How do mistreated high‐status service providers compensate?

This study aims to examine the reactions of high‐status service employees to customer mistreatment. An inductive research design is adopted, relying on the qualitative data collected from semi‐structured interviews conducted with university professors, doctors, and high‐ranking bank employees in Lebanon. High‐status service providers who experience mistreatment by their customers experience strong feelings and may suffer from flashbacks triggered by similar circumstances. The data reveals two forms of compensating reaction: surface acting and the withholding of customer‐oriented organizational citizenship behaviors from the customer who mistreated them. The former creates an open loop spiral which affects downstream customers whereas the latter stops with the customer who mistreated them. The study contributes to the existing literature on customers' mistreatment, which has tended to focus on low‐status employees in traditional service contexts. In addition, as it was conducted in a society with a collectivistic culture it also provides valuable insights into the role played by culture. Finally, it contributes to management practice by helping managers recognize the impact of the mistreatment of high‐status service providers and to channel their subordinates' negative emotions into a more positive outcome.