E-ISSN 2281-4612 ISSN 2281-3993 Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 3 No 4 July 2014 369 The Effect of Customer Aggression on Burnout Salih Dursun Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey, Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations Email: sdursun@ktu.edu.tr Serpil Aytac Uluda0 University, Bursa, Turkey, Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations Email: saytac@uludag.edu.tr Doi:10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n4p369 Abstract The service sector is currently the fastest growing economic sector. However, for employees in this sector, the high level of customer interaction may be the reason for undesired consequences such as customer aggression. This study aimed to demonstrate the effect on the burnout level of bank employees exposed to verbal abuse. The study sample comprised 161 employees of private banks sector. The mean age of the study participants was 32.20±5.79 years and the mean duration of employment was 7.63±5.79 years. In the data analysis, , correlation and regression analysis were used. From the results of the analyses, the finding was obtained that verbal abuse signficantly increased the emotional burnout and depersonalization levels of bank employees. Keywords: customer agression, verbal abuse, burnout, bank employees 1. Introduction The service sector has become the fastest growing sector in both developed and developing countries. According to 2009 data, the service sector accounts for 72% of total employment in OECD countries (Turkish Statistical Institute [TUIK], 2011). Although the service sector in Turkey lags behind that of OECD countries, it is one of the rapidly growing sectors in parallel with global development. While the service sector in Turkey comprised 37.7% of total employment in 1990, according to TUIK November 2012 data, employment in the service sector had reached 50% (TUIK , 2013). Together with this increase in the service sector, so competition has increased between companies operating in this sector. To this end, ‘customer service quality’ has become one of the most important indicators of competitive advantage for the great majority of organizations in the service sector (Richards & Schat, 2007). Thus in today’s customer-focused competitive world, customer aggression has negative effects on concepts such as ‘the customer is always right’ and ‘the customer is king’ and also on the health and safety of the employees under attack (Richards & Schat, 2007; Ben-Zur & Yagil, 2005). Although aggression in the workplace may be exhibited through different forms of behavior, the vast majority of studies on workplace aggression have concentrated on aggressive behavior of management to employees and employee to employee (Ben-Zur & Yagil, 2005). However, those working in customer service spend more time interacting with customers rather than management or colleagues. Therefore, the relationship between customers and employees is just as important as the relationship with management or co-workers (Dormann & Zapf, 2004). Customer aggression is a significant organizational problem in modern working life, particularly for employees in the service sector who are in direct contact with customers. In the context of a service, it is possible to define customer aggression as a customer’s behavior aimed at harming or discomfiting those giving service. This definition includes some sub-dimensions. Firstly, customer aggression is seen in a wide area such as retail sales, restaurants, hotels, airlines and railways, call centers and the banking sector. Secondly, psychological aggression (shouting, gestures, threats etc.) and physical violence (physical attacks), which harm employees both physically and psychologically, must be considered in the framework of a series of behaviors. Thirdly, just as the interaction between customer and employee may be direct face-to-face interaction, it may also occur in the form of service given via e-mail or telephone (Bedi & Schat, 2007). On the other hand, just as aggressive behavior by the customer may be psychological, such as rudeness, verbal abuse or hostile behavior (shouting, swearing etc.) and threats, it may also be in the form of physical aggression including