Customer stressors in service organizations: The impact of age on stress management and burnout

This study examined the impact of age on stress management strategies and burnout as a response to customer stressors. Questionnaire data from 273 retail sector employees revealed that age is negatively related to customer stressors but no direct relationships were found with stress management strategies. Moderation analysis revealed no pattern of interaction between customer stressors and age on burnout, although the older retail employees were less likely to experience cynicism when exposed to disliked customers. A key finding of this study is that older employees' stress management strategies of emotion control and active coping had a more positive effect on emotional exhaustion and cynicism compared to younger employees. As with previous studies few significant results were found for professional efficacy. The stress management strategies of humour and downplay had limited interaction effects with age. Exploratory analyses of three-way interactions between humour and downplay, customer stressors, and age on burnout revealed systematic findings in the expected direction in high stress situations with younger employees less successfully using these strategies to reduce levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism. This article shows the competencies of older employees and argues against the deficits of older workers. Practical implications for organizations and supervisors are discussed.