Perceived Customer Unfriendliness Toward Staff

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring a focal customer's perception of how unfriendly other customers in the service environment are toward employees. Albrecht et al. (2017) developed it by adapting items from related scales measuring unfriendly customer behaviour, and used it in Study 2 with participants recruited in cafes and cafeterias. Two items are reverse-scored, and the scale was designed to sit within a broader measurement model including other social norm and friendliness constructs.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=completely disagree, 7=completely agree)

Scale items

• Other customers were friendly toward the employees in the shop. (r)
• The other customers were unfriendly toward the employees in the shop.
• The other customers behaved in a friendly way toward the employees. (r)

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Alpha was .91 and AVE was .79, with CFA confirming good model fit and discriminant validity from related constructs. Items 1 and 3 are reverse-scored (r). Companion scales from the same Albrecht et al. (2017) paper include In-Store Shopping Stress, Store Layout Confusion, and Store Spatial Crowding.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Albrecht, A.K., Walsh, G., Brach, S., Gremler, D.D., & van Herpen, E. (2017). The influence of service employees and other customers on customer unfriendliness: A social norms perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(6), 827–847.

Keywords