Retail Workers Face Rising Abuse: A Simple Badge Solution Emerges

As the holiday shopping season approaches, retail workers in Australia are preparing for an increase in customer interactions, which unfortunately often leads to verbal abuse. A union survey conducted in 2023 revealed that 87% of over 4,600 frontline workers reported experiencing verbal abuse from customers, a trend that has remained consistent since 2016. Notably, incidents of abuse have become more frequent, with 76% of those abused indicating they faced such incidents daily, weekly, or monthly, compared to 54% in 2021.

In response to this alarming trend, a coalition of retail groups launched the “Be Kind in Retail” campaign on November 7, 2025, urging consumers to treat retail workers with compassion and patience during the busy Christmas period. Despite the campaign’s goodwill, findings from a recent study suggest that a low-cost solution could effectively reduce instances of verbal abuse.

Innovative Solution: The Under Badge Initiative

In late 2017, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) initiated the “No One Deserves a Serve” campaign aimed at curbing customer abuse towards frontline staff. A key component of this initiative was the introduction of adhesive “under badges,” which have been distributed to retail workers since early 2020. These under badges, which feature personal messages such as “I’m a mother” or “I’m a son,” are designed to humanize the worker and foster empathy from customers.

The badges were trialed in several prominent retailers, including Woolworths, Target, Big W, and KFC. Despite the initiative’s potential, previous research on low-cost solutions to customer abuse has been limited, prompting a group of researchers, including lead author Gary Mortimer, to explore the effectiveness of these badges.

Research Findings Highlight Badge Effectiveness

In a recent study published in late 2024, researchers conducted interviews with 17 supermarket workers who had used the under badges. While some participants felt self-conscious wearing phrases like “I’m a son,” the overall sentiment was positive. Many workers reported that the badges helped reduce instances of verbal abuse and opened up opportunities for meaningful conversations with customers. One participant noted, “It was like I suddenly became a real person, not just a worker.”

Additionally, researchers conducted experiments involving 940 customers to assess the impact of the under badges. In one experiment, participants were presented with scenarios designed to elicit anger and were shown images of retail workers with and without under badges. The results indicated a statistically significant reduction in the likelihood of customers becoming verbally abusive when the worker displayed personal information on their badge.

Furthermore, the study replicated this experiment with a different set of 340 customers, changing the under badge messages to read “I’m a local.” This variation again confirmed that self-disclosure, or sharing personal stories, significantly reduced customer abuse.

The research suggests two social theories can explain this phenomenon. The first, social penetration theory, posits that deeper relationships with others are built through personal disclosures. The second, social exchange theory, indicates that when social rewards exceed perceived costs, positive interactions are more likely to occur. In this context, when workers share personal details, customers are more inclined to view them as equals rather than mere service providers.

Despite the under badges being less frequently observed in stores in recent years, the SDA maintains that they are still available for distribution. The cost for businesses can range from as little as 17 cents per badge for larger orders to 43 cents for smaller quantities. This relatively minor expense could serve as an effective means of reminding customers that retail workers deserve respect and dignity.

As the holiday season approaches, the hope is that initiatives like the “Be Kind in Retail” campaign, combined with proven solutions such as the under badges, will help create a safer and more respectful environment for retail workers across Australia.