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http://hdl.handle.net/10397/93638
Title: | Highlighting effort versus talent in service employee performance : customer attributions and responses | Authors: | Leung, FF Kim, S Tse, CH |
Issue Date: | 1-May-2020 | Source: | Journal of marketing, 1 May 2020, v. 84, no. 3, p. 106-121 | Abstract: | Firms often attribute their service employees’ competent performance to either dedicated effort or natural talent. However, it is unclear how such practices affect customer evaluations of service employees and customer outcomes. Moreover, prior work has primarily examined attributions of one’s own performance, providing little insight on the impact of attributions of others’ performance. Drawing on research regarding the warmth–competence framework and performance attributions, the current research proposes and finds that consumers expect a more communal-oriented and less exchange-oriented relationship when a service employee’s competent performance is attributed to dedicated effort rather than natural talent, as effort (vs. talent) attribution leads consumers to perceive the employee as warmer. The authors further propose customer helping behaviors as downstream consequences of relationship expectations, finding that effort (vs. talent) attribution is more likely to induce customers’ word-of-mouth and idea provision behaviors. The findings enrich existing literature by identifying performance attributions as a managerially meaningful antecedent of relationship expectations and offer practical guidance on how marketers can influence consumers’ relationship expectations and helping behaviors. | Keywords: | Attribution theory Communal and exchange relationships Competence and warmth Customer helping behaviors Service employee performance |
Publisher: | American Marketing Association | Journal: | Journal of marketing | ISSN: | 0022-2429 | EISSN: | 1547-7185 | DOI: | 10.1177/0022242920902722 | Rights: | This is the accepted version of the publication Leung, F. F., Kim, S., & Tse, C. H. (2020). Highlighting effort versus talent in service employee performance: customer attributions and responses. Journal of Marketing, 84(3), 106-121. © American Marketing Association 2020. DOI: 10.1177/0022242920902722 |
Appears in Collections: | Journal/Magazine Article |
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Leung_Highlighting_Effort_Versus.pdf | Pre-Published version | 580.21 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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