Employee motivations in shaping customer value co-creation attitude and behavior: Job position as a moderator

The role of Frontline Employees' (FLEs) motives in determining customer Value Co-Creation (VCC), attitude, and behavior is studied less. Following social exchange theory, the study sets two objectives: (1) to examine whether employee motivations (professional identity, financial reward, recognition, and career opportunity) impact customers' 'attitude' and 'behavior' in VCC; and (2) to explore how job positions (junior/senior) moderate relationships between employee motivations and customer attitudes in VCC. We collected data from 345 FLEs and customers to examine the proposed model using SPSS and AMOS software. The results show that the employees' motives, including recognition, career opportunities, and professional identity, are critical drivers of customer VCC's attitude and behavior. In addition, the findings reveal that the employee's job position significantly moderates the relation that employee motives share with customer VCC attitude. The results exhibit the differences in the relationship of motivational dimensions between junior vs. senior positions. These results provide practical guidelines to marketers seeking to enhance customer VCC's attitude and behavior.