Service before self: exploring resilience and locus of control in the frontline service effort behavior

Purpose Drawing on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, this study examines the direct relationships between customer incivility and service effort behavior with psychological resilience mediating this association. Furthermore, the study also explores the moderated-mediation effect of internal locus of control. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were carried out, employing a time-lagged approach. In study 1, data were collected from 422 frontline service employees in the hospitality sector. This was followed by Study 2 in which data were collected from 530 frontline service employees in banking and retail industries. The data were analyzed using SPSS PROCESS macros and AMOS. Findings The results specified that customer incivility negatively influences service effort behavior among frontline service employees. Moreover, it was also found that psychological resilience mediated the negative association between customer incivility and service effort behavior. Finally, the results show that the moderated-mediation effect of internal locus of control was also supported. Originality/value The study is an attempt to broaden the frontier of customer incivility and highlight how it affects service effort behavior. The findings also highlight the mediating role of psychological resilience between customer incivility and service effort behavior. Moreover, this study makes an enriching contribution by exploring the moderating role of internal locus of control. To the best of our knowledge, such associations remain outside the purview of previous examinations.