Priming employees’ promotion focus: How and when servant leadership enhances customer service behaviors

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between servant leadership and customer service behaviors by probing the mediating role of promotion focus and the moderating role of internal locus of control.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors hypothesized an indirect relationship between servant leadership and customer service behaviors through promotion focus. Also, the authors predicted that the positive relationship between servant leadership and promotion focus would be stronger for employees with low internal locus of control. The authors tested the theoretical model with data gathered across two phases over three months from 280 supervisor-subordinate dyads.

Findings

Results indicated that servant leadership was positively related to customer service behaviors via promotion focus. Results also showed that internal locus of control moderated the relationship between servant leadership and promotion focus, such that the relationship was stronger for employees low on internal locus of control. Furthermore, this moderated mediated model was supported. As predicted, the indirect effect was stronger when internal locus of control was low.

Research limitations/implications

This study extends the regulatory focus theory to the service context to investigate how and when servant leadership enhances customer service behaviors. The authors suggested promotion focus as a key mediating mechanism and revealed internal locus of control as a boundary condition for the effectiveness of servant leadership.

Originality/value

This study highlights the importance role of promotion focus in fostering customer service behaviors and provides novel theoretical insight regarding when servant leadership enhances customer service behaviors.

Citation

Yang, F., Qian, J. and Liu, J. (2018), "Priming employees’ promotion focus: How and when servant leadership enhances customer service behaviors", Management Decision, Vol. 56 No. 11, pp. 2308-2324. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0809