Developing Customers as Partial Employees: Predictors and Outcomes of Customer Performance in a Services Context

Scholars within the field of HRD have acknowledged the need for more research in services contexts, particularly a consideration of how customers might be developed as human resources in service exchanges. To that end, this research investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer performance within the context of service exchanges. With a matched sample of service providers and customers (n = 164 pairs, 328 total participants), we found that customer-service provider fit was related to customer performance, which was associated with outcomes for the customer (satisfaction and loyalty) and the service provider (greater satisfaction and commitment). We offer a discussion of the implications of this research for human resource strategies aimed at developing customers in service firms.