How and when customer feedback influences organizational health
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how and when customers influence organizational climate and organizational health through their feedback. Based on affective events theory, the authors classify both positive and negative customer feedback (PCF and NCF) as affective work events. The authors expect that these events influence the positive affective climate of an organization and ultimately organizational health, and that the relationships are moderated by empowerment climate.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze survey data obtained from a sample of 178 board members, 80 HR representatives, and 10,953 employees from 80 independent organizations.
Findings
The findings support the expected indirect effects. Furthermore, empowerment climate strengthened the impact of PCF on organizational health but does not affect the relationship between NCF and organizational health.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional design is a potential limitation of the study.
Practical implications
Managers should be aware that customer feedback influences an organization’s emotional climate and organizational health. Based on the results organizations might actively disseminate PCF and establish an empowerment climate. With regard to NCF, managers might consider the potential affective and health-related consequences for employees and organizations.
Social implications
Customers are able to contribute to an organization’s positive affective climate and to organizational health if they provide positive feedback to organizations.
Originality/value
By providing first insights into the consequences of both PCF and NCF on organizational health, this study opens a new avenue for scientific inquiry of customer influences on employees at the organizational level.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was part of the INBAM 2014 conference. The authors thank the two reviewers and all participants of the INBAM conference 2014 in Barcelona for their constructive and helpful comments. The authors also acknowledge the feedback and support from Hendrik Hüttermann during the development of this paper. An earlier version of this paper has been presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Philadelphia, 2014.
Citation
Kipfelsberger, P., Herhausen, D. and Bruch, H. (2016), "How and when customer feedback influences organizational health", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 624-640. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-09-2014-0262
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited