Can peers’ ethical and transformational leadership improve coworkers’ service quality? A latent growth analysis

•We examined transformational leadership (TFL) and ethical leadership (EL) of peer service leaders.•TFL was related to changes in peers’ adherence to service guidelines through changes in behavioral beliefs.•EL was related to changes in peers’ adherence to service guideline through changes normative beliefs. We examined how the leadership styles of individuals designated by management to serve as service quality leaders among their peers were related to changes in peers’ beliefs about new customer service behaviors and, in turn, changes in their behaviors. Both transformational leadership and ethical leadership of peer leaders promoted greater adherence to service quality guidelines for service behaviors and customer service performance through increases in peers’ positive beliefs about engaging in behaviors that adhere to the guidelines. Results showed that the two leadership styles influenced service quality adherence and service performance through two distinct paths. Transformational leadership enhanced peers’ beliefs about the benefits of the service behaviors (i.e., behavioral beliefs). Ethical leadership enhanced beliefs about social expectations for engaging the behaviors (i.e., normative beliefs). We discuss how these findings inform research and theory concerning the role of leadership styles in promoting behavioral change among peers.