A dual‐path model of observers' responses to customer incivility: An attribution lens
研究顾客不文明行为如何通过观察者（受害者同事）的归因影响其服务绩效：当归咎于员工时引发自我反思提升绩效，归咎于顾客时引发道德愤怒降低绩效。
Abstract To date, empirical studies of customer incivility have primarily focused on exploring the negative reactions of victims. We shift the predominant focus from victims to observers (coworkers of the victims) and establish a link between customer incivility and observers' service performance. According to attribution theory, we propose that customer incivility could exert differential effects on observers' service performance, which depend on observers' blame attribution. Specifically, when observers make employee‐directed blame attribution, customer incivility is more likely to trigger observers' self‐reflection, which in turn increases their service performance. Conversely, when observers make customer‐directed blame attribution, customer incivility is more likely to evoke observers' moral anger, which in turn decreases their service performance. The scenario experimental design (Study 1) and time‐lagged survey design (Study 2) provide support for our hypotheses. By developing a dialectical framework that integrates opposing attributional pathways, this study advances the customer incivility literature and provides insightful implications to service managers.