needs. In contrast, when FLEs seek to minimize or avoid risks, a work climate that reinforces rule adherence will support them in using standardized procedures to satisfy customer needs. Managers should not assume that one climate fits all or that one climate is better than the other as this study shows that a quality-focused and an initiative-focused climate can operate in tandem to enhance FLE service performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sok, Keo Mony & Danaher, Tracey S. & Sok, Phyra, 2023. "Multiple psychological climates and employee self-regulatory focus: Implications for frontline employee work behavior and service performance," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 228-246.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:99:y:2023:i:2:p:228-246
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2023.03.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435923000131
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretai.2023.03.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kang, Jae Hyeung & Matusik, James G. & Kim, Tae-Yeol & Phillips, J. Mark, 2016. "Interactive effects of multiple organizational climates on employee innovative behavior in entrepreneurial firms: A cross-level investigation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 628-642.
    2. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Cao, Xinyu, 2008. "Examining the impacts of residential self-selection on travel behavior: A focus on methodologies," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 204-228, March.
    3. Oliver J. Rutz & George F. Watson, 2019. "Endogeneity and marketing strategy research: an overview," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 479-498, May.
    4. Bryan W. Hochstein & William J. Zahn & Willy Bolander, 2017. "Exploring the unintended negative impact of an ethical climate in competitive environments," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 621-635, December.
    5. Fred Miao & Yi Zheng & Zhimei Zang & Douglas B. Grisaffe & Kenneth Evans, 2022. "Managing differential effects of salespersons’ regulatory foci–a dual process model of dominant and supplemental pathways," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 563-585, May.
    6. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jung, Jin Ho & Brown, Tom J. & Zablah, Alex R., 2022. "How Customer Requests Influence Frontline Employee Job Outcomes: The Role of Personal Appraisal Tendencies and Situational Customer Demandingness," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 315-334.
    8. Brockner, Joel & Higgins, E. Tory & Low, Murray B., 2004. "Regulatory focus theory and the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 203-220, March.
    9. Gino, Francesca & Margolis, Joshua D., 2011. "Bringing ethics into focus: How regulatory focus and risk preferences influence (Un)ethical behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 145-156, July.
    10. Sande, Jon Bingen & Ghosh, Mrinal, 2018. "Endogeneity in survey research," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 185-204.
    11. Sungho Park & Sachin Gupta, 2012. "Handling Endogenous Regressors by Joint Estimation Using Copulas," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 567-586, July.
    12. Dominik M. Wielgos & Christian Homburg & Christina Kuehnl, 2021. "Digital business capability: its impact on firm and customer performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 762-789, July.
    13. Sacramento, Claudia A. & Fay, Doris & West, Michael A., 2013. "Workplace duties or opportunities? Challenge stressors, regulatory focus, and creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 141-157.
    14. Edwards, Jeffrey R. & Rothbard, Nancy P., 1999. "Work and Family Stress and Well-Being: An Examination of Person-Environment Fit in the Work and Family Domains," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 85-129, February.
    15. Hughes, Douglas E. & Richards, Keith A. & Calantone, Roger & Baldus, Brian & Spreng, Richard A., 2019. "Driving In-Role and Extra-Role Brand Performance among Retail Frontline Salespeople: Antecedents and the Moderating Role of Customer Orientation," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 130-143.
    16. Sok, Phyra & Danaher, Tracey S. & Sok, Keo Mony, 2021. "Matching the Personal Initiative Capabilities of FLEs to Their Self-Regulatory Processes and the Firm's Initiative Climate," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 319-335.
    17. John Hulland & Hans Baumgartner & Keith Marion Smith, 2018. "Marketing survey research best practices: evidence and recommendations from a review of JAMS articles," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 92-108, January.
    18. Mathys, Juliane & Burmester, Alexa B. & Clement, Michel, 2016. "What drives the market popularity of celebrities? A longitudinal analysis of consumer interest in film stars," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 428-448.
    19. Patrick F. McKay & Derek R. Avery & Hui Liao & Mark A. Morris, 2011. "Does Diversity Climate Lead to Customer Satisfaction? It Depends on the Service Climate and Business Unit Demography," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 788-803, June.
    20. Hochstein, Bryan & Bolander, Willy & Christenson, Brett & Pratt, Alexander B. & Reynolds, Kristy, 2021. "An Investigation of Consumer Subjective Knowledge in Frontline Interactions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 336-346.
    21. Bulent Menguc & Seigyoung Auh & Volkan Yeniaras & Constantine S. Katsikeas, 2017. "The role of climate: implications for service employee engagement and customer service performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 428-451, May.
    22. Holmqvist, Jonas & Van Vaerenbergh, Yves & Lunardo, Renaud & Dahlén, Micael, 2019. "The Language Backfire Effect: How Frontline Employees Decrease Customer Satisfaction through Language Use," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 115-129.
    23. Kumar, V. & Karande, Kiran, 2000. "The Effect of Retail Store Environment on Retailer Performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 167-181, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bombaij, Nick, 2021. "Effectiveness of loyalty programs," Other publications TiSEM 095c506d-5b5c-4ea3-9b41-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Christian Homburg & Moritz Tischer, 2023. "Customer journey management capability in business-to-business markets: Its bright and dark sides and overall impact on firm performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 1046-1074, September.
    3. Ruan, Yanya & Mezei, József, 2022. "When do AI chatbots lead to higher customer satisfaction than human frontline employees in online shopping assistance? Considering product attribute type," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Bombaij, Nick J.F. & Dekimpe, Marnik G., 2020. "When do loyalty programs work? The moderating role of design, retailer-strategy, and country characteristics," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 175-195.
    5. Jan-Michael Becker & Dorian Proksch & Christian M. Ringle, 2022. "Revisiting Gaussian copulas to handle endogenous regressors," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 46-66, January.
    6. Son K. Lam & Thomas E. DeCarlo & Ashish Sharma, 2019. "Salesperson ambidexterity in customer engagement: do customer base characteristics matter?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 659-680, July.
    7. Mei, Maggie Qiuzhu & Wang, Le & Yan, Jie, 2023. "Maintaining product quality consistency when offshoring to emerging markets: The role of subsidiary control," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    8. Dominik M. Wielgos & Christian Homburg & Christina Kuehnl, 2021. "Digital business capability: its impact on firm and customer performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 762-789, July.
    9. Aydinli, Aylin & Lamey, Lien & Millet, Kobe & ter Braak, Anne & Vuegen, Maya, 2021. "How Do Customers Alter Their Basket Composition When They Perceive the Retail Store to Be Crowded? An Empirical Study," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 207-216.
    10. Surajit Bag & Shivam Gupta & Ajay Kumar & Uthayasankar Sivarajah, 2021. "An integrated artificial intelligence framework for knowledge creation and B2B marketing rational decision making for improving firm performance," Post-Print hal-03188195, HAL.
    11. Sarker, Moniruzzaman & Mohd-Any, Amrul Asraf & Kamarulzaman, Yusniza, 2021. "Validating a consumer-based service brand equity (CBSBE) model in the airline industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    12. Good, Megan C. & Schwepker, Charles H., 2022. "Business-to-business salespeople and political skill: Relationship building, deviance, and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 32-43.
    13. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    14. De Bruyn, Arnaud & Viswanathan, Vijay & Beh, Yean Shan & Brock, Jürgen Kai-Uwe & von Wangenheim, Florian, 2020. "Artificial Intelligence and Marketing: Pitfalls and Opportunities," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 91-105.
    15. Inge Geyskens & Barbara Deleersnyder & Marnik G. Dekimpe & Didi Lin, 2024. "Do consumers benefit from national-brand listings by hard discounters?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 97-118, January.
    16. Wenjing Li & Xuhui Wang & Md Jamirul Haque & Muhammad Noman Shafique & Muhammad Zahid Nawaz, 2020. "Impact of Workforce Diversity Management on Employees’ Outcomes: Testing the Mediating Role of a person’s Job Match," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    17. Ghasem Zaefarian & Matthew J. Robson & Zhaleh Najafi-Tavani & Stavroula Spyropoulou, 2023. "Relationships of stressors and opportunism in cross-border exchange partnership contexts: When and how monitoring matters," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(3), pages 441-475, April.
    18. Hossain, Md Afnan & Akter, Shahriar & Yanamandram, Venkata, 2021. "Why doesn't our value creation payoff: Unpacking customer analytics-driven value creation capability to sustain competitive advantage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 287-296.
    19. Lim, Xin-Jean & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Ngo, Liem Viet & Chan, Kara & Ting, Hiram, 2023. "How do crazy rich Asians perceive sustainable luxury? Investigating the determinants of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Selma Kadic-Maglajlic & Claude Obadia & Irena Vida & Matthew J. Robson, 2023. "Moral Categorization of Opportunists in Cross-Border Interfirm Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 221-238, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:99:y:2023:i:2:p:228-246. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.