What factors influence customer‐oriented prosocial behavior of customer‐contact employees?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the structural relationship between empowerment, service training, service reward, job attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and customer‐oriented prosocial behavior of employees. Design/methodology/approach The research question is examined using a sample of Korean hotel employees. Structural equation analysis is used to test various research hypotheses and examine the extent to which job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediate the effect of empowerment, service training, and service reward on customer‐oriented prosocial behavior. Findings First, the greater the job satisfaction, the greater is the role‐prescribed customer service of employees. Second, the greater the job satisfaction, the greater is the organizational commitment. Third, empowerment has a significant effect on organizational commitment and extra‐role customer service. Fourth, service training has a significant effect on job satisfaction, but it has a negatively direct effect on organizational commitment. Fifth, service reward has a significant influence on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Practical implications Based on these empirical findings, employee management should be shifted from a transactional to a relationship‐building orientation – the former being short‐term goal‐oriented and the latter long‐term. Additionally, service organizations should evaluate employee lifetime value (ELV) as well as customer lifetime value (CLV). Research limitations/implications There is a need to extend the results to a diverse range of service industries. Originality/value This research explains that empowerment, service training, and service reward contribute to the evaluation of organizational commitment through the medium of job satisfaction.