Cogent Business & Management

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Evaluating the impact of service encounter

incivility on employee job stress, turnover
intentions and labor attrition: a study on frontline
employees in the fast food service industry

Phillip Dangaiso & Paul Mukucha

To cite this article: Phillip Dangaiso & Paul Mukucha (2024) Evaluating the impact of service
encounter incivility on employee job stress, turnover intentions and labor attrition: a study on
frontline employees in the fast food service industry, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1,
2355671, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2355671

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Cogent Business & Management
2024, VOL. 11, NO. 1, 2355671
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2355671

Marketing | Research Article

Evaluating the impact of service encounter incivility on employee
job stress, turnover intentions and labor attrition: a study on
frontline employees in the fast food service industry
Phillip Dangaisoa and Paul Mukuchab
Department of Marketing, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe; bDepartment of Marketing, Bindura
a

University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Service encounter incivility is a common phenomenon across a broad spectrum of Received 25 January 2023
service industries globally. This paper examined the impact of service encounter Revised 19 January 2024
incivility on employee job stress, turnover intentions and labor attrition in the fast food Accepted 9 May 2024
service industry in Zimbabwe. The Stressor-Stress-Outcome (SSO) framework and the KEYWORDS
Emotional labor theory underpinned this investigation. The study targeted frontline Dysfunctional service
employees in the fast food service providers in Harare. An explanatory design and a encounters; incivility;
quantitative approach were adopted. Using randomization and a structured hand employee job stress;
administered questionnaire, 254 valid responses were obtained. Findings obtained labor attrition; fast food
through covariance based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) confirmed the significant industry; emerging
economy
effect of customer incivility on employee incivility and employee job stress. The findings
also revealed that employee incivility affects employee job stress. The positive influence JEL CLASSIFICATIONS
of employee job stress on turnover intentions was also evident. The results were also M31; M54; L80; J50
confirmatory of positive effect of turnover intentions on labor attrition. The paper
recommends that fast food service providers should foster contact employee training, REVIEWING EDITOR
better reward strategies, employee recovery and employee empowerment. Customer Malek Sghaier, Universite
education on service site processes and procedures, standardisation of processes and Paris Dauphine, Tunisia
technology were also urged to reduce incidences of service encounter incivility and
labor turnover in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe. SUBJECTS
Customer Relationship
IMPACT STATEMENT Management (CRM);
Most businesses face challenges with customer misbehavior at service sites globally. It Services Marketing;
has been also been observed that employees often retaliate leading to service failure. Human Resource
Management; Hospitality
This research investigates the effect of customer misbehavior and employee retaliation
Management
on employee job stress, quitting intent and labor turnover in fast food industry. A
structured questionnaire was used to collect data from employees. Results show that
both customer misbehavior and employee retaliation cause employee job stress.
Affected employees may show low morale, loss of job interest, low concentration and
poor productivity. Employee stress explained quitting intentions, which also influenced
labor turnover. The research demonstrates that customer misbehavior and employee
venting causes loss of frontline staff within fast food service industry. The study
encourages fast food businesses to adopt measures that reduce uncivil behaviors. To
reduce dysfunctional encounters and labor turnover, using employees’ emotional
intelligence, customer education, customer-centric culture and employee empowerment
were suggested strategies.

1. Introduction
Extant services marketing literature confirms the inherent value co-creation process that occurs between
guest customers and contact staff during service encounters. Both customers and employees are rec-
ognised as integral participants on the servicescape as service encounters are characterized by simulta-
neous production and consumption, hence consumers are often labelled ‘prosumers or prousers’ (Foder,

CONTACT Phillip Dangaiso [email protected] Department of Marketing, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Private Bag, 7724
Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been
published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
2 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

2020; Grönroos, 2011; Grönroos & Voima, 2013). However, instead of collaborating, few customers often
misbehave and create problems that lead to service failure yet frontline employees are religiously
expected to endure their misconduct (Grandey et al., 2004). Customer sovereignty is a pervasive norm
in the marketing of services as reflected by the popular claim that ‘the customer is always right’ (Dangaiso
et al., 2022; Kashif et al., 2017; Kashif & Zarkada, 2015; Wang et al., 2022). More often, this has culminated
into dysfunctional service encounters where both contact staff and customers emerge as value
co-destructors as opposed to value co-creators (Echeverri et al., 2012; Osborne & Ballantyne, 2012).
Whilst both contact staff and customers are jointly liable for value co-destruction, service encounter
incivility has undesirable effects on the customer, frontline employee, other customers and the service
firm (Hu et al., 2017; Huang, 2008). It usually degenerates into conflict between service staff, customers
and management. Extreme cases result in vandalisation of the service site, negative word of mouth from
aggrieved customers, customer defection and an unfavorable image (Fisk et al., 2010). Despite its inevi-
table circumstances, service encounter incivility often results in employee fatigue, emotional exhaustion,
job dissatisfaction and an unfavorable service environment (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020). Chronic exposure
to such misbehaviors causes emotional dissonance to contact staff that triggers psychological and behav-
ioral effects too (Bamfo et al., 2018). Due to the outsized magnitude of the repercussions of dysfunc-
tional encounters, empirical work towards its antecedents, outcomes and mitigation has recently been
expended (Bacile et al., 2018; Bamfo et al., 2018; Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Echeverri et al., 2012; Fisk
et al., 2010; Harris & Daunt, 2013; Torres et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2022). The purpose of this study was
to examine the impact of service encounter incivility on employee job stress, turnover intentions and
labor attrition in the fast food service industry in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean fast food industry has exponentially expanded between 2009 and 2022 (Chimhangwa,
2014; Mandovha, 2021; Mukucha, 2022). Prior to that period, Zimbabwe endured an economic recession
with hyper inflation, low employment, supply side shocks, shrinking disposable incomes and low indus-
try utilization (Shumba et al., 2017). However, the dollarization of the economy (United States dollar) in
2009 brought more stability and business confidence as the economy embarked on a rejuvenated per-
formance trajectory (Dube, 2017; Mkono, 2012). The phenomenon attracted small and medium scale
investors into the domestic fast food industry, given closures, relocations and franchising by giant food
multinationals pre 2009 (Chivandi & Maziriri, 2017). The fast food industry continues to dominate and
new entrances have been widely evident in the major cities, targeting small-scale informal traders, low
to middle income working class and established Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) outsourcing cater-
ing services from renowned food vendors (Mukucha et al., 2020).
Despite the exponential growth, there has been a marked labor attrition trend and instability of ten-
ure in boundary spanning jobs in the fast food service industry (ZIMSTAT, 2022). It has been suggested
that the most significant challenge remains conflicts between customers and employees amid delivery
problems, poor service standards and uncivil customer behaviors (Chivandi & Maziriri, 2017). Most of the
problems involve point of sale staff, cleaning staff, security staff and food service staff (Dube, 2017;
Mukucha, 2022). Furthermore, most of the dysfunctional behaviors arise from problems with billing and
payments (Buigut, 2015) and customer waiting time amid food delivery challenges (Mukucha, 2022).
Notwithstanding its benefits, the multi-currency system invited a plethora of transactional challenges
(Buigut, 2015; Shumba et al., 2017). These include staff not accepting specific tender types, unavailability
of smaller money denominations for change, customers doing illegal foreign exchange on the service
site, failed credit card transactions and dysfunctional mobile money platforms.
Further, delivery problems include service pressure during peak periods (Mandovha, 2021), inconsis-
tent food service, poor food quality, frontline employees not having authority to solve a customer’s
problem and understaffed outlets (Chivandi & Maziriri, 2017; Mukucha, 2022). Besides these constraints,
most service providers significantly suffer from ‘jaycustomer’ behaviors (Lovelock, 1994). These are
problematic customers who aim to disrupt the service site or forcibly gain authority over other cus-
tomers and service staff (Harris & Reynolds, 2004; Zemke & Anderson, 1990). It is imperative to observe
that within a Zimbabwean fast food context, service encounter incivility causes significant problems
between frontline staff and customers. This scenario often causes disservice, bad image, financial
losses, production downtime, conflict and in severe cases, physical altercations (Lee & Kim, 2022;
Osborne & Ballantyne, 2012). Although service encounter incivility has been a common phenomenon
 Cogent Business & Management 3

in the service industries globally (Kashif et al., 2017; Lee & Kim, 2022), it remains an under researched
area (Madupalli et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2022), especially in emerging economies such as Zimbabwe.
This situation underscores the need for research that proffers strategies of mitigating dysfunctional
encounters to service providers.
In the best interest of enhancing value co-creation in the fast food service industry in Zimbabwe, this
research examined the effects of service encounter incivility on employee job stress and the subsequent
labor attrition. The first objective was to evaluate the influence of customer incivility on employee inci-
vility. Secondly, this study also aimed to determine the effect of customer incivility on employee job
stress. Further, the study also intended to examine the influence of employee incivility on employee job
stress. The fourth objective was to evaluate the impact of employee job stress on turnover intentions in
the fast food industry. The ultimate objective of the study was to examine the effect of turnover inten-
tions on labor attrition. Model assessment through covariance based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)
in SPSS AMOS positively confirmed the priori hypothesized five causal relationships in the research
model. The positive influence of both customer and employee incivility on employee job stress and its
subsequent effect on turnover intentions and labor attrition were substantiated.
The importance of this research stems from it’s potential to enlighten fast food service providers on
the negative impact of service encounter incivility on employee stress, customer defection, labor turn-
over and hence recruitment and retraining costs. Conceptually, this study was underpinned by the sig-
nificance of value co-creation in the domain of services marketing hence the recommendations of this
research have the ability to educate managers on strategies of improving productivity, customer satisfac-
tion, customer retention, employee satisfaction and employee retention through eliminating bad Moments
Of Truth (MOT) between customers and staff. The research further provides an imperator in the fast food
service industry on the importance of effectively designing and managing customer touch points with
the goal of enhancing both employee and customer retention. The findings of this study may implore
fast food service providers to implement coping strategies for managing jaycustomers, contact staff,
employee job stress and hence mitigate staff attrition.
There are also potential theoretical gains in the advancement of Services Marketing literature as a
result of this research. This study extends empirical work in an under researched subject that has huge
potential to enhance operational efficiency of service providers. The paper adds to studies that employed
the Stressor-Stress-Outcome framework (Koeske & Koeske, 1993) and the emotional labor theory
(Horchschild, 1983) to demonstrate the effects of service encounter incivility on the physical, emotional
and cognitive wellbeing of frontline staff, hence the undesirable behavioral outcomes. Therefore, the
findings of this research validate the theoretical propositions espoused in the two fundamental frame-
works in the domain of Services Marketing, from the perspective of a developing economy. The subse-
quent sections of this paper cover literature review, materials and methods, results, discussion and
implications of the study.

2. Literature review
2.1. Theoretical perspectives
Two fundamental theories in the services marketing domain, the Stressor-Stress-Outcome framework
(SSO) (Koeske & Koeske, 1993) and the emotional labor theory (Horchschild, 1983) are employed. The
Stressor-Stress-Outcome framework has been used to explain the causal link between stressors, stress
and outcomes within service environments (Wang et al., 2022). ‘Objective stressors in the environment
evoke cognitive appraisals about the situation and an individual’s coping responses. The stress appraisal
of the situation induces a strong emotional state and psychological arousal’ (Grandey et al., 2004, p. 399).
Chronic levels of this state result in psychological signs of strain and behavioral outcomes (Kim et al.,
2014). The framework attempts to explain the sequential causal relationships between stressors, stress
and psychological and behavioral outcomes (Bamfo et al., 2018).
The theory underpins this investigation as the stress from misbehaving customers and feelings of
guilty for bad work performance (stressors) cause emotional dissonance and exhaustion on the frontline
employees (stress) often resulting in employee incivility, turnover intentions and labor attrition
4 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

(psychological and behavioral outcomes). This research predicted that both customer incivility and
employee incivility (stressors) during service encounters would positively influence employee job stress
(stress). Further, the study also proposed that employee job stress would influence turnover intentions
and subsequently labor attrition (outcomes). The predicted causal chain of effects perfectly resonates
with the Stressor-Stress-Outcome model that pinpoints that human exposure to stressors such as incivil-
ity at the work place may cause negative emotional effects (stress and burnout) that trigger undesirable
behavioral outcomes such as staff venting and labor turnover.
In support, the emotional labor theory (Horchschild, 1983) explains the effects of the service drama-
turgy common in the services industry. The role and script theories used in the service industry imply
that employees are required to consistently display positive and welcome emotions. Frontline staff is
required to convey the desired customer interface that produces a memorable customer experience
(Lovelock, 2001; Muparangi et al., 2021). The theory has received widespread empirical recognition for
explaining emotional labor influences on contact employees during service encounters (Humphrey et al.,
2015; Madupalli et al., 2014).
In her book, ‘The Managed Heart,’ Horchschild (1983) pinpointed that employees endure emotional
labor when they suppress the ‘felt emotions’ for the ‘expressed emotions’ on the service encounter
(Grandey et al., 2004; Madupalli et al., 2014). Employees suffer from emotional dissonance through
surface and deep acting to convey a courteous and friendly welcome to guest customers on the ser-
vice encounter (Humphrey et al., 2015; Torres et al., 2017). Both customer and employee incivility
often leads to emotional exhaustion and this negatively affects emotional and psychological wellbe-
ing of employees yet they are expected to ‘serve with a smile’ (Muparangi et al., 2021). When contact
staff retaliates to aberrant customer behaviors, the acting, which they are expected to perform to
enhance customer satisfaction, is lost, hence the encounter amounts to value co-destruction. This
phenomenon creates emotional dissonance often leading to employee job stress, quitting intentions
and labor turnover (Kashif & Zarkada, 2015; Wang et al., 2022). Thus, the emotional labor hypothesis
connects to this research by illustrating the impact of customer incivility on emotional labor, hence
the subsequent effect on employee incivility (retaliation), employee job stress, turnover intentions and
labor attrition.

2.2. Conceptual framework

2.2.1. Customer incivility
Customer incivility was defined as unfriendly, impolite and morally unacceptable behavior displayed on
service encounters by a customer (Torres et al., 2017). These are actions by customers who intentionally
or unintentionally, overtly or covertly, act in a manner that in some way disrupts otherwise functional
service encounters (Harris & Reynolds, 2004). Customer incivility is occurs with sincerely aggrieved cus-
tomers who seek redress from contact employees amid service failure but it is more prevalent from
jaycustomers (Lovelock, 1994) who normally intend to cause problems on the service encounter (Bitner
et al., 1994; Zemke & Anderson, 1990). To sufficiently posit their detrimental effect into perspective,
Zemke and Anderson (1990) rightly coined the label ‘customers from hell.’
To depict the diverse uncivil customer behaviors, jaycustomer typologies have been suggested in ser-
vices marketing literature, for example, Zemke and Anderson (1990) identified the ‘egocentric Edgar, big
mouth Betty, hysterical Harold, dictorial Dick and the freeloading Freda.’ This characterisation represents
different uncivil behaviors observed from jaycustomers on service sites across service industries (Lee &
Kim, 2022; Lovelock, 1994). In their paper, ‘The paradigmatic pitfalls of customer centric marketing,’
Osborne and Ballantyne (2012) rigorously outlined the marketing dilemma for service firms amid cus-
tomer misbehaviors and service terrorism.

2.2.2. Employee incivility

Employee incivility refers to the unprofessional and immoral behavior that is conveyed by contact
employees on a service encounter usually in response to uncivil, problematic or suspicious behaviors
from customers (Rahim & Cosby, 2016). Employee incivility to customers has also been conceptualized
 Cogent Business & Management 5

as employee retaliation (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Madupalli et al., 2014) to connote that employee
incivility is a behavioral response to misbehaving customers (Nguyen et al., 2020; Torres et al., 2017).
This could be rage, rude or impatient behavior or simply ignoring customers, or simply bad mouth
(Madupalli et al., 2014). Although these may differ in intensity, harm and intent, they share a common
feature, the violation of social norms, mutual respect and politeness (Chen & Wang, 2018; Wang
et al., 2022).
Although contact employees are trained to deliver customer service excellence (Choi & Joung, 2017),
employees may fail to uphold the expected standards of service etiquette and professional grooming
(Grönroos & Voima, 2013; Kim et al., 2014). Misbehaving customers may provoke frontline staff beyond
their ‘zone of tolerable behavior’ and might create conflict (Madupalli et al., 2014). However, notwith-
standing the challenges associated with serving misbehaving customers, incivility to customers is a hin-
drance on the service firm (Choi & Joung, 2017) because of its effects on other customers, production
downtime, negative word of mouth, bad publicity, job satisfaction and tension between management
and staff (Bamfo et al., 2018; Torres et al., 2017).

2.2.3. Employee job stress

Dysfunctional behaviors from both customers and frontline employees are both unwanted experiences
(Torres et al., 2017). Employee job stress is defined as the emotional burnout suffered by an employee
on the job (Kim, 2019; Koeske & Koeske, 1993). Thus, chronic levels of dysfunctional encounters may lead
to emotional dissonance and emotional exhaustion. It is mainly characterized by emotional blackouts,
exhaustion, low self-esteem, regret, anger, low energy, intolerance, impatience, weariness and feelings of
guilty (Kim et al., 2014; Rupp & Spencer, 2006).
Employee job stress may also result in poor communication, absenteeism, poor time keeping, disre-
gard for positive job outcomes, loss of concentration, lack of energy and a general lack of concern about
the job or service firm (Rupp & Spencer, 2006; Wang et al., 2022). Employee job stress can also lead to
significant consequences such as errors or even accidents at the service site (Kim, 2019). Employee job
stress reduces productivity and raises costs for the service provider hence it is undesirable for both the
employer and the employee (Echeverri et al., 2012).

2.2.4. Turnover intentions

Turnover intentions were defined as desire to leave an employer due to unfavourable working conditions
or other pertinent circumstances whilst an employee is still engaged on the job (Bamfo et al., 2018; G.
Kim et al., 2014). In contemporary literature, turnover intentions have been conceptualized as ‘quiet quit-
ting’ (Wang et al., 2022). Quiet quitting describes a situation where an employee has taken a conscious
decision to leave the employer in the near future or produce just the minimum needed to fulfill the
requirements of their jobs (Madupalli et al., 2014). Turnover intentions are characterized by low motiva-
tion, job dissatisfaction, cognitive dissonance, fading job morale, diminishing productivity, lack of initia-
tive and employee role conflict (Deery et al., 2011; Namin et al., 2022).

2.2.5. Labor attrition

Labor attrition has been defined as the act of quitting or leaving an employer (Namin et al., 2022; Oyet
et al., 2020). Whilst turnover intentions represent an individual conscious consensus to leave a company
at any point, labor attrition represents the action. Staff attrition denotes the breaking point of the rela-
tionship between an employer and an employee (Deery et al., 2011). In conventional literature, labor
attrition has also been conceptualized as labor or staff turnover (Oyet et al., 2020). Frontline labor attri-
tion is costly for the employer due to the costs of talent acquisition, skilling and training, time allocated
to re-training, loss of seasoned customers, resource constraints and labor bottlenecks especially in devel-
oping countries where skilled labor often relocate for better working conditions and career advancement
in developed countries. Boundary spanning jobs are usually low paying jobs but highly demanding and
the situation is worsened in developing economies because of significant resource limitations (Bamfo
et al., 2018; Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Namin et al., 2022).
6 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

2.3. Development of hypotheses

2.3.1. Customer incivility, employee incivility and employee job stress
Customer incivility significantly affects the functioning of the servicescape (Kashif & Zarkada, 2015). ‘A
servicescape is the environment in which the service is assembled, where the customer and the service
firm interact, combined with the tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of
the service’ (Booms & Bitner, 1981, p. 36). Customer misbehaviors negatively affect the emotional stability
of the contact employee during service encounters (Chen & Wang, 2018). When contact staff fail to man-
age their emotions, employee incivility, tension and confrontation may erupt (Wang et al., 2022). It brings
panic, uncertainty and fear to other customers and staff (Bamfo et al., 2018). Customer incivility halts
productivity and threatens the jobs of the frontline employees and their relationships with the supervi-
sory management (Echeverri et al., 2012; Kashif et al., 2017).
Left uncontrolled, customer incivility may cause damage to the service site and equipment (Hu et al.,
2017; Kim et al., 2014). This exerts pressure on the contact employee, leading to dissonance, retaliation
and employee job stress (Grandey et al., 2004). In severe cases, most service firms reinstate themselves
from their employees’ earnings (Kim, 2019). Management may penalise their contact staff for disrupting
a functional service encounter (Madupalli et al., 2014; Muparangi et al., 2021). Extant literature provides
empirical evidence supporting the positive influence of customer incivility on employee incivility and
employee job stress (Chen & Wang, 2018; Kashif et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2014; Torres et al., 2017). Given
the foregoing discussion, the study hypothesized that;
H1: Customer incivility towards employees has a positive effect on employee incivility.

H2: Customer incivility towards employees has a positive effect on employee job stress.

2.3.2. Employee incivility and employee job stress

Employee incivility causes emotional dissonance and exhaustion on the contact employee (Bamfo et al.,
2018; Madupalli et al., 2014). Service employees are often pushed beyond their zone of tolerance, losing
their professional behavior and usually causing conflict (Lee & Kim, 2022; Thai et al., 2020). However, with
perfect knowledge of the expectations of their jobs and customer promises made by the service pro-
vider to the customers, contact employees assume responsibility for widening the ‘delivery gap’
(Parasuraman et al., 1985). The delivery gap was conceptualized and popularized in the ‘Gap Model’ of
service quality. It is defined as the deviation between what the service provider ‘promises’ through mar-
keting communications and what they actually deliver in service encounters (Grönroos, 2011; Harris &
Daunt, 2013; Osborne & Ballantyne, 2012; Parasuraman et al., 1985).
Taking responsibility for failing to deliver in a moment of truth or critical incident (Bitner et al., 1994; Booms
& Bitner, 1981), invites emotional dissonance, coupled by pressure from management, it culminates into
employee job stress (Kim et al., 2014; Kim, 2019). A moment of truth is defined as any opportunity that the
service provider is presented to showcase their products and services to a customer (Bitner et al., 1994). It is a
valuable opportunity lost by the service provider to excel in front of the customer and win their share of the
wallet (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020). Boundary spanning employees are often subjected to feelings of guilt, inad-
equacy and anger for letting down their employer. Several studies support the relationship between employee
incivility and employee job stress (Hu et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2014; Kim, 2019; Madupalli et al., 2014; Rahim &
Cosby, 2016). Given the empirical standpoint, this paper also hypothesized that;
H3: Employee incivility towards customers has a positive effect on employee job stress.

2.3.3. Employee job stress and turnover intentions

Employee job stress is a negative emotional condition suffered by an employee, in this context, resulting
from service counter incivility (Echeverri et al., 2012). It reduces productivity, job satisfaction, group cohe-
sion, employee morale, employee motivation and thus it increases conflict with co-workers and supervi-
sors, absenteeism, propensity to make errors and be prone to accidents (Kim et al., 2014; Kim, 2019; Thai
et al., 2020). Employee job stress invites feelings of departure and considerations for contemplating to
try new work environments (Deery et al., 2011). In most cases, job stress causes emotional burnout
which in turn causes detachment with the current job (Namin et al., 2022).
 Cogent Business & Management 7

Furthermore, observable characteristics of job stress caution management to monitor boundary span-
ners, which also evokes intentions to quit (Mulki et al., 2008; Muparangi et al., 2021). Because most front-
line services are high contact, they demand high levels of concentration and job stress makes it hard for
the contact employee to cope (Kim et al., 2014), hence they are inclined to quit (Bamfo et al., 2018; Namin
et al., 2022). Turnover intentions have been conceptualised as quiet quitting, describing an employee who
has consciously decided to give the very least possible to the employer whilst actively considering job
opportunities elsewhere (Wang et al., 2022). Several studies confirm the positive effect of employee job
stress on quitting intentions (Bamfo et al., 2018; Kashif & Zarkada, 2015; Mulki et al., 2008; Torres et al.,
2017). Given the empirical insights drawn from literature, the study also hypothesized that;
H4: Employee job stress has a positive effect on turnover intentions.

2.3.5. Turnover intentions and labor attrition

Whilst turnover intentions describe the position of a consciously agreed desire to leave an employer,
labor attrition represents the action to actually do so (Chen & Wang, 2018). Staff attrition usually encap-
sulates a significant exodus of employees from a company or industry for new opportunities (Bani-Melhem
et al., 2020; Deery et al., 2011). Service counter incivility, employee job stress have been observed to
culminate into a decision to terminate the relationship with the service provider (Rahim & Cosby, 2016).
Turnover marks the final straw on the engagement between service provider and the contact employee
(Nauman et al., 2022; Torres et al., 2017).
Several studies have revealed the positive influence of turnover intentions and labor attrition (Deery
et al., 2011; Mulki et al., 2008; Oyet et al., 2020). Employees who have already left the organization men-
tally are the most likely to quit the employer (Chen & Wang, 2018; Namin et al., 2022). The influence of
turnover intentions on staff attrition has been observed in previous studies (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020;
Mulki et al., 2008; Mutenheri & Nhema, 2016; Rahim & Cosby, 2016). Cognisant of this overwhelming
empirical support, this paper also hypothesised that (Figure 1);
H5: Turnover intentions have a positive effect on labor attrition.

3. Materials and methods

3.1. Research design
The study sought to examine causal relationships in a hypothesized model, thus, guided by the positiv-
ism research paradigm, an explanatory research design was adopted (Saunders et al., 2018). The study
employed deductive reasoning through a quantitative research approach (Cressweell & Plano-Clark, 2018).

Figure 1. Hypothesised research model.

Source: Authors’ construction.
8 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

3.2. Measures
The measurement scales used in the study were adopted from literature (Saunders et al., 2018; Zikmund
et al., 2013). A 7-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used to measure research
constructs. These were conceptualised as customer incivility (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020), employee incivil-
ity (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020), employee job stress (G. Kim, 2019), turnover intentions (Bamfo et al., 2018)
and labor attrition (Oyet et al., 2020). A pretest was conducted using a student sample of 20 participants
(Saunders et al., 2018).

3.3. Population and sampling

The study targeted frontline employees in the fast food service providers in Harare, Zimbabwe. The tar-
get groups were contact staff deployed at Point Of Sale (POS), food delivery, cleaning and security oper-
atives. This study was based on a sample from 14 fast food service providers. A simple random sampling
procedure was employed to select the participants (Cressweell & Plano-Clark, 2018). Sample size deter-
mination was influenced by sizes used in similar studies, statistical factors and resource considerations
(Barger & Grandey, 2006). To obtain responses, 304 questionnaires were hand delivered and 271 were
returned, giving a reliable response rate of 89.14% (Cressweell & Plano-Clark, 2018; Saunders et al., 2018).

3.4. Data collection procedures and ethical compliance

Compliant to research ethics stipulated by the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ), permission was
sought from the food service providers. The purpose of the study was shared and participation was
voluntary. Privacy and confidentiality of participants were strictly assured. To ensure that the survey did
not interfere with the productivity, the questionnaires were delivered and collected after one week. Data
was collected in October and November 2022.

3.5. Data analysis methods

The study used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in AMOS
(used under IBM copyright license) to estimate parameters in the hypothesized model (Anderson &
Gerbin, 1988). The model fit indices used in this study were absolute fit indices and incremental fit indi-
ces. Convergent validity was examined using Average Variance Extracted (AVE > 0.5) (Hair et al., 2010),
discriminant validity was examined using the Fornell-Lacker (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) criterion (square
root of AVE > any correlation between the construct and any other construct in the model) and internal
consistency was checked using composite reliability (>0.7) (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). The study also
examined incidences of Common Methods Variance (CMV). Harman’s single factor test was employed
where the variance explained by one factor was examined. Comparing the model fit for the 5 factor
model to the one factor model in CFA also substantiated prior EFA results (Podsakoff et al., 2003).

4. Results
4.1. Sample characterisation
The gender composition of the study had interesting findings as it revealed that 61% of the contact
employees were female. These findings lean to the proposition by the physical attraction theory (Baker
& Churchill, 1977) that most frontline roles in the service industries are occupied by young and attractive
female staff, relative to their male counterparts. Furthermore, the age structure of the group reflected
that the young and physically active age groups dominated the sample, given the highly demanding
frontline jobs. The 18–25 age group had 46%, while the 26–33 age group comprised 28.9%, and the
34–41 age group made 15% of the group. The remaining 10.1% was occupied by the 42–49 segment. In
terms of education, 51.5% revealed that they had attained a first degree whilst 18.2% had diplomas and
the remaining 28.3% revealed that they had completed their Ordinary level education.
 Cogent Business & Management 9

4.2. Prevalence of service counter incivility in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe
The prevalence of service counter incivility in the fast food industry was explored. Interestingly, 61.7%
reported that they had a gross misunderstanding with a customer at least once a fortnight whilst 15.3%
revealed that they had conflict with a customer at least twice weekly. This suggests the high levels of
service encounter problems in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe. The factors that accounted for dual
incivility customers were aggressive customers (46.1%), customers jumping queues (21.5%), point of sale
failures (14.3%), slow food delivery (9.4%) and poor food quality (8.7%). The study also sought the prev-
alence of conflict with supervisors. The results revealed that 39% of the service staff had conflict with
their supervisors over clashes with customers at least twice in a month whilst 23.6% indicated that they
had conflict with a superior for the same reason at least once a fortnight. The findings reflect high inci-
dences of supervisee-supervisor tension from service encounter incivility in the fast food service industry
in Zimbabwe.

4.3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Following the recommendations of Anderson and Gerbin (1988), a two-step procedure was followed to
estimate the parameters. These were Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) followed by Structural Equation
Modelling (SEM). Using maximum likelihood estimation, all observed variables in the measurement model
produced good loading above 0.7 (Hair et al., 2010; Kline, 2016). However, the model fit indicated that
there were discrepancies between hypothesized model variance-covariance matrix and the sample
variance-covariance matrix (Byrne, 2013; Kline, 2016). The normed Chi Square (x2/df ) was 5.04, Root Mean
Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was 0.284, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) was 0.890 and the
Standardised Root Mean Residual (SRMR) was 0.187. On the relative fit indices, the Incremental Fit Index
(IFI) was 0.926, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) was 0.930 whilst the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) was 0.924.
Inspection of the standardized residual covariance matrix resulted in deletion of CIN1, CIN6, EIN5, TIN1
and LAT1 (Byrne, 2013). The result was a respecified model with a very good fit as the x2/df was 2.59,
GFI= 0.928, RMSEA= 0.07, SRMR= 0.037, IFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.964 and CFI = 0.968 (Byrne, 2013; Hair
et al., 2010).
A CFA procedure for Harman’s single factor test showed that the 5 factor CFA model produced a superior
model fit (CMIN =414. 79, df = 160, x2/df = 2.59, GFI= 0.928, RMSEA= 0.07, SRMR= 0.037, IFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.964
and CFI = 0.968), compared to the single factor model (CMIN = 1864.47, df = 170, x2/df = 10.96, GFI= 0.500,
RMSEA= 0.198, SRMR= 0.113, IFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.964 and CFI = 0.968). An EFA procedure also showed that
the factor with the highest variance explained had less than the 50% (31.02%). Based on these findings, CMV
was not a problem in this research (Hair et al., 2010; Podsakoff et al., 2003).
Convergent validity was examined using Average Variance Extracted (AVE). According to Hair et al.
(2010), the AVE should be at least 0.5 to confirm convergent validity. Results in Table 1 illustrate that the
lowest AVE was 0.643 on Customer Incivility (CIN) whilst the highest was 0.807 on Labor Attrition (LAT).
The standardized factor loadings were greater than 0.7 and statistically significant (p < 0.001), hence con-
vergent validity was present (Kline, 2016). Furthermore, the squared multiple correlations were all were
greater than 0.5 (Holmes-Smith, 2001), as shown in Table 1. Construct reliability was examined using
composite reliability. All values were greater than 0.7, with the lowest being 0.878 and the highest being
0.926, thus construct reliability was satisfied (Hair et al., 2010; Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). Based on the
criteria set by Fornell and Larcker (1981), the square root of the AVE of a construct should be greater
than any correlation between the construct and any other in the model. Results in Table 2 confirm that
correlations were all less than the square roots of the AVEs hence discriminant validity was present (Hair
et al., 2010).

4.4. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)

In order to examine structural relationships between the constructs, SEM was used to estimate parame-
ters (Anderson & Gerbin, 1988; Byrne, 2013). However, prior to SEM the requirement of normality was
checked. The values for did not surpass thresholds, −2 to +2 for skewness and −7 to +7 for kurtosis (Hair
et al., 2010), thus the requirement of univariate normality was satisfied. To determine multivariate
10 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

Table 1. Psychometric properties of the measurement model.

Squared multiple Average variance
Construct/observed variable Standardised factor loading correlations extracted Composite reliability
Customer Incivility 0.643 0.878
CIN2 0.715*** 0.512
CIN3 0.792*** 0.628
CIN4 0.842*** 0.708
CIN5 0.852*** 0.726
Employee Incivility 0.701 0.903
EIN1 0.816*** 0.665
EIN2 0.867*** 0.752
EIN3 0.851*** 0.725
EIN4 0.813*** 0.661
Employee Job Stress 0.697 0.920
EJS1 0.821*** 0.675
EJS2 0.825*** 0.681
EJS3 0.837*** 0.701
EJS4 0.847*** 0.717
EJS5 0.845*** 0.714
Turnover Intentions 0.730 0.915
TIN2 0.810*** 0.656
TIN3 0.843*** 0.711
TIN4 0.909*** 0.827
TIN5 0.853*** 0.728
Labor Attrition 0.807 0.926
LAT2 0.861*** 0.741
LAT3 0.880*** 0.774
LAT4 0.952*** 0.907
Notes. Standardised loadings marked.
***
Denotes p < 0.001.
Source. Survey Data.

Table 2. Assessment of discriminant validity.

Construct R2 1 2 3 4 5
Customer Incivility (1) 0.802
Employee Incivility (2) 0.787 0.773 0.837
Employee Job Stress (3) 0.528 0.712 0.666 0.835
Turnover Intentions (4) 0.303 0.566 0.472 0.525 0.854
Labor Attrition (5) 0.375 0.472 0.358 0.408 0.608 0.899
Notes. Bolded values the diagonal are Square roots of AVEs; constructs correlations are below the diagonal; R2: Squared Multiple Correlations.
Source. Survey Data.

normality, the Mardia’s criteria was used. It is a standard measure of multivariate normality and this study
obtained 101.56. This value was less that the recommended value (p(p + 2) (where p = total number of
observed variables/indicators). In this study, p = 20, hence 20(20 + 2) = 440, thus requirement of multivar-
iate normality was satisfied (Raycov & Malcoulides, 2008).
The structural model was evaluated on three important criterion (Hair et al., 2010). Firstly, the model
fit was examined. The SEM model (Figure 2) produced a good fitting model evidenced by a normed Chi
Square of 2.67, RMSEA= 0.08, SRMR = 0.06, GFI = 0.924, IFI = 0.958, TLI = 0.970 and CFI = 0.958. According
to Kline (2016) and Hair et al. (2010), there was evidence of a good fitting SEM model. Secondly, the
model was evaluated based on the estimates produced on the causal paths (Anderson & Gerbin, 1988;
Byrne, 2013; Hair et al., 2010). The causal path between customer incivility and employee incivility was
of greatest impact in the model and it was statistically significant. This was confirmed by a path estimate
of 0.942 (standardized =0.887), a t-statistic of +14.282 and p < 0.001. Given the results, the resultant
hypothesis, H1, gained empirical support. The results were evident of the significant effect of customer
aggression on employee incivility or retaliation to aberrant customers.
The path between customer incivility and employee job stress had an estimate of 0.646 (standardised=
0.593), a t-statistic of +10.590 and p < 0.001, thus the t-value was significantly different from zero. As a
result, the proposed hypothesis H2 was supported. The results confirmed the positive impact of jaycus-
tomer behavior on employee job stress, burnout and job dissatisfaction. In a fast food industry, customer
misbehavior proved to significantly influence emotional stress and burnout on contact staff.
Furthermore, the causal path between employee incivility and employee job stress was also signifi-
cant. A coefficient of 0.152 (standardized= 0.148), t-statistic of +3.166 and p < 0.05 (0.03) were
 Cogent Business & Management 11

confirmatory of the positive effect of employee incivility on employee job stress. As a result, the hypoth-
esis which was proposed on the two variables, H3, was also accepted. The results supported that contact
staff suffer from psychological stress from the active role in dysfunctional service encounters or value
co-destruction with problematic customers.
The study also hypothesized that employee job stress positively influenced turnover intentions, in H4.
The corresponding path estimate was 0.593 (standardized= 0.550), t-statistic was +8.643 and the p < 0.001.
This evidence provided the basis for accepting H4, confirming the positive effect of employee job stress
on turnover intentions. The findings support that chronic levels of emotional burnout trigger employee
quitting intentions in search of job satisfaction and improved welfare.
Lastly, the paper also hypothesized that turnover intentions positively affected labor attrition in the
fast food industry. A path estimate of 0.479 (standardized= 0.613), a t-statistic of +10.001 and p < 0.001
were confirmatory of the positive and significant impact of turnover intentions on labor attrition in the
fast food industry in Zimbabwe. The results confirm that with strong efficacy of stress coping mecha-
nisms, employee turnover intentions culminate into labor attrition. As a result, hypothesis H4 was also
supported. The outcomes of hypothesis testing are shown in Table 3.
Lastly, the structural model was assessed in terms of its explanatory power (Al-Fraihat et al., 2020; Hair
et al., 2010) (Table 2; Figure 2). The significant influence of customer incivility on employee incivility was
evident (R Square= 0.787). The results in Figure 2 also confirm that customer incivility and employee
incivility jointly explained 52.8% variability in employees job stress (R Square = 0.528). This evidence
supports the significance of service counter incivility on employee job stress in the fast food industry.
More so, employee job stress accounted for 30.3% of the variability in turnover intentions (R Square =
0.303). This also reflects that 30.3% of the turnover intentions in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe
were explained by employee job stress. Lastly, turnover intentions explained 37.5% of the variability in

Table 3. Results of hypothesis testing.

Hypothesised relationship Estimate Standardised C.R p Value Result
H1: CIN→EIN 0.942 0.887 14.282 *** Supported
H2: CIN→EJS 0.646 0.593 10.590 *** Supported
H3: EIN→EJS 0.152 0.148 3.166 0.03 Supported
H4: EJS→TIN 0.593 0.550 8.643 *** Supported
H5: TIN→LAT 0.479 0.613 10.001 *** Supported
Notes. CIN: Customer Incivility; EIN: Employee Incivility; EJS: Employee Job Stress; TIN: Turnover Intentions; LAT: Labor Attrition; p values rep-
resented by three asterisks (***) <0.001.
Source. Survey Data.

Figure 2. The Structural Model.

Source. Survey Data. Notes. Estimates denoted by three asterisks (***) were significant at p < 0.001; two asterisks (**) means p < 0.05.
12 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

labor attrition in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe (R Square = 0.375). The ability to confirm theoreti-
cally grounded relationships among constructs reflected the nomological validity of the model (Hagger
et al., 2017).

4.5. Discussion
Service counter incivility in an undesirable experience for both frontline employees and customers across
service industries. The current study brings a new layer of empirical findings on an under researched
subject from an emerging economy. Despite the negative consequences associated with dysfunctional
service encounters, uncivil behaviors are still a worryingly evident phenomenon for service providers
globally. The findings of the study confirmed that customer incivility significantly causes employee inci-
vility (H1) on the service encounter (β = 0.942, p < 0.001). Results suggest that customer misbehavior has
the greatest propensity to cause employee incivility on the service encounter (R square = 0.757). Whilst
most researchers dwelled on the effect of customer incivility on emotional dissonance, emotional exhaus-
tion and job satisfaction (Chen & Wang, 2018; Kim et al., 2014; Kim, 2019; Muparangi et al., 2021), similar
results have been reported in fewer studies (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Kashif et al., 2017; Madupalli et al.,
2014; Torres et al., 2017). The paper thus adds interesting findings on service encounter dynamics in
services marketing literature.
The relationship between customer incivility and employee job stress (H2) was positive and significant
(β = 0.646, p < 0.001), consistent with literature (Kashif & Zarkada, 2015; Kim et al., 2014; Kim, 2019; Torres
et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2022). The current findings indicate that chronic levels of customer misbehaviors
cause emotional dissonance on the contact employee (combined R squared = 0.548). Given the findings
that uncivil customer behaviors lead to negative cognitive and behavioral outcomes, there is positive
confirmation on the validity of the Stressor-Stress Outcome (SSO) framework (Koeske & Koeske, 1993).
The findings support existing evidence observed in developed economies that uncivil customer behav-
iors lead to employee job stress, from a fast food service context in an emerging economy.
While most studies have dominantly reported high incidences of customer incivility in the service
industry, the current study adds to the few to confirm the effect of employee incivility on their job stress
(H3) (combined R square = 0.528). Although the study observed the customer as the key value destruc-
tor, there is evidence that employee incivility prevails, albeit with a relatively less effect on employee job
stress (β = 0.152, p = 0.03). This could be explained by the controlled behavior in a service environment
(Horchschild, 1983), customer orientated culture (Osborne & Ballantyne, 2012) and training (Nguyen
et al., 2020) directed to employees occupying boundary spanning roles (Kashif & Zarkada, 2015). The
study leans to the observation that emotional labor (Horchschild, 1983), stressors (Koeske & Koeske,
1993) and emotional dissonance (Madupalli et al., 2014) during service encounters culminate into psy-
chological and behavioral outcomes. The current findings have also been reported in other service con-
texts (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Huang, 2008; Madupalli et al., 2014; Oyet et al., 2020).
The study also examined the effect of employee job stress on turnover intentions (H4). The current
findings support the positive effect of employee job stress on turnover intentions (R square = 0.303,
β = 0.593, p < 0.001). Employees suffer from emotional burnout in dysfunctional encounters with custom-
ers and this results employee job stress (G. Kim et al., 2014). These findings are not a new phenomenon
having been reported in similar studies (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Deery et al., 2011; Oyet et al., 2020).
Findings suggest that employees place value job accomplishment and satisfaction, thus employee job
stress triggers quitting intentions as observed in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe.
Support of H5 validates the priori-hypothesised effect of turnover intentions on the labor turnover on
the service provider. The findings from this paper support the positive effect of turnover intentions and
labor attrition in the fast food industry in Zimbabwe (β = 0.479, p < 0.001). The results suggest that when
an employee consciously decides to leave whilst on the job, the likelihood of labor turnover is high.
These findings are not alien, turnover intentions have been observed to influence labor attrition in
diverse job environments not only in the service industry (Mulki et al., 2008; Oyet et al., 2020). However,
through successful employee recovery, employees with turnover intentions have been found to develop
loyalty towards their employer (Kashif et al., 2017; Rahim & Cosby, 2016). The observation leans to service
recovery paradox, within a customer recovery context (Edström et al., 2022). Despite these propositions,
 Cogent Business & Management 13

most service providers in developing economies face labor attrition due to poor employee recovery
strategies, poor employee engagement and resource constraints (Bani-Melhem et al., 2020; Oyet
et al., 2020).

5. Conclusions, implications, recommendations and future research directions

5.1. Conclusions
The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of service encounter incivility on employee
job stress, turnover intent and labor turnover. In the light of the findings discussed above, the study
concludes that both customer incivility and employee incivility are key antecedents of employee job
stress. More so, employee job stress significantly causes turnover intentions and labor attrition of front-
line staff. Although incivility on the service encounter is counterproductive across diverse service con-
texts, this research notes that conflict between customers and contact staff may as well be inevitable if
both employees and customers are not enlightened of their critical roles in the successful performance
of the service. The study flags the costly effects of dysfunctional service encounters on labor turnover
and this underscores the need for service providers to devise ways of nuetralising uncivil behaviors in
service environments to maximize both customer and employee satisfaction in the fast food service
industry in Zimbabwe. Thus, this paper also concludes that both customers and employees are integral
parts in the performance of the service and hence service providers should target to achieve employee
and customer collaboration on the servicescape.

5.2. Theoretical implications

The paper advances theory in Services Marketing from the perspective of a fast growing service industry
in an emerging economy. The study extends contributions to literature that validated the Stressor-Stress-
Outcome (SSO) framework (Koeske & Koeske, 1993) and the Emotional labor theory (Horchschild, 1983).
The study brought confirmation on the underlying premise espoused in both theories that the nature
and demands of boundary spanning jobs may cause chronic emotional stress that unravels into undesir-
able psychological and behavioral coping responses such as employee retaliation, job dissatisfaction,
quitting intentions and staff attrition.
Whilst several theoretical frameworks (e.g. the emotional labor theory (Horchschild, 1983), the
Stressor-Stress-Outcome framework (Koeske & Koeske, 1993), transactional model of stress (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984) and the occupational stress model (Spector & Goh, 2001) have been employed to inves-
tigate the employee-customer incivility and psychological-behavioral outcome nexus, extant literature
recognizes aberrant behaviors as a vice on the service encounter. This study evokes key theoretical con-
notations in the marketing of services particularly on the linkage between emotional labor, customer
incivility, and employee incivility as well as their behavioral and psychological responses.
Recent studies (e.g. Groth and Esmaeilikia (2023), Gustiawan et al. (2023), Kim et al. (2023), Muparangi
et al. (2021) and Shapoval (2019) confirm that deep and surface acting (Grandey, 2000) may normally
cause customer satisfaction. However, in line with current findings, these studies also show that service
encounter incivility causes severe job stress and quitting behaviors when dealing with jaycustomers
(Lovelock, 1994), customers from hell (Zemke & Anderson, 1990), problem customers (Bitner et al., 1994)
or dysfunctional customers (Harris & Reynolds, 2004). This study probes future research to draw models
that evaluate service encounter related stressors so that remedial frameworks are drawn. From Maslach
and Jackson (1984) burnout scale (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplish-
ment), it is imperative to draw proactive models that address burnout of frontline employees in a service
context.
Based on the theories of the study, the research also demonstrates that when coupled with jaycus-
tomer behaviors, frontline jobs inherently pose a greater propensity for contact staff to move between
jobs in order to ease emotional burnout and retain lost job satisfaction, achievement and job fulfillment.
Interestingly, despite extant services marketing theory popularizing the ‘zone of tolerance’ from only a
customer satisfaction perspective (Kettinger & Lee, 2005), this study strongly suggests it has a two-fold
14 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

application, implying that if a customer misbehaves beyond the contact employee’s ‘zone of tolerable
behavior’, the situation culminates into a dysfunctional service encounter (value co-destruction). The
study also delves into mainstream marketing theory postulating that employee satisfaction and good
internal marketing are critical for the ideal performance of the service encounter. This notion presents a
holistic subscription to the dual value creation or value co-creation process during service encounters.

5.3. Practical implications

The study bears important implications for the fast food industry and related service industries. The
paper enlightens service providers on the nature of service encounter incivility and its underlying dimen-
sions. This capacitates service managers with a valuable toolkit needed to manage conflicts between
frontline employees and guest customers. Furthermore, managers can use this research to understand
the highly demanding nature of boundary spanning roles and design strategies to nuetralise the out-
sized emotional burnout that contact staff endure during difficult service encounters.
The study also flags the importance of understanding service encounter problems from the view-
points of both the customer and the contact employee. More so, this paper makes it imperative for
managers to design strategies of managing the service encounter by emphasizing the welfare of both
customers and contact staff. Stress coping methods are needed especially where job stress has demon-
strated to be a strong antecedent of quitting intentions and labor turnover. As a reactive measure for
mitigating employee job stress, this paper hopes that fast food service providers implement effective
employee recovery strategies (Edström et al., 2022) and potentially benefit from an ‘internal service
recovery paradox.’ It would be intriguing to explore whether job satisfaction for ‘recovered employees’
would surpass those unexposed to any customer deviance. Further, due to costs attached to recruitment
and retraining, this study connotes important implications to service providers hence pathways for staff
retention are imperative. The recommendations proffered in this paper can further capacitate managers
with ways to cordially manage service encounters. In order to mitigate counterproductive behaviors on
service encounters and labor attrition, the paper proffers recommendations detailed below.

5.4. Recommendations
Informed by the findings, managers should educate and train employees to use emotional intelligence
(Kashif et al., 2017) and a customer centric approach (Foder, 2020) in service encounters to eradicate
conflict. Providers should instill a culture of customer excellence, self-sacrifice and organizational citizen-
ship (Nauman et al., 2022). Service providers should also clearly communicate service procedures, instruc-
tions and penalties to customers that regulate the service site or physical service environment (Bitner
et al., 1994). Customers should know the expectations and guidelines for consuming the service and
stipulated penalties for disservice. Managers may also consider empowering boundary spanning employ-
ees to make decisions that facilitate their interaction with guest customers (Grönroos & Voima, 2013;
Lovelock, 2001). Employee empowerment reduces conflict between customers and employees, speeds up
delivery and promotes organizational citizenship behavior (Nauman et al., 2022).
Service providers should consider introducing reward schemes which incentivize customer service
excellence and productivity (Choi & Joung, 2017). This strategy disincentivises employee retaliation to
uncivil customer behavior. More so, reward strategies of boundary spanning employees should be moti-
vating to compensate for the emotional burnout inherent in frontline jobs. Service providers should
mainstream effective internal marketing (Thai et al., 2020). Managers should also develop employee sup-
port programmes for contact staff to help them manage emotional burnout and job stress (Namin et al.,
2022). This can help to improve job satisfaction, mental and physical health, organizational harmony and
staff tenure (Grönroos & Voima, 2013).
More so, service providers should invest in self-service technologies for high contact services that
can be delivered on alternative platforms and outlets (De Keyser et al., 2018). The strategy reduces
customer contacts per employee and promotes productivity. Advanced hi-tech investment in needed
to support network based transactions to reduce incidences of failed card and mobile money transac-
tions in Zimbabwe. Additionally, introducing ABC class service that segments customers by value can
 Cogent Business & Management 15

enhance productivity. Foder (2020) insisted on service firms ‘focusing’ on the right customers for stra-
tegic advantage. This helps to enhance productivity and profitability on key customer segments.
Service providers may consider raising prices to terminate relationships with problematic and low
value customers and segment their customer centric strategies by value profile and loyalty (Osborne
& Ballantyne, 2012).

5.5. Limitations and future study

The adoption of a non-student sample, robust statistical analysis, investigation of an under researched
subject and the perspective of an emerging economy are some of the rich products of this research.
However, the study was not without limitations, which avail prospects for future studies. The current
study modelled the direct effects between customer incivility, employee incivility, employee job stress,
turnover intentions and labor attrition. Possible moderating variables such as emotional intelligence, cus-
tomer education, self-service technologies, customer-centric culture and motivational strategies to reduce
dysfunctional service encounters (Chen & Wang, 2018; Kashif et al., 2017; Nauman et al., 2022).
Secondly, employee incivility has been recognized as a coping response to customer incivility in the
fast food service industry. However, the research model did not examine how the possible moderation
effects could actually be used by service providers as strategy of mitigating jaycustomer behaviors.
Future studies might explore how service providers may consider employee retaliation as a coping
response to mitigate customer misbehavior, job stress and labor attrition.
Furthermore, the study employed a mono-quantitative approach in generating findings. However,
quantitative research does not account for the true lived experiences of research participants. To gain
deer insights on the nature and effects of service encounter incivility, future studies may adopt mixed
methods to enhance the quality of the research findings (Cressweell & Plano-Clark, 2018). Methods such
as observation and depth interviews can enhance understanding the research phenomenon from a nat-
uralistic view (Saunders et al., 2018).
Lastly, the study was conducted from the perspective of frontline employees. Other key players to the
success of service encounter were not involved. To gain a holistic understanding of dysfunctional encoun-
ters and their effects to all stakeholders, future research on service encounter incivility may consider
incorporating supervisors’, service managers’ and customer perspectives. More so, this research was con-
ducted in the context of the fast food industry hence the generalization boundaries of the conclusions
remain to be addressed in future research.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the participants for their support and the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable
contributions to this study.

Author contributions
Conception and design: PD; Collection, analysis and interpretation of the data: PD and PM; Drafting of the paper:
PD; Critical revision for intellectual content: PM; Final approval of the version to be published: PD and PM. All authors
agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. All listed authors meet the criteria for authorship as per the
ICMJE guidelines (PD: Phillip Dangaiso; PM: Paul Mukucha).

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

About the authors

Phillip Dangaiso is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing at Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe. A
research enthusiast, multi-award winner and sustainability advocate, his research work spans from Services Marketing,
Green Marketing, Social Marketing and Relationship Marketing. This research is one of the recent projects within his
16 P. DANGAISO AND P. MUKUCHA

research consortium. Having been in the academia since 2018, he also served as a Marketing and Accounting pro-
fessional in big corporates in Zimbabwe between 2009 and 2017.
Paul Mukucha (PhD) is a senior lecturer and Chairperson of the Department of Marketing, Bindura University of
Science Education, Zimbabwe. He is a seasoned researcher and academic par excellency with research publications
in high impact journals. With over 10 years lectureship in Services Marketing, this research presents one of his
co-authored projects. His interests are in Services Marketing, Brand Management, Purchasing and Supply Chain
Management.

ORCID
Phillip Dangaiso http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4495-0601
Paul Mukucha http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6264-6574

Data availability statement

The materials and data used in this research will be availed by the authors upon a reasonable request.

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