1. 9 th Annual National Conference of Hospitality & Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN) – Osun 2015

2. Service Failure as a Causative of Customer Aggression on Hospitality Industry Employees By Nwokorie, Edwin Chigozie Department of Hospitality Management The Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State 08034072296 eddygozie@gmail.com

3. Objectives of Study  To investigate service breakdown as a possible cause of customer aggression in the hospitality industry  To consider ways of forestalling incidents of customer aggression in the hospitality industry

4. Background of The Study Hotel customers want to be satisfied having spent a lot of money for the required products and desired services. The slightest error (human or mechanical) in the course of service delivery has the likelihood of generating aggression from the customer as a way of registering displeasure.

5. Study Hypothesis H o : Failure in service delivery has no significant relationship with customer aggression

6. Review of Related Literature a. Causes of Customer Aggression i. Service failure  Expected compensation  Expected refunds  Expected credit  Expected discounts  Expected apologies (Henning-Thurau, 2004) ii. Overlong (undue) wait in queues iii. Complains treated with levity by frontline employees iv. Poor outlook of frontline employees

7. Review of Related…contd b. Behaviours of Customer Aggression i. Expressions of Hostility  Shouting  Swearing  Dirty looks  Negative gestures  Verbal sexual harrassment ii. Overt Aggression or Physical Violence  Hitting  Pushing  Shoving  Attack with weapon  Threat to physical violence iii. Obstructionism  Confiscation of working materials  Breaking of working computer

8. Review of Related…contd Impact of Customer Aggression on Employee Performance  Stress situations  Psychological strain  Fear and anger  Unnecessary apprehension  Absenteeism  Reduction in work flow  Heightened complaint  Customer dissatisfaction  Loss of revenue  Turnover (voluntary & involuntary)

9. Review of Related…contd Customer Aggression Management Strategies  Quality service approach  Social skills approach  Staff training  Regular maintenance of facilities  Public relations  Swift resolution of customer complaint

10. Methodology Study Population Table 1: Population of Study n= 90 Source: Field Survey, 2015 Selected Hotel Frontline Employees Supervisors Customers Total Population Hotel A104 24 Hotel B1581639 Hotel C107 27 Total35193690

11. Methodology contd… Sample size determination (Schawnms, 1994).

12. Methodology contd… Frontline employees = 32 Supervisors = 18 Customers = 33

13. Results  74.7% of the respondents agreed that customer aggression is caused by poor service delivery  61.4% attested that customers react aggressively when complaints are handled poorly  79.5% believed that adoption of maintenance culture can eliminate customer aggression

14. Hypothesis Calculated X 2 value = 22.08 Critical X 2 value = 3.841 H o = Rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between failure in service delivery and customer aggression.

15. Conclusion Employees’ emotional exhaustion, negative job performance and turnover intentions within the hospitality industry are linked to continuous aggression from customers. However, this menace is traceable to poor customer service management by hotel.

16. Recommendation Among other suggestions, hotel establishments should create a form of maintenance culture that would establish a regular and articulated maintenance system to forestall breakdown in the service process and enhance customer satisfaction. This will go a long way in eliminating unnecessary complaints from customers.

17. Thank You!!!