Rude behavior among employees can negatively affect consumer perceptions—even if it's not addressed at them, according to new research from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. [REALLY?-JS] The study found that people witnessing employee incivility—in this case, a store manager calling an employee an "idiot"—were faster to jump to negative conclusions about the company than those who witnessed employee incompetence. 

Researchers found that customers turned against the company even in instances when the rude employee was trying to help the customer. In one of the studies, people who had to wait several minutes as an employee gossiped on the phone still formed negative impressions of the company when the same employee was reprimanded rudely by another employee in front of them.