Abstract: Customer abuse is defined as unreasonable behaviors such as disrespect, disparagement, and aggression by customers in the workplace. Previous studies have explored the meaning, consequences, mechanism and theoretical mechanism of customer abuse. Customer abuse is mainly based on emotional event theory, resource protection theory, cognitive ruminant theory, moral disengagement theory, and attribution theory. Future research can consider comparing the results of Eastern and Western studies to explore the different impacts of Eastern and Western cultures on employee and customer behavior. In addition, internal and external attribution perspectives of employees can be included in this field. Finally, due to the mutual penetration of worknonwork areas, the impact of customer abuse on employee workfamily conflict and health status can be considered.

Key words: workplace, customer abuse, service interaction, power asymmetry