1.1 Background to the Study
Dysfunctional customer behavior unlike the traditional customer oriented research assume customers to behave both in a rational and functional manner at all times (Harris and Reynolds 2003), more contemporary research has started to reveal norm-breaking deviant customer behaviors to be commonplace within interactive value-creative processes (see Dallimore, Sparks, and Butcher 2007). Dysfunctional customer behavior like aggression, service disruption and dishonest acts (Er?ker & Persson 2016) are said to be almost an everyday occurrence within employees’ work environment (Harris & Reynolds 2003), making dysfunctional customer behavior not only common but widespread (Reynolds & Harris 2006) and non-dysfunctional behaviors occasional (Daunt & Harris 2012a).
Unfortunately, the belief that the customer is always right is so powerful that it ended up gaining a status of common sense (Harris & Reynolds, 2003). However, this is not always true, and ends up being used to rationalize the dysfunctional consumer behavior (Fullerton & Punj, 2004; Neale & Fullerton, 2010), which can be understood as behavior adopted by certain consumers that is against the rules and regulations established by the society in which they are inserted, during the consumption of a product and/or service (Fisk et al.
, 2010).
Dysfunctional customer behavior has consequence for employees, fellow customers and for organizations. According to Harris and Reynolds (2003) employees suffer from long lasting psychological effects, such as feeling degraded and stressed, and from more short-term negative effects on their emotional state. He further averred that customer misbehavior have a negative impact on the service employees’ morale and motivation to perform in future service encounters.
Dysfunctional customer behavior increases the likelihood that fellow customers will attain negative attitudes towards the service employees within the firm in question, and complain about the service received. Customer misbehavior is also likely to have a negative effect on fellow customers’ perceived satisfaction with their service experience. From a firm perspective, dysfunctional customer behavior is associated with both direct and indirect financial costs. Direct costs are everything related to damage to firm property, thefts or illegitimate claims by customers, and costs of legal nature. Indirect costs refer to the increased workload for service employees, financial costs for recruiting and training service employees, as well as the cost related to reduced staff retention. There is also indirect financial through the negative influence customer misbehavior has on fellow customers satisfaction with the service and their loyalty towards the firm (Harris & Reynolds, 2003).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Studies in the field of consumer behavior like Fisk, Ray, Grove, Stephen, Harris, Lloyd, Keeffe, Dominique, Daunt, Kate, Russell-Bennett, Rebekah, & Wirtz, Jochen (2010) highlight important issues in the study of dysfunctional customer behavior; Er?ker & Persson (2016) highlighted that dysfunctional customer behavior is commonplace in-service exchange interactions and most research has focused on what forms of dysfunctional behaviors that are prevalent in a face-to-face context and provide evidence that companies end up being afraid with regard to the way they should deal with these customers (Bedi & Aaron 2007; Harris & Reynolds, 2003). As a result, companies often create rigid customer service policies, looking to avoid this kind of behavior (Gong, Yi & C 2014).
Moreso, dysfunctional customer behavior takes many forms (‘aberrant consumer behavior’, ‘deviant consumer behavior; ‘jaycustomers’, ‘the cheat’, ‘the thief’, ‘the belligerent’, ‘the rulebreaker’, ‘the family feuders’, ‘the vandal’ and ‘the deadbeat’) which makes it difficult for organization to understand how to deal with them (Wen-Hsien et al. 2010). This study identified some of the most common dysfunctional customer behavior in which researchers and scholars found to be essential to the peaceful coexistence between organizations and their customers. They include arguing with staff, confronting staff about their competency, requesting impossible time-frames, not accepting the limitations and procedures in place, making culturally specific and inappropriate comments. These issues have been the focus of this study as previous researchers (Fisk et al., 2010; Bedi & Aaron 2007; and Karatepe et al. 2009) found inconclusion evidences regarding these issues.
This study responds to these calls by investigating the effects of dysfunctional customer behavior on organizational performance.
1.3 Research Questions
i. What are the dysfunctional customer behaviors affecting Access bank organizational performance?
ii. Does arguing with staff, confronting staff about their competency, requesting impossible time-frames and not accepting the limitations and procedures in place constitute customer misbehavior at Access bank plc?
iii. To what extent does making culturally specific and inappropriate comments by customers affect organizational performance of Access bank plc?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of dysfunctional customer behavior on organizational performance with reference to Access Bank Plc. The specific objectives of the study are as follows;
i. To identify dysfunctional customer behavior on organizational performance of Access bank plc
ii. To examine the extent to which arguing with staff, confronting staff about their competency, requesting impossible time-frames and not accepting the limitations and procedures in place constitute customer misbehavior at Access bank plc.
iii. To investigate the extent of making culturally specific and inappropriate comments by customers affect organizational performance of Access bank plc.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
H01: Dysfunctional customer behavior has no significant effect on the organizational performance of Access Bank plc.
H02: Arguing with staff, confronting staff about their competency, requesting impossible time-frames and not accepting the limitations and procedures in place does not constitute customer misbehavior at Access Bank plc.
H03: Making culturally specific and inappropriate comments by customers has no significant effect on organizational performance of Access bank plc.
1.6 Significance of the Study
Despite dysfunctional customer behavior being identified as a significant yet ignored subject, the formal research on dysfunctional customer behavior still falls short of adequate research criteria. Insufficient research is conducted on the consequence and effect of consumer misbehavior types and on the broader implications it holds for organizational performance.
The significance attached to this phenomenon is due to the going concern objective of organizations as it has to do with everlasting relationship with customers. Thus, the research will benefit from the study as it provides mechanism through which managerial interventions affect satisfaction and loyalty among employees exposed to dysfunctional customer behavior.
The study will also benefit customer-contact employees on ways of dealing with the dark side of the consumer, resulting in either physical loss or psychological damage, or both, to other consumers, marketing institutions, managers and employees.
Finally, scholars, marketers, researchers, academia and so on will benefit from the findings in supporting their argument and empirical analysis on dysfunctional customer behavior.
1.7 Scope of the Study
Generally, the scope of this study is limited to Access Bank plc. in investigating the effects of dysfunctional customer actions through concentrating on exploring and describing the consequences of such behavior for those involved in service encounters, that is the extent to which a customer deliberately behaves in a way that violates the norms and unwritten rules of an individual service setting in a negative fashion. Due to time and financial constraint Access Bank plc. branches (Taiwo branch; Unity branch and Post Office branch) in Ilorin were only covered by the study.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Dysfunctional customer behavior: to refer to actions by customers who intentionally or unintentionally, overtly or covertly, act in a manner that, in some way, disrupts otherwise functional service encounters.
Organizational performance: refers to attitudes and perceptions of organization stakeholders including employees, managers are other members of the organization towards dysfunctional customer behavior.
Customer-contact employees: are all employees of Access Bank plc.
Fellow customer: refers to those customers who exhibited in the form of public expressions of sympathy and support for customer-contact employees during or just after dysfunctional customer behavior episodes.
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