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Explicating customer orientation'sinfluence on frontline employeesatisfactionElten Briggsa, Fernando Jaramilloa & Fabrizio Noboab

a The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19469, Arlington, TX76019-0469, USAb Universidad San Francisco de Quito, USFQ Business School, Diegode Robles y Vía Interoceánica, Quito, EcuadorPublished online: 18 Dec 2014.

To cite this article: Elten Briggs, Fernando Jaramillo & Fabrizio Noboa (2015) Explicating customerorientation's influence on frontline employee satisfaction, The Service Industries Journal, 35:3,133-151, DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2014.990004

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Explicating customer orientation’s influence on frontline employeesatisfaction

Elten Briggsa∗, Fernando Jaramilloa and Fabrizio Noboab

aThe University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19469, Arlington, TX 76019-0469, USA; bUniversidadSan Francisco de Quito, USFQ Business School, Diego de Robles y Vıa Interoceanica, Quito,

Ecuador

(Received 30 March 2014; accepted 30 July 2014)

This study examines how conflict and hours worked affect the influence of customerorientation on frontline service employee satisfaction. The conceptual model buildsupon the role of personal resources in the job demands-resource model, whileintegrating perspectives from the work–family conflict (WFC) literature andconservation of resources theory. Results indicate that customer orientationinfluences employee satisfaction both directly and indirectly through interpersonalconflict with customers (ICC), WFC, and felt stress. The impact of ICC onemployee satisfaction was found to be fully rather than partially mediated. ICCincreases WFC which then augments job stress and eventually reduces jobsatisfaction. Moderation analyses show that the negative influence of customerorientation on ICC becomes stronger as hours worked increase to exceptionally highlevels; while the positive influence of customer orientation on employee satisfactionbecomes weaker as hours worked increase to exceptionally high levels. These resultssupport the importance of customer orientation and imply that service managersshould be especially cautious not to overwork these employees, in order to keepthem happy and motivated.

Keywords: interpersonal conflict; work–family conflict; felt stress; hours worked;employee satisfaction

Introduction

It is well accepted that customer orientation is desirable as a key component of a broader

firm market orientation (Saxe & Weitz, 1982). Customer orientation is especially appli-

cable to frontline service employees, who interact with customers as their primary job

function. Much of the research involving the customer orientation of service employees

confirms its positive influences on customer outcomes such as loyalty and satisfaction

(Dean, 2007; Hennig-Thurau, 2004). The business impact of these kinds of outcomes is

clear, as they relate to firms’ bottom line. Importantly, another stream of research has con-

sidered how customer orientation can personally influence service employees and their

satisfaction with work (Babakus, Yavas, & Ashill, 2011; Donavan, Brown, & Mowen,

2004; Zablah, Franke, Brown, & Bartholomew, 2012). In this paper, we build on this

latter stream of research by drawing on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory (Bakker

& Demerouti, 2007), work–family conflict (WFC) research (Judge & Colquitt, 2004),

# 2014 Taylor & Francis

∗Corresponding author. Email: ebriggs@uta.edu

The Service Industries Journal, 2015

Vol. 35, No. 3, 133–151, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2014.990004

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and conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 2002). We uncover additional

mechanisms that determine how the customer orientation of frontline service personnel

ultimately impacts their employee satisfaction.

JD-R models generally contend that job and personal resources increase employee

motivation and engagement, while job demands increase stress and strain (Bakker &

Demerouti, 2007; Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2007). However,

there is some debate on how resources and demands collectively function to influence out-

comes in the JD-R model (Van Vegchel, De Jonge, & Landsbergis, 2005). Unlike prior

research in the area, this study examines the potential for causal relationships to exist

between the employees’ personal resources (i.e. customer orientation) and their job

demands (i.e. customer conflict). Next, drawing on the WFC literature, we examine poten-

tial spillover effects (i.e. from work to home and from home to work), which ultimately

create an indirect path between customer orientation and satisfaction. Finally, drawing

on COR theory, this study examines the role of hours worked by frontline employees as

an important moderator of customer orientation outcomes. Compared to JD-R, COR

theory is more interested in the actual state of individuals’ resources, so research building

on this theory generally examines resource protection, acquisition, or utilization (Brother-

idge & Lee, 2002; Hobfoll, 2002). In the present study, hours worked is used to reflect

service employees’ utilization of their customer orientation resource.

The conceptual model (Figure 1) proposes that customer orientation influences

employee satisfaction directly and indirectly through interpersonal conflict with customers

(ICC), WFC, and felt stress. The direct influences of customer orientation are proposed to

be moderated by the total number of hours worked (i.e. resource usage). We further

describe the constructs in the conceptual model and present the study hypotheses in the

following sections.

Model development and hypotheses

Customer orientation and job satisfaction

Following Zablah et al. (2012), the present study conceptualizes customer orientation as an

individual trait possessed by service employees. Thus, customer orientation may be

described as ‘an employee’s tendency or predisposition to meet customer needs in an

on-the-job context’ (Brown, Mowen, Donavan, & Licata, 2002, p. 111). Services research

that treats customer orientation as an individual trait suggests that it leads to favorable out-

comes for frontline employees, such as increased job fit, reduced burnout, higher levels of

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

134 E. Briggs et al.

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organizational commitment, and more altruistic behaviors (Babakus et al., 2011; Donavan

et al., 2004).

Zablah et al. (2012) further describe customer orientation as a personal resource for

frontline employees in the JD-R framework. Within this framework, job resources and per-

sonal resources motivate employees and lead to higher levels of work engagement (Bakker

& Demerouti, 2007; Xanthopoulou et al., 2007). Employee satisfaction is one of the main

expressions of work engagement in the JD-R model (Zablah et al., 2012). Employee sat-

isfaction can be described as a global affective response to one’s job (Netemeyer, Bra-

shear-Alejandro, & Boles, 2004). Zablah et al. (2012) argue that boundary spanning

employees with high levels of customer orientation can express their values through

their work (i.e. serving customers), so increased levels of customer orientation in these

individuals should lead to greater employee satisfaction. Similarly, Donavan et al.

(2004) argue that employees high in customer orientation are a better fit for jobs that

involve serving customers than employees low in customer orientation. Based on these

arguments, we propose that the following replication will hold true for the frontline

employees in the present study:

H1: High customer orientation is positively related to employee satisfaction.

The mediating roles of conflict and stress

Bakker and Demerouti (2007) suggest that psychological resources can function to reduce

job demands. For frontline service employees, a demanding aspect of their jobs involves

interacting with frustrated customers and diffusing potentially contentious situations, so

minimizing ICC is critical. Interpersonal conflict is ‘a dynamic process that occurs

between interdependent parties as they experience negative emotional reactions to per-

ceived disagreements and inference with the attainment of their goals’ (Barki & Hartwick,

2004, p. 234). Interpersonal conflict typically occurs when individuals have opposing

interests (Bluen & Barling, 1988) and when they have distinct views about an issue (De

Dreu & Weingart, 2003). In relationships involving service employees and their custo-

mers, conditions of opposing views are less likely to occur when the employee is customer

oriented. Further, in a recent study by Sijun, Beatty, and Liu (2012), frontline service

employees’ customer orientation demonstrates a strong correlation with conflict avoid-

ance. Sijun et al. (2012) also find that when dealing with customer requests that are slightly

outside of company policy, increased customer orientation helped frontline employees

interact in a friendlier manner, which should help to minimize conflict with customers.

We offer the following hypothesis:

H2: High customer orientation is negatively related to ICC.

Interpersonal conflict results from negatively charged social interactions at work and is

now regarded as a major contributor of employee stress, particularly in occupations that

involve person-to-person interactions (Jaramillo, Mulki, & Boles, 2011). Due to the

nature of their jobs, service employees often face interpersonal conflict from dealings

with difficult customers (Sliter, Pui, Sliter, & Jex, 2011). Interactions with customers

can be stressful as service employees frequently experience demanding situations that

involve ambiguous customer expectations (Karatepe, Haktanir, & Yorganci, 2010).

After experiencing a problematic situation involving customers, service employees have

difficulties separating the work event from their personal lives. They bring from their

jobs to their homes negative work-related thoughts and increased rumination (Volmer,

Binnewies, Sonnentag, & Niessen, 2012).

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WFC is defined as ‘a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the

work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect’ (Greenhaus &

Beutell, 1985, p. 77). Dierdorff and Ellington (2008) suggest that interpersonal conflict

can drain employees’ personal resources and may thus elicit WFC. Employees who experi-

ence relationship conflict at work also feel anger, resentment, and are annoyed at the end of

their workday and bedtime (Meier, Gross, Spector, & Semmer, 2013). These angry mood

feelings that originated at work may likely affect the employee’s capacity to perform

family-related responsibilities, resulting in conflict with family members.

Research shows that strain originating at work can cross organizational barriers and

affect the quality of an employee’s relationship with her or his family (Greenhaus &

Beutell, 1985). Dierdorff and Ellington’s (2008) multi-industry study of US employees

also suggests that interpersonal conflict at work has a spillover effect that leads to

higher WFC. The above discussion leads to the following hypothesis:

H3: ICC is positively related to WFC.

Customer orientation has been related to a high level of concern for others (Saxe &

Weitz, 1982) which is manifested in behaviors like adaptiveness (Zablah et al., 2012)

and a tendency to listen (Thakor & Joshi, 2005). These behaviors may likely affect the

quality of social interactions and thus reduce WFC. From another perspective, customer

orientation is a surface trait that manifests in working situations (Brown et al., 2002),

so it would otherwise have little applicability to an employee’s home life. Since customer

orientation directly relates to interactions with customers, and conflict at work can spil-

lover to an employee’s home life, ICC is conceptualized as the bridge that ties these con-

cepts together. ICC is thus conceptualized as a key mediator of this relationship. However,

allowing for the possibility that individuals may also possess an underlying trait that

affects their general interactions with others, the mediation may either be full or partial.

This leads to the following hypothesis.

H4: ICC mediates fully or partially the relationship of customer orientation and WFC.

WFC has received increased attention in recent years as organizations have become

interested in implementing family-friendly work practices (Judge & Colquitt, 2004). A

host of studies have shown that WFC can have a pervasive effect on the employee and

the organization (Karatepe & Kilic, 2009). A fundamental precept of stress theory is

that the stress stimulus precedes the strain experience (Mulki, Jaramillo, & Locander,

2008). The stimuli-to-experience process involving WFC and felt stress has received

ample empirical support (Netemeyer et al., 2004; Netemeyer, Maxham, & Pullig,

2005). Employees who feel overwhelmed between their job and family responsibilities

also experience feelings of fatigue and emotional exhaustion (Karatepe & Tekinkus,

2006). Frontline service employees who have trouble effectively managing their family

role will generally be more stressed at work. Thus, we offer the following replication:

H5: WFC is positively related to felt stress.

This study posits that the impact of ICC on felt stress is mediated by WFC. Interper-

sonal conflict results in feelings of anger and frustration (Meier et al., 2013) as well as feel-

ings of being overwhelmed (Liu, Spector, & Shi, 2007). These emotions could explain the

positive association between interpersonal conflict and emotional exhaustion (Jaramillo

et al., 2011; Mulki et al., 2008).

However, Volmer et al. (2012) asserts that disengagement is an effective coping mech-

anism that buffers the employees from internalizing the stress from challenging working

conditions. If the service employee is able to put their problems aside the moment they

136 E. Briggs et al.

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leave the office, they can continue to function in challenging work situations without ele-

vating their stress levels. Consider also that WFC has been shown to be an exceptionally

powerful indicator of felt stress in services contexts (Netemeyer et al., 2005). Further,

research supports that WFC mediates the influence of workplace stressors on employees’

stress levels (Judge & Colquitt, 2004). Similar to Hypothesis 4, we allow for the possibility

that mediation may be either full or partial because WFC may not be the only mechanism

that links interpersonal conflict with felt stress.

H6: WFC mediates fully or partially the relationship of ICC and felt stress.

Several studies involving frontline service employees have found that WFC has a

direct, negative influence on employees’ satisfaction (Boles & Babin, 1996; Karatepe,

Kilic, & Isiksel, 2008; Karatepe & Tekinkus, 2006), though these studies did not

account for felt stress. However, research that evaluates felt stress in conjunction with

these constructs generally considers felt stress to mediate the influence of WFC on

employee satisfaction (Huang & Cheng, 2012; Netemeyer et al., 2004). Felt stress gener-

ally involves unpleasant emotional experiences (Bolino &Turnley, 2005). In a recent

review, Ganster and Rosen (2013) describe this stress as the process by which workplace

psychological experiences and demands produce mental and physical changes in employ-

ees. Following this reasoning, the demands of service employees’ WFC are expected to

produce changes in employee satisfaction through felt stress. Thus, the following

replications:

H7: Felt stress is negatively related to employee satisfaction.

H8: Felt stress mediates fully or partially the relationship of WFC and employee satisfaction.

The role of hours worked

The number of hours worked captures the time an employee actually devotes to the job.

This objective assessment differs from one’s subjective assessment of workload, which

generally captures employees’ perceptions of the pace of their work (Hsieh, Yen, &

Chin, 2004). While both have been conceptualized as job demands (Lu, Kao, Chang,

Wu, & Cooper, 2011), the number of hours worked can also serve as a proxy for employ-

ees’ utilization of personal resources, a key theme of COR theory. Further, interactional

psychology research supports the investigation of interactions between personal variables,

such as customer orientation; and objective environmental/situational variables, such as

hours worked (Donavan et al., 2004).

As hours worked increases, frontline employees will generally need to perform

emotional labor for a lengthier period of time. Ashforth (1993) argues that frontline

employees perform emotional labor in one of two ways: surface acting or deep acting.

Surface acting occurs when the employee expresses the appropriate emotions to the cus-

tomer, though they do not actually feel them, while deep acting occurs when the employee

actually tries to feel the emotions that are appropriate to display. Research suggests that

surface acting is much more taxing on frontline service employees than deep acting

(Grandey, 2003; Hur, Moon, & Jae-Kyoon, 2013).

Allen, Pugh, Grandey, and Groth (2010) find that customer orientation increases the

reliance of service employees on deep acting when fulfilling their roles. As customer

orientation increases, employees identify more powerfully with the notion of meeting cus-

tomers’ needs. They can draw upon this belief in order to adhere to the appropriate service

script in an authentic way (Yagil & Medler-Liraz, 2013). Conversely, employees with

lower levels of customer orientation are left to engage in surface acting, since they do

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not highly value the interests of the customers. Though they may be able to manage

reasonably well for a short duration, the burden of surface acting may become too

heavy when working long hours.

While it is typical for employees to temporarily experience high workloads without

consequence, the cumulative effect of working numerous hours is more problematic

(Meijman & Mulder, 1998). Employees have less time to recover, so fatigue and emotional

exhaustion become more of an issue. Under these circumstances, service employees will

break from their customer-focused service roles more frequently (Grandey, 2003), which

can increase the amount of conflict they have with customers. On the other hand, employ-

ees with a high level of customer orientation commonly engage in deep acting and will be

less exhausted, which allows them to stay in character longer and avoid conflict. Thus, it is

expected that the influence of customer orientation on ICC will become more noticeable as

working hours increase to exceptionally high levels (i.e. above 48 hours).1

H9: The negative relationship between customer orientation and ICC becomes stronger as thenumber of hours worked increases to exceptionally high levels.

Based on the JD-R model, the number of hours an employee works has the potential to

strengthen the relationship between customer orientation and employee satisfaction.

Resources should particularly influence work engagement in more demanding conditions,

and the number of hours that an employee works has been identified as an important type

of job demand (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Bolino, Turnley, Gilstrap, & Suazo, 2010; Lu

et al., 2011). As frontline service employees spend more time with customers, prior

empirical studies have found that the positive effects of customer orientation on employee

satisfaction become even more pronounced (Donavan et al., 2004; Zablah et al., 2012).

Since frontline employees who work more hours will also spend more time with their cus-

tomers, we would expect that customer orientation would similarly have a greater influ-

ence on satisfaction as their hours worked increase to exceptionally high levels.

H10: The positive relationship between customer orientation and employee satisfactionbecomes stronger as the number of hours worked increases to exceptionally high levels.

The time spent at work also serves as an additional source of conflict between work and

home, above and beyond the psychological strain (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Ilies et al.,

2007). This is because one’s presence at work can make it ‘physically impossible’ to

comply with certain expectations at home (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). As such, the

absolute number of hours employees dedicate to their job roles creates difficulties in ful-

filling family roles, and has been found to positively relate to WFC (Ilies et al., 2007;

Pleck, Staines, & Lang, 1980). Thus, it is expected that the number of hours a frontline

service employee works will similarly lead to an increase in WFC and formally

hypothesize:

H11: Hours worked is positively related to WFC.

Method

To investigate the relationships depicted in Figure 1, a study of frontline employees

working for an Ecuadorian airline was conducted. The study was supported by the airline’s

marketing/sales director. The director provided a list of 112 frontline employees working

at the moment of the study in four metropolitan areas (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, and

Manta). The marketing director asked a subordinate in each city to coordinate meetings

where all of these employees were asked to participate. A paper-and-pencil survey was

administered in person by the researcher with 106 of the employees completing the

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survey. The survey package contained a letter explaining the purpose of the study, stres-

sing the voluntary nature of participation, and assuring the confidentiality of individual

results. The letter was signed by one of the researchers, and no monetary incentives

were offered for participation. Respondents were assured that individual-level results

would not be shared with management. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents were

female and 65% had at least one child at home. Participants reported working an

average of 46.7 hours per week (SD ¼ 17.9).

Measures and measurement model

All latent constructs were operationalized with items derived from published scales. Cus-

tomer orientation was measured with four items from Martin and Bush (2006). ICC was

measured with four items adapted from Spector (1987) and Spector and Jex (1998). For

example, the general question ‘How often do you get into arguments with others’

(Spector, 1987, p. 157) was changed to ‘How often do you get into arguments with

your customers at work?’ WFC was measured with three items from Netemeyer, Boles,

and McMurrian (1996). Felt stress and employee satisfaction were each measured with

four items from Netemeyer et al. (2004). Except for ICC, we used Likert-type scales

ranging from 1 ¼ ‘strongly disagree’ to 7 ¼ ‘strongly agree.’ ICC uses endpoints that

range from 1 ¼ ‘never’ to 7 ¼ ‘almost always.’ Scale items were independently translated

from English to Spanish and then Spanish to English to assess consistency of meaning.

Measures were also evaluated by personnel from the participating firm to assess relevance

for this setting. Tables 1 and 2 show the actual survey items, and correlations between

latent constructs and employee characteristics.

A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model was used to assess measure properties

(Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). The initial CFA revealed that one item loaded poorly

with its associated construct with a standardized loading of 0.39, so this item was

dropped from further analysis (see Table 1). Results from the revised CFA indicate that

the model is a good fit to the data: x2(205.2)/df(124) ¼ 1.65, confirmatory fit index

(CFI) ¼ 0.93, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) ¼ 0.92, root mean square error of approxi-

mation (RMSEA) ¼ 0.079. As shown in Table 1, all item standardized factor loadings

are above 0.5 and scale Cronbach alpha statistics are higher than 0.7. In addition, all

average variance extracted (AVE) statistics are above 0.50 (range 0.60–0.80). These

results provide evidence of convergent validity. Discriminant validity was assessed by

comparing the AVE estimates with the squared bivariate correlations (Fornell &

Larcker, 1981). In all cases, the AVE was easily greater than the squared correlations.

Since all the data were collected from single respondents, common methods bias was a

concern. However, common method bias was reduced procedurally by using a variety of

scale anchors namely Likert-type and frequency (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, & Podsakoff,

2012). To test for common method bias, we first conducted a factor analysis to determine

how much variance could be accounted for by a single factor. The factor analysis results

showed that a single factor accounts for less than half the variance, providing some indi-

cation that common methods bias did not greatly affect the present study. Next, we ident-

ified a marker variable that is unrelated to at least one other construct in our model, lone

wolf tendencies (Mulki, Jaramillo, & Marshall, 2007), and used it to adjust the correlations

between pairs of latent constructs in the model (Lindell & Whitney, 2001). Since all the

significant correlations remained significant after being converted to these partial corre-

lations (Dr , .01), this provides additional evidence that common methods bias was

not an issue in the current study.

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Table 1. Construct and measurement item analysis.

Latent variable Item description Loading Mean SD

Customer orientation A good employee has to have the customer’s best interest in mind. .91 6.70 0.82AVE ¼ .80 I reach my own objectives when my customers reach theirs. .89 6.58 0.90a ¼ .94 I try to find an effective solution for my customers’ problems. .91 6.61 0.82

I try to give my clients an accurate explanation of what we do for them. .86 6.58 0.82

ICC How often do you get into arguments with your customers at work? .51 2.25 1.88AVE ¼ .65 How often do your customers yell at you at work? .91 3.44 2.25a ¼ .82 How often are your customers rude at you at work? .92 3.22 2.05

How often do your customers do nasty things to you at work?a N/A 2.27 1.65

WFC The demands of my work interfere with my home and family life. .74 3.15 2.08AVE ¼ .65 Due to work-related activities, I have to make changes to my plans for family activities. .80 4.58 2.26a ¼ .84 The things I want to do at home do not get done because of the demands my job puts on me. .88 3.76 2.19

Felt stress My job tends to directly affect my health. .72 4.22 2.16AVE ¼ .60 At the end of the day, my job leaves me ‘stressed out.’ .69 4.01 2.07a ¼ .84 Problems associated with work have kept me awake at night. .81 3.35 2.05

I feel fidgety or nervous because of my job. .87 3.02 1.95

Employee satisfaction All in all, how satisfied are you with your present line of work? .82 6.23 1.07AVE ¼ .64 All things considered (e.g. pay, promotion, supervisors, coworkers),

how satisfied are you with your present line of work?.75 5.50 1.54

a ¼ .86 I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction from my line of work. .90 5.98 1.32All in all, I like to work at (COMPANY NAME) .71 6.46 0.95

aIndicates item was dropped due to poor factor loading.Note: AVE ¼ average variance extracted; a ¼ Cronbach’s alpha; SD ¼ standard deviation.

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Structural model results

The direct hypotheses were tested by analyzing a structural equation model (SEM) in

AMOS 20.0 with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. Bagozzi (2010) suggests that

ML estimation is relatively ‘robust to departures from normality’ and can produce

meaningful results with samples as low as 100. Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson

(2010) also indicate that samples sizes of 100–150 are appropriate for SEM when:

(1) there are five or fewer constructs in the model, (2) all constructs are measured

with at least three items, and (3) AVE estimates are 0.6 or higher. Our data adhere

to all of these characteristics. The structural model included all the latent constructs

and paths depicted in the conceptual model (Figure 1). We further modeled direct

paths from hours worked, gender, and number of children to all of the endogenous

variables to control for the possible influence of these variables. Results indicated

that the model was a good fit to the data: x2(250.5)/df(174)/ ¼ 1.44; CFI ¼ 0.94;

TLI ¼ 0.92; RMSEA 0.065.2 Squared multiple correlations for the model endogenous

variables were as follows: ICC ¼ 0.22, WFC ¼ 0.19, Job stress ¼ 0.40, and employee

satisfaction ¼ 0.33.

The results of the structural model analysis supported all of the study hypotheses invol-

ving direct effects at p ≤ .05 (see Figure 1). As discussed in Hypotheses 1 and 2, respect-

ively, customer orientation positively relates to employee satisfaction (b ¼ .29, t ¼ 3.04)

and negatively relates to ICC (b ¼ 2.24, t ¼ 22.34). As suggested in Hypotheses 3 and

5, ICC positively relates to WFC (b ¼ .40, t ¼ 2.90), which then positively relates to felt

stress (b ¼ .63, t ¼ 4.63). In line with Hypothesis 7, felt stress negatively relates to

employee satisfaction (b ¼ 2.40, t ¼ 22.94). Per Hypothesis 11, hours worked posi-

tively relates to WFC (b ¼ .26; t ¼ 2.36).3 Three of the model-controlled paths are

also significant at p ≤ .05. Hours worked negatively associates with ICC (b ¼ 2.26; t

¼ 22.44). Males positively associate with ICC (b ¼ .29; t ¼ 2.78). Finally, number of

children positively associates with employees’ employee satisfaction (b ¼ .20; t ¼ 2.10).

Mediation analyses

Two approaches were used to test Hypotheses 4, 6, and 8 involving mediation. We conduct

a bootstrap test in AMOS using 5000 samples to determine whether the proposed indirect

Table 2. Construct and measurement item analysis.

Constructs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Customer orientation 12. ICC 20.25 13. WFC 20.18 0.25 14. Felt stress 0.03 0.19 0.58 15. Employee satisfaction 0.25 20.12 20.35 20.41 16. Hours worked 0.02 20.24 0.14 0.08 0.03 17. Gender (Female ¼ 0;

Male ¼ 1)20.06 0.29 0.04 0.05 20.01 0.05 1

8. Number of children 0.08 0.01 20.01 0.02 0.18 0.14 0.09 19. Lone wolf tendencies 20.17 20.06 20.01 20.03 20.10 20.04 0.06 20.10 1Mean 6.62 2.97 3.83 3.64 6.04 46.73 0.22 1.26 2.13Standard deviation 0.77 1.77 1.90 1.68 1.04 17.93 0.41 1.15 1.13

Note: Correlations above |.20| are significant at p , .05.

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effects in the mediation hypotheses are significant (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). Bootstrapping

returns bias-corrected confidence intervals for the effects of interest. Using this procedure,

the indirect path from customer orientation to WFC was found to be significant (bupper ¼

2.03; blower ¼ 2.19; p , .01), in accordance with Hypothesis 4. The indirect path from

ICC to felt stress was also significant (bupper ¼ .42; blower ¼ .16; p , .01), in accordance

with Hypothesis 6. Lastly, the indirect path from WFC to employee satisfaction was sig-

nificant (bupper ¼ 2.16; blower ¼ 2.45; p , .001), per Hypothesis 8.

To test for full mediation, we applied the Baron and Kenny (1986) procedure using

SEMs (Briggs & Grisaffe, 2010). Four conditions must be met in order to support full

mediation: (1) the causal variable must influence the mediator, (2) the mediator must influ-

ence the outcome variable, (3) the causal variable should influence the outcome in the

absence of the influence of the mediator, and (4) the direct path from the causal variable

to the outcome variable must become non-significant in the presence of the mediator.

Since all of the direct study hypotheses were supported, the first two conditions pertaining

to mediation have already been established for all three mediation hypotheses.

Two additional structural models were estimated to examine the remaining conditions

regarding mediation. To examine the third condition, a model constraining the influences

of the mediators on the outcome variables to zero and allowing the causal variables to

influence the mediators was estimated (x2(303.02)/df(174) ¼ 1.74, CFI ¼ 0.89, TLI ¼

0.86, RMSEA 0.084). In this model, the direct relationships between customer orientation

and WFC (b ¼ 2.24; t ¼ –2.21), ICC and job stress (b ¼ .28; t ¼ 2.23), WFC and

employee satisfaction (b ¼ 2.31; t ¼ 2.77) were all significant, establishing that the

causal variables each have a direct influence on the relevant dependent variable in the

absence of the influence of the hypothesized mediator. Finally, a model allowing both

the causal variables and the mediators to influence the dependent variables is estimated

(x2(249.32)/df(171) ¼ 1.46; CFI ¼ 0.93; TLI ¼ 0.91; RMSEA 0.066). The relationship

between customer orientation and WFC became non-significant (b ¼ 2.11; t ¼ –1.05)

after accounting for the influence of ICC (b ¼ .40; t ¼ 2.90). The relationship between

ICC and job stress conflict became non-significant (b ¼ .00; t ¼ 0.00) after accounting

for the influence of WFC (b ¼ .63; t ¼ 4.63). Lastly, the relationship between WFC

and employee satisfaction became non-significant (b ¼ 2.04; t ¼ –0.31) after account-

ing for the influence of job stress (b ¼ 2.40; t ¼ –2.94). These results support full,

rather than partial, mediation for Hypotheses 4, 6, and 8.

Moderation analyses

Tests of moderation were conducted using least squares regression rather than SEM. Tests

of moderation in SEM generally require separate models to be run on multiple groups in a

sample. In the case of the present study, the size of the resulting groups would generally be

considered too small to conduct meaningful SEM analyses (Bagozzi, 2010). The sample

size is, however, appropriate for regression analysis (Hair et al., 2010). The primary inde-

pendent variable of interest in the tests of moderation, customer orientation, exhibited a

substantial negative skew, so a logarithmic transformation was applied and utilized in

all regression models (Howell, 2007). Only respondents that reported their hours

worked were included in these analyses (n ¼ 90).

Hypotheses 9 and 10 suggest hours worked moderates the influence of customer orien-

tation on ICC and employee satisfaction, respectively. Regression models were developed

to test moderation using mean centered values for customer orientation and hours worked.

Interaction terms to test for moderation were formed by multiplying these mean centered

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values. The full regression model also controlled for other significant influences on the

dependent variable as determined by the SEM model results (see Table 3). The regression

results were in line with the SEM analysis in that customer orientation negatively associ-

ates with ICC (b ¼ 2.28; t ¼ –2.98) and positively associates with employee satisfaction

(b ¼ .37; t ¼ 4.42).

Hypothesis 9 was supported since the interaction between customer orientation and

hours worked had a significant negative influence on ICC (b ¼ 2.19; t ¼ –1.89). This

negative interaction suggests that the negative association between customer orientation

and ICC is strengthened as employees’ hours worked increase to high levels. On the

other hand, Hypothesis 10 was not supported. Conversely, the number of hours worked

was found to moderate the influence of customer orientation on employee satisfaction

in the reverse direction from Hypothesis 10 (b ¼ 2.18; t ¼ –2.01). This significant nega-

tive interaction suggests that the positive association between customer orientation and

employee satisfaction is weakened, not strengthened, as employees’ hours worked

increase to high levels.4

Given this surprising result, a follow-up analysis was conducted to further investigate the

moderating influence of hours worked. The sample of respondents was split on the median

hours worked in the sample, 48 hours per week. The employees on the median were

removed from the analysis, and regressions were run separately in the ‘low’ and ‘high’

hours worked groups (n ¼ 42 for both groups). Consistent with Hypothesis 9, customer

orientation had a significant negative relationship with ICC among employees with high

hours worked (b ¼ 2.47; t ¼ –3.49), but non-significant relationship with ICC among

employees with low hours worked (b ¼ 2.11; t ¼ –0.74). Again, opposite to what was pro-

posed in Hypothesis 10, customer orientation had a significant positive relationship with

employee satisfaction among employees with low hours worked (b ¼ .49; t ¼ 4.22), but a

non-significant relationship with employee satisfaction among employees with high hours

worked (b ¼ .16; t ¼ 1.17). Figure 2 demonstrates the effects of these interactions.

Table 3. Regression results for moderation.

Dependent variables

ICC Employee satisfaction

Standard b t-Value Standard b t-Value

Independent VariablesCustomer orientation 20.28∗∗ –2.98 0.37∗∗∗ 4.417Hours worked 20.16 –1.62 0.09 1.01Customer Orientation X Hours worked 20.19∗ –1.89 20.18∗ –2.01

Control VariablesGender 0.29∗∗ 3.12 –Felt stress – 20.49∗∗∗ –5.80Number of children – 0.10 1.17

Model SummaryR2 0.259 0.408Adjusted R2 0.225 0.373F-statistic 7.445∗∗∗ 11.570∗∗∗

∗p ≤ .05.∗∗p ≤ .01.∗∗∗p ≤ .001.

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Discussion

This study contributes to the research involving effects of customer orientation on front-

line service employees, specifically considering how customer orientation relates to

employee satisfaction. In additional to customer orientation having a direct influence on

customer satisfaction, this study also finds support for an indirect influence. Customer

orientation helps to alleviate conflict from work that spills over to employees’ home

life, which would otherwise increase stress and diminish employee satisfaction. The con-

ceptual model supports the notion that employees’ customer orientation directly alleviates

the demands of ICC to initiate this indirect process. The focus on ICC as a primary stressor

in the workplace rather than inter-role conflict is a departure from much of the prior

research on frontline service personnel (Bettencourt & Brown, 2003; Huang & Cheng,

2012).

The study also makes theoretical contributions to the literature involving the JD-R

model. Existing JD-R studies generally model the relationship between demands and

resources as correlational rather than causal, with resources and demands having a

direct and interactive influence on employee strain (i.e. stress) and motivation (i.e. satis-

faction). However, these resources and demands have historically been conceptualized as

Figure 2. Effects of the interaction of customer orientation and hours worked. (a) ICC as the depen-dent variable, (b) job satisfaction as the dependent variable.

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attributes of the job itself (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). The present study follows recent

research that has begun to evaluate personal resources in the context of JD-R models that

are more characteristic of the individual rather than the job (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007;

Zablah et al., 2012). With a resource like customer orientation being more characteristic

of the individual than his/her job, we believe that the present examination takes the logical

step in the evolution of this research stream by introducing the potential for this kind of

resource to act directly on job demands, and our results support the existence of a

causal relationship. Also, finding that the direct influence of job demands on stress pro-

posed by JD-R models is mediated by work and family makes an additional contribution

to this literature.

The study further contributes to JD-R research by integrating ideas from COR theory

in a novel way. Consistent with the JD-R model, COR theory suggests that personal

resources or characteristics, such as customer orientation, aid individuals’ stress resistance

(Hobfoll, 1989). Though prior studies have drawn on both of these theories collectively in

their conceptualizations (Hakanen, Peeters, & Perhoniemi, 2011; Xanthopoulou et al.,

2007), this prior research uses the theories to clarify how demands can enhance the moti-

vational properties of resources. However, the present study is the first to consider

demands and resources in conjunction with the concept of resource utilization (assessed

by hours worked in the present study). Resource utilization is a key theme in COR

theory, but has not been a factor in JD-R research.

The mediating role of conflict

Our study brings greater understanding to the relationship between customer orientation

and employee satisfaction by finding support for an indirect path of influence through

ICC, WFC, and felt stress. This sequence includes three fully mediated paths. First,

there was a fully mediated path between customer orientation and WFC through ICC.

This finding suggests that the individual well-being of frontline airline employees is

indirectly affected by their customer orientation. Specifically customer orientation helps

these employees to minimize the conflict they have at work, which would otherwise spil-

lover into their home life.

Second, there was a fully mediated path between ICC and felt stress through WFC.

This finding suggests that employees could potentially buffer themselves from experien-

cing the stressful consequences of conflicts with customers if they were able to let it go

after working hours ended. While typical JD-R models suggest a direct relationship

between job demands and stress, our findings suggest that WFC can mediate this relation-

ship (Judge & Colquitt, 2004). Spillover theory posits that there are no boundaries between

work and family and thus strain experienced in one domain can permeate to another

domain (Grzywacz & Marks, 2000). Research in spillover theory generally identifies

role stress (role conflict, role ambiguity, and work overload) and role involvement (job

involvement and work centrality) as the key stressors originating from the work domain

that positively relate to WFC, while there is evidence that social support and work charac-

teristics like task variety and job autonomy negatively relate to WFC (Michel, Kotrba,

Mitchelson, & Batles, 2010). Research in this area also reveals that stressors originating

from the family domain like family climate and parental demands affect WFC (Michel

et al., 2010). Our study makes an important contribution to spillover theory by showing

that ICC also affects employees’ capacity to adequately perform family roles (i.e. WFC).

Third, there was a fully mediated path between WFC and employee satisfaction

through felt stress. This is in line with recent research that describes felt stress as a

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process that links the demands of work and mental/physical individual outcomes (Ganster

& Rosen, 2013). This path completes the indirect chain of relationships linking customer

orientation to job satisfaction. Hence, it is not just that customer-oriented frontline

employees are more satisfied with their jobs because they enjoy the work more, but

also because customer orientation reduces the harmful consequences of conflict and

stress that would otherwise be associated with this kind of work.

The moderating role of hours worked

Our findings suggest that as the number of hours worked increases to exceptionally high

levels, customer orientation has a stronger negative influence on conflict with customers.

However, the influence of customer orientation on employee satisfaction became weaker

as the number of hours worked increased to exceptionally high levels. The latter finding

may be explained by the COR perspective regarding resource usage. COR theory intro-

duces the notion that resources can be invested to the point that they deteriorate

(Hobfoll, 2002). The theory further emphasizes that the primary function of resources is

to cope with challenging situations (Hobfoll, 2002). Specifically, drawing on customer

orientation to minimize conflict with customers appeared to take priority when employees

were required to work an exceptional number of hours. Utilizing the resource in this manner

may have the unfavorable outcome of weakening its positive influence on customer satis-

faction. Follow-up analyses collectively indicate that the direct path between customer

orientation and job satisfaction operates mainly when hours worked are not excessive,

and the indirect path from customer orientation to employee satisfaction (through conflict

and stress) is invoked when hours worked increase to exceptionally high levels.

The finding that hours worked negatively moderate the relationship between customer

orientation and employee satisfaction does run counter to the JD-R model (Bakker &

Demerouti, 2007; Zablah et al., 2012), which claims that increasing job demands (i.e.

hours worked) should strengthen the relationship between resources (e.g. customer orien-

tation) and job engagement (i.e. employee satisfaction). One possibility is that job

resources existing at the personal level, like customer orientation, function differently

from job resources that exist at the organizational level. For example, Bakker and Demer-

outi (2007) generally identify job resources at the level of the organization, interpersonal

relationship, or task level rather than at the personal level. Similarly, Karatepe, Yavas, and

Babakus (2007), in a study of the job resources of services employee, examine such organ-

izational and task level resources as supervisory support, training, empowerment, and

rewards.

Hours worked are also found to have a direct and positive influence on employees’

WFC. While this relationship can be attributed to the time that work takes away from

family life, the fact that number of children did not also relate to WFC suggests that

other factors may also be at play. It may be that less time at home robs service employees

of the time needed to recover from conflicts with customers. Without this recovery time,

home life can amplify, rather than alleviate, felt stress.

Managerial and societal implications

These findings have important managerial implications for the hiring practices and sche-

duling of frontline employees. First, our study illustrates the importance of hiring custo-

mer-oriented employees for frontline roles, especially when the service employee will

be engaged in extended duration service encounters. In these situations boundaries

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between employees and customers are more likely to break down and employees expend

more emotional labor (Price, Arnould, & Tierney, 1995). Since customer orientation helps

these employees cope with the conflict that increases stress, it can be detrimental to the

individuals’ well-being to hire people that are low in customer orientation. For

example, research links felt stress to health disorders such as cardiovascular disease,

depression, and type-2 diabetes (Ganster & Rosen, 2013). Managers would do well to con-

sider customer orientation a formal prerequisite to holding a frontline service job when the

service encounter involves extended duration.5

Second, the study findings illustrate in greater detail the consequences of overworking

frontline employees in this industry, and imply that managers should cautiously track the

working hours of these employees. While it was expected and confirmed that working

hours would hamper employees’ well-being by increasing the level of WFC and associated

felt stress, an interesting controlled path in the model shows that working hours may nega-

tively relate to interpersonal conflict with customers. This is somewhat troubling since the

situation means that managers would have a hard time determining when an employee is

being negatively affected by having a heavy workload by simply observing this aspect of

employee performance. When working a high number of hours, employees draw more

heavily on their customer orientation, so they actually do not have any more conflict

with customers. Thus, managers may need to set absolute limits on working hours. For

example, researchers have suggested that the regular work week be limited to 50 hours

for the well-being of employees (Lee, McCann, & Messenger, 2007). Managers should

also become more aware of the telltale indicators of stress, such as anxiety, headaches,

and fatigue in order to determine when working hours need to be cut (Ganster &

Rosen, 2013). Again, considering the effects on employee well-being, managerial

decisions regarding working hours have important ethical and societal implications.

Limitations and future research

Our findings suggest that more research involving the effects of customer orientation on

the job outcomes of frontline employees be conducted. The sample was drawn from a

single airline based in Ecuador, so the model should be re-examined in other industries

and in differing cultural contexts to examine the bounds of its generalizability. Given

the negative moderating influence of hours worked on the relationship between customer

orientation and employee satisfaction, more research should be conducted to determine

how personal resources like customer orientation function differently in the JD-R

model, compared to organizational or task-level job resources. Considering that research

involving working hours has been based historically in the manufacturing industry (Lee

et al., 2007), more research should be conducted to better determine the point at which

the number of hours worked begins to seriously impact the well-being of service employ-

ees. Further, hours worked is likely an imperfect proxy for resource utilization, so

additional metrics to capture this phenomenon from the perspective of service employees’

should be considered.

Research should be conducted that considers the relative influences of ICC and inter-

role conflict on the well-being of frontline service employees. While there is a strong

steam of research involving inter-role conflict (Spector & Jex, 1998), conflict with custo-

mers has not received as much attention. Interestingly, male employees perceived a greater

level of ICC than female employees. Future research may further investigate whether sys-

tematic differences can be confirmed. Potential explanations may relate to established

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gender roles or the relatively skewed gender proportions in the organization (Briggs,

Jaramillo, & Weeks, 2012).

Acknowledgements

The authors equally contributed to the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The vast majority of countries around the world limit the standard work week to 48 hours or lesssince research suggests that work starts to become unhealthy beyond this standard (Lee et al.,2007).

2. In a typical JD-R model, the relationships between (a) customer orientation and ICC; (b) feltstress and employee satisfaction would be correlational rather causal (Bakker & Demerouti,2007; Xanthopoulou et al., 2007). We ran an alternative model with these two causal pathsreplaced by correlations. While the model fit the data fairly well (x2(258.07)/df(174) ¼ 1.48;CFI ¼ 0.93; TLI ¼ 0.91; RMSEA 0.068), the fit was slightly worse than the hypothesized model.

3. We also tested a curvilinear model to assess a U-shaped relationship between hours worked andWFC but could not find evidence of a curvilinear relationship (b ¼ .03, p ¼ .80).

4. In addition, we tested an alternative model in which conflict (ICC and WFC) and job stress mod-erate the relationship between customer orientation and customer satisfaction using the sameapproach that we used in our other tests of moderation. However, none of the associated inter-action terms were significant at p ≤ .10.

5. Customer orientation is defined in our manuscript as an individual trait or predisposition (Brownet al., 2002; Zablah et al., 2012). Under this perspective, we posit that hiring employees with ahigh level of customer orientation is beneficial to the firm. However, we also recognize thatthe organizational climate and managerial practices can influence the occurrence of customer-oriented behaviors. Service-oriented and ethical organizational climates have a positive effecton customer orientation (Coelho, Augusto, Coelho, & Sa, 2010). Employees are more likely toadopt customer-oriented practices when role expectations are clear (Coelho et al., 2010) andwhen they are satisfied with their pay (Thakor & Joshi, 2005). Pousa and Mathieu (2014) alsoshow that supervisory coaching increases employees’ customer orientation.

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