Enabling or Burdening: Two Faces of Customer Empowering Behaviors on Tourism Service Industry Employees’ Job Well-Being

Prior research has predominantly focused on the positive outcomes associated with customer empowering behaviors. However, this study sheds light on the overlooked potential negative impacts of these behaviors on employees and service organizations. Drawing upon the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we reveal a dual-edged sword effect: while customer empowering behaviors can enhance employees’ self-efficacy and job well-being by enabling them, they can also impose a burden, leading to increased work stress and compromised job well-being. Using a sample of 478 frontline service employees in China, our findings demonstrate the existence of these two contrasting faces of customer empowering behaviors – enabling and burdening. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting this novel perspective and offers practical implications for organizations seeking to optimize customer empowering behaviors while minimizing adverse effects on employees.