Customers who misbehave: Identifying restaurant guests ‘acting out via asymmetric case models

Abstract

This study uncovers the impact of combined dark triad personality traits, firm’s power, and customer demographic characteristics. It uses a sample of 263 restaurant customers. The findings include customer configurations indicating misbehavior and non-misbehavior cases. From a theoretical perspective, the study questions the philosophy of customer sovereignty and applies asymmetric case-based modeling to identify configurations indicating misbehavior customers and non-misbehavior customers. Strategy implications: from a managerial perspective and to tackle misbehavior, firms should use coercive power (e.g., suing customers who misbehave), reward power (e.g., recognition and flattery when customers behave properly), and referent power (e.g., enforcing customers’ affective attachment).