Connecting with authenticity: Exploring the mediating and moderating mechanisms between employee authenticity and customer citizenship behaviors

This study investigates the impact of employee authenticity behaviors (EABs) on the facilitation of customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs) and explores the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms. Dyadic data of 368 service employee–customer pairs are collected. Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis are performed to test the hypotheses. The results show that EABs, including authentic understanding, authentic honesty, and authentic emotional display, positively influence social rapport between service employees and customers. In turn, customer–employee rapport positively affects CCBs (i.e., suggestion, assistance, benevolence, and tolerance). Additionally, the findings indicate that customer internal attribution positively moderates the relationship between EABs and customer–employee rapport. Meanwhile, customer expertise and empathy are shown to positively moderate the relationship between customer–employee rapport and specific CCBs. This study enhances the understanding of CCBs and provides valuable insights into how employee authenticity can foster these behaviors in service settings.