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Work climate and customer satisfaction: The role of trust in the retail context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Long W Lam  and
Dora C Lau
Long W Lam
Affiliation:
Faculty of Business Administration, Universidade de Macau, Taipa, Macau
Dora C Lau
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong
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Abstract

We propose that a trust climate will help the employee–customer interface in the retail context. Specifically, we argue that a work climate that is based on trust induces the exercise of discretion by retail managers and discretionary behavior by front-line staff. Managerial and staff discretion is necessary for retail stores to become locally responsive, as store responsiveness is linked to customer satisfaction. Our propositions are derived from interpersonal trust and social exchange theories. The use of a trust climate to analyse the antecedents of customer satisfaction offers another theoretical perspective to study the interface dynamics between employees and customers and thus this paper contributes to ‘linkage research.’

Keywords

trust climaterelational exchangescustomer satisfactionstore responsivenessorganisational citizenship behaviormanagerial discretion
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 2008 , pp. 141 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2008

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