Antecedents of Frontline Employees' Customer Orientation: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

This systematic literature review investigates the antecedents of frontline employees’ (FLEs) customer orientation (CO). In the literature various understandings of CO co-exist, which put an emphasis on different influencing factors and use different measurement approaches to study FLEs’ CO. The literature lacks a comprehensive literature review that structures and summarizes the fragmented empirical research on antecedents of FLEs’ CO. This study closes this gap by first, providing an extensive overview of the antecedents of FLEs’ CO, identifying and categorizing the factors that influence FLEs’ CO into four broad areas. Second, the study sheds light on the different understandings of CO and structures the fragmented literature. Based on the literature review, the study identifies avenues for future research in the field. Finally, the literature review gives guidance to managers by structuring starting points to enhance FLEs’ CO.