# Unraveling the impact of customer mistreatment on highway toll collectors’ turnover intentions: the roles of stress symptoms, affective commitment, and neuroticism

## TL;DR

This study explores how customer mistreatment affects toll collectors' desire to quit, highlighting stress and commitment as key factors.

## Contribution

The research introduces a novel model showing how stress symptoms and affective commitment mediate the impact of customer mistreatment on turnover intentions.

## Key findings

- Customer mistreatment increases stress symptoms among toll collectors.
- Stress symptoms and reduced affective commitment sequentially mediate turnover intentions.
- Neuroticism intensifies the negative effects of customer mistreatment on stress symptoms.

## Abstract

In the service industry, highway toll collectors serve as a distinctive frontline workforce who frequently encounter mistreatment from customers. Unfortunately, these behaviors have not received the attention and resolution they deserve, resulting in significant physical and psychological stress for toll collectors and exacerbating turnover rates. The study highlights how customer mistreatment affects toll collectors’ turnover intentions by performing the sequential mediating roles of stress symptoms and affective commitment and assumes that neuroticism exacerbates the stress symptoms resulting from customer mistreatment based on affective events theory. The model was tested using data collected from 230 highway toll collectors in Zhuhai, China. All hypotheses received support. This study holds both theoretical and practical implications for future research.