This study was to find out the effect of direct or indirect customer complaining behavior using food service companies on employees'' emotional burnout, job attitude(job involvement, job engagement) and customer orientation, and specifically to confirm if direct or indirect customer complaining behavior has a significant impact on employees'' emotional burnout, and to find out if direct or indirect customer complaining behavior has a significant impact on employees'' job involvement and job engagement, and has an impact on employees'' customer orientation, too.
Also this study was to identify if employees'' emotional burnout has an impact on employees'' job involvement and job engagement, and in addition has an impact on customer orientation. and to confirm if employees'' job involvement and job engagement have a significant impact on customer orientation.
For this study theoretical studies were conducted, and hypotheses were established, and these hypotheses were tested using an empirical analysis. The results of study are as follows;
First, as results of factor analysis for hypothesis testing, it was confirmed that customer complaining behavior has 2 factors of indirect customer complaining behavior and direct customer complaining behavior, emotional burnout has one factor, job attitude has 2 factors of job involvement and job engagement, and customer orientation has one factor.
Secondly, as identified in previous studies(Karatepe et al., 2009; Harris & Reynolds, 2003), it was identified that complaining behavior of customers using food service companies has a significant impact on employees'' emotional burnout. And we could see that customer complaining behavior ''directly or indirectly'' causes employees'' psychological anxiety and dissatisfaction.
Thirdly, Zablah et al.(2012), Ashforth & Humphrey(1995), and Chang et al.(2009) argue that the higher the level of customer complaining behavior employees perceive, the more employees feel burdened, but also this has a negative impact on job involvement and job engagement. This study also find out that due to customer complaining behavior, food service companies’ employees lose their will and concentration in performing their duties, and the sense of belonging and positive attitudes about their companies decline.
But unlike the previous studies, in this study it was identified that indirect customer complaining behavior doesn’t have a significant impact on job involvement and job engagement. This result can be understood judging from the fact that direct customer complaining behavior is to directly swear at and rage with employees, but indirect customer complaining behavior is to raise objections or compensation claims etc. through official channels, so it doesn’t have a negative impact on employee psychology.
Fourth, as identified in previous studies(Park, Woong Yul·Nam, Ki Min, 2008; Han, na Young·Bae, Sang wook, 2017), it was identified that direct or indirect customer complaining behavior has a significantly negative impact on employees'' customer orientation like service industry employees.
Fifth, in case of the effect of employees’ emotional burnout on job, when compared with studies(Park Hyung In et al, 2011; Tourigny, 2013; Alarcon, 2011), the same result was confirmed that emotional burnout in job reduces job involvement and job engagement.
Sixth, as identified in previous studies(Maslach, 1982; King & Emmons, 1990; Loseke & Cahil, 1986), it was confirmed that food service companies’ employees also experience emotional burnout, and employees’ emotional burnout has a significant impact on customer orientation.
Seventh, Brown et al. (2002) and Donavan et al. (2004) reveal that job involvement and job engagement have a significant impact on customer orientation.
This study also comes to the same conclusion, and as a result of path coefficient analysis it was confirmed that job involvement rather than job engagement has a higher impact on customer orientation.