Unleashing the power of a smile: the impact of customer humor on employees' proactive customer service performance

Purpose Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigates whether and how customer humor affects employees' proactive customer service performance (PCSP). Specifically, we propose customer–employee exchange (CEX) as the mediating mechanism and employee extraversion as a boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were examined using two independent studies. Study 1 employed an online scenario-based experiment (N = 146). Study 2 used a three-wave, multi-source survey of frontline hospitality employees in China (N = 340). Findings Results across the two studies show that customer humor is positively related to employees' PCSP. This relationship is consistent with an indirect effect through CEX, indicating that customer humor may contribute to higher-quality exchange relationships, which in turn are associated with employees' proactive service behaviors. In addition, higher extraversion strengthens the positive effect of customer humor on CEX and, consequently, reinforces the indirect effect of customer humor on PCSP through CEX. Originality/value This study advances humor research in hospitality by shifting attention from intra-organizational humor to customer-initiated humor as an external interpersonal cue that shapes employee behavior. By identifying CEX as a key mediating mechanism and extraversion as a boundary condition, the study clarifies when and why customer humor translates into frontline employees' proactive service performance.