Mapping incivility research across financial services and other high-interaction service sectors: a bibliometric analysis of relational and thematic patterns

Purpose This study traces the evolution of incivility research across financial services and other high-interaction service sectors. It examines how the literature differs in its treatment of the forms, sources, associated outcomes, and thematic configurations of incivility. It also assesses the extent to which research reflects the transition toward digital service environments and identifies priorities for future research. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1,259 documents indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, covering the period 1977–2025 and representing 517 scientific sources. Performance, citation, co-word, and thematic analyses were used to examine the field's development and compare its relational and thematic patterns across financial services, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and education. The search included incivility and adjacent forms of interpersonal mistreatment (e.g. bullying, verbal abuse) to map their relationships without treating them as conceptually equivalent. Findings The incivility literature has evolved from an early emphasis on internal workplace relationships in healthcare and education toward greater attention to customer-facing interactions in retail, hospitality, and financial services. The sectoral comparison reveals a relational divide in the literature. Retail and hospitality research primarily frames incivility as originating from customers, whereas healthcare and education research places greater emphasis on coworkers, supervisors, and institutional hierarchies. Financial services combine these patterns, with studies addressing customer and coworker incivility alongside workplace ostracism, job insecurity, employee cynicism, and psychological resources. The theoretical frame also varies: the Conservation of Resources and Social Exchange theories are visible in financial services, while hospitality research primarily draws on the Conservation of Resources theory. No named theory reaches the network threshold in retail, healthcare, or education. The thematic analysis identifies workplace incivility as a motor theme; incivility and bullying as basic themes; consumer incivility and workplace bullying as specialized themes; and online or cyber forms as an underdeveloped and evolving research stream. Originality/value This study moves beyond sector-specific reviews by comparing five service sectors within a single bibliometric corpus. Rather than assuming sectoral differences, it derives them from the relational and thematic structure of the literature. The findings show that service contexts are associated with distinct sources, outcomes, and theoretical vocabularies, while highlighting the limited attention given to digital incivility, particularly in rapidly digitalizing financial services.