Sandy Hershcovis, U of Calgary Haskayne School of Business

In three experiments, we examined how customers react after witnessing a fellow customer mistreat an employee. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment that examined real customer reactions to witnessed incivility in the context of a fast-food restaurant. In Study 2, we replicated Study 1 findings in an on-line vignette experiment, and extended it by examining perpetrator outcomes, and anger and empathy as mediators of perpetrator- and target-directed outcomes. In Study 3, we investigated the extent to which employee reactions to incivility influences witness reactions. Drawing on the deontic model of justice, we argued and found that customer incivility towards employees leads witnesses (i.e., other customers) to leave larger tips, to engage in supportive employee-directed behaviors, and to evaluate employees more positively (Studies 1 and 2). We also found that witnesses develop negative treatment intentions and retaliatory intensions towards perpetrators, with anger mediating the perpetrator-focused outcomes and empathy mediating the target-focused outcomes (Study 2). In Study 3, we demonstrate that employees who respond to mistreatment in kind, are significantly less likely to receive the positive outcomes found in Studies 1 and 2, than those who respond civilly.