The effects of emotional intelligence on counterproductive work behaviors and organizational citizen behaviors among food and beverage employees in a deluxe hotel

The purpose of this study is to understand the interrelationships among the emotional intelligence of employees in a deluxe hotel, their counterproductive work behaviors, and organizational citizen behaviors. The sample of this study consists of 319 food and beverage (F&B) employees of a five-star hotel in Korea. The results showed that as elements of emotional intelligence, others’ emotion appraisal, use of emotion, and self-emotion appraisal significantly affected counterproductive work behaviors, whereas self-emotion appraisal and use of emotion affected organizational citizen behaviors. In addition, moderating effects were evident related to job positions in the causal relationships among emotional intelligence, counterproductive work behaviors, and organizational citizen behaviors. Limitations of this study and future research directions are also discussed.     

How do empowered employees engage in voice behaviors? A moderated mediation model based on work-related flow and supervisors’ emotional expression spin

The study examines the impact of empowerment on promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors in a moderated mediation model, suggesting work-related flow as a mediator and supervisors’ emotional expression spin as a moderator for hospitality employees based on affective event theory. The proposed model was tested using longitudinal matched data collected from 142 restaurant employees and their supervisors across multiple time stages in China. Analysis found that work-related flow mediated the relationships between empowerment and employee promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors, and supervisor emotional expression spin moderated these mediation links. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for hospitality researchers and industry practitioners are discussed.     

Satisfaction and positive emotions: A comparison of the influence of hotel guests’ beliefs and attitudes on their satisfaction and emotions

This research provides a comparative study of two comprehensive servicescape models to explore the underlying influence of various hotel elements on guests’ satisfaction with, and emotional responses to, their hotel stays. Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research sought to identify the differences in guests’ beliefs and attitudes about the elements of hotels’ public areas, rooms, ambiance, social, and green practices in determining their satisfaction and emotions. Two structural models were developed illustrating the theorized interrelationships between identified constructs. Data collected through an online survey from 310 guests stayed in upscale hotels with four-star ratings were used for the analysis. Results from two structural models revealed that the model with attitudes is a better predictor of guest satisfaction and emotions than the model with beliefs. Further, emotionally attached guests engage more in WOM than did satisfied guests. Hotel managers need to offer experiences that consist of elements that matter to customers since customers’ attitude towards various service elements determine their satisfaction and emotional attachment with hotels. Additionally, in order to get brand promoters through WOM recommendations, hotels need to focus on emotionally attached customers than satisfied customers.     

Tackling food waste in all-inclusive resort hotels

Food waste remains a serious environmental and economic concern within the hospitality and tourism industry. This study therefore investigates how managers, chefs, and employees in all-inclusive hotels view the impact of food waste and extant waste reduction processes in their workplaces. It explores (1) why and how food waste occurs, (2) employees’ perceptions of the reasons behind food waste, and (3) how it can be reduced in all-inclusive hotels. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were undertaken with 33 individuals working in all-inclusive hotels in Turkey. The findings indicate that guest behaviors, preferences, and attitudes are perceived as the primary stimulants of food waste. The findings also suggest that guests’ cultural backgrounds influence their eating behaviors, further contributing to the volume of waste generated. As such, this study provides a nascent exploration of employee perceptions of the reasons behind food waste, and how best to reduce it, in the all-inclusive resort hotel context.     

Examining key drivers of customer delight in a hotel experience: A cross-cultural perspective

Welcoming all guests is the calling shared by those who work in the hotel industry. Everyday hoteliers strive to provide a service of excellence to all of those who visit. This can be somewhat of a complex endeavor, as hotels receive guests from different nationalities and cultures. Previous research in the area of customer delight has revealed some of the factors that define and drive the customer delight experience. Despite the emerging literature on the subject, the question remains: are guest from different cultures likely to be delighted by different things? In the present study, the researchers conducted extensive semi-structured interviews (n = 228) with guests from different nationalities visiting the Central Florida area. The guests interviewed came predominantly from the United States, Brazil, Germany, and Canada. Using a process of content analysis, the researchers analyzed the drivers of customer delight and concluded that while some universal service elements exists, guests from different cultures can also be delighted by different services and amenities.     

Stay away from fickle supervisor! Supervisors’ behavioral fluctuation diminishing the effect of job embeddedness on employees’ service behavior

This study examined how hotel employees’ job embeddedness influences their in-role and extra-role service behaviors, and under what boundary conditions this influence can be magnified based on the psychological ownership and information-processing theories. Using longitudinal data from a matched sample of 163 hotel employees and their supervisors in China, the moderated mediation analysis revealed that affective commitment mediated the effect of job embeddedness on in-role and extra-role service behaviors, while a supervisr’s behavioral fluctuations moderated the mediation of affective commitment between job embeddedness and in-role and extra-role service behaviors; this mediation effect was stronger for employees with a supervisor exhibiting stable behaviors. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications for tourism researchers and practitioners.     

Facial attractiveness and stereotypes of hotel guests: An experimental research

The purpose of this research was to determine social interaction between hospitality employees and their guests, and consequently assess how front-line employees categorize and stereotype hotel guests based on their facial attractiveness with reference to three main characteristics. Social stereotypes represent a means of information transmission in the communication process and can enable a more rapid transfer of information during the service delivery in the hospitality industry. The experimental research was conducted with 113 hospitality employees at seven hospitality organizations on the Slovenian coast. The results showed a correlation between the perception of hotel guests' facial attractiveness with their assumed characteristics that can lead to stereotyping. Hotel employees often link the guest's facial attractiveness with three common perceived characteristics – guests' propensity to spend, guests' predisposition to being demanding and guests' ‘kindness’, and tend to stereotype them on the same basis. These research findings contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions that occur during a service encounter and show how facial attractiveness of guests plays an important role in the construction of stereotypes by the hospitality employees.     

A diary study of work consequences for hotel employees victimized by supervisor from a demand-resource perspective on employee emotions

How would perceiving oneself as a victim of abusive supervisor behavior affect one’s work attitudes? This study examines the mediating role of emotional change on the detrimental work outcomes caused by hotel employees’ perceived victim identity. It further investigates how emotional exhaustion moderates the relationship between perceived victim identity and two outcome variables, daily job satisfaction and work engagement. The research hypotheses were tested by a multi-level analysis (cf., hierarchical linear modeling) using a sample of 128 hotel employees in China who took surveys twice per day over 14 consecutive days. The findings show that emotional change significantly mediates the negative effect of hotel employees’ perceived victim identity on their work attitudes, and emotional exhaustion moderates this effect such that higher exhaustion exacerbates the negative relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for hospitality researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Non-verbal communication in hospitality: At the intersection of religion and gender

Given the criticality of successful bilateral (guest–employee) interactions in the increasingly internationalised hospitality business environment, the overarching aim of this study is to determine whether religion (Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity) plays a role in how hotel employees’ non-verbal communication is perceived by guests. In addition, we are interested in understanding perceptions of hotel employees’ non-verbal behaviour from the perspective of the intersection of religion and gender. This exploratory research is based on cross-sectional data collected from 384 hotel guests in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Results showed that Christian guests perceived proxemics, physical appearance and paralanguage of hotel employees less favourably than Muslim guests did. Effects of religion on kinesics and proxemics also depended on gender. Implications are discussed theoretically in terms of cross-religious discourse and practically in terms of workforce training.     

Peer-to-peer interactions: Perspectives of Airbnb guests and hosts

In peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation settings such as Airbnb, social interactions between peers are distinctively different from those between guests and employees in conventional lodging establishments. This study focuses on a reciprocal aspect of social interactions in P2P accommodations and aims to: 1) explore how guests and hosts perceive online and face-to-face interactions between them and 2) investigate the association between P2P interactions and some outcome variables (encounter satisfaction, word-of-mouth intention, and continuous intention to use) based on the roles of guest and host. A total of 503 responses from an online research panel were analyzed. The results show that guests perceive overall interaction experiences more positively than do hosts. Moreover, guests and hosts place weight on different interaction factors that contribute to their satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This study sheds light on the reciprocal interactions between guests and hosts, providing important theoretical and practical implications for the P2P lodging experience.     

Identity judgements,work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior: The mediating effects based on group engagement model

The group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003) suggests that organizational identification is based on both the individual's evaluation of the status of their group as perceived by outgroups (i.e., pride) and his/her view about their status within the group (i.e., respect). However, prior research has not examined the factors which influence organizational identification, and subsequently lead employees to feel engaged and exhibit positive extra-role behaviors that benefit the organization. Using time-lagged data from both service employees and their supervisors, our findings demonstrate that both pride and respect are positively related to organizational identification, and organizational identification is positively related to work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). More importantly, organizational identification mediates the relationships between the antecedents (i.e., pride and respect) and consequences (work engagement and OCB). Overall, the study provides compelling support for the group engagement model in predicting key job attitudes and behaviors amongst service employees.     

An examination of the progressive effects of hotel frontline employees’ brand perceptions on desirable service outcomes

The present study scrutinizes how hospitality firms’ internal branding influences the service performance of frontline employees in a progressive way. More specifically, based on social influence and social exchange theories, this study examines if organizational commitment mediates the link between hospitality frontline employees’ perceptions of brand authenticity (BA) and brand-value fit (BVF) and their service-related behaviors such as generating ideas for service improvement (GISI) and service-oriented citizenship behavior. With a matched sample of 286 customer-contact frontline employees and 33 of their supervisors from five-star hotels in South Korea, this study found that the higher employees’ perceptions of BA and BVF, the more likely they were to generate ideas for service improvement and engage in service-oriented citizenship behavior, as they were more likely to be committed to the firm. Based on the findings, implications are discussed for hospitality practitioners and researchers alike in terms of internal branding with frontline employees.     

Cruise ship dining experiencescape: The perspective of female cruise travelers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

The cruise dining experience is one of the core elements of the overall cruise travel experience as guests fulfill their cognitive and affective needs in this pleasant environment. Nonetheless, the cruise dining experience has been sparsely researched. There is also no holistic model conceptualizing the cruise ship dining experiencescape. This study explores how under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise ship dining environment stimuli dimensions are evaluated by female cruise travelers. Female travelers are the major spenders and travel decision-makers. They are also the dominant customer group in the cruise sector. Their perception of cruise ship dining environment is leading to their positive emotional responses and approach behavior. More precisely, this study demonstrates the potency of the moderating role of a perceived health risk from COVID-19, which strengthens female travelers’ perceptions of the dining atmosphere and interaction with other guests by evoking positive emotions and influencing their approach behavior.     

Anxiety and gratitude toward the organization: Relationships with error management culture and service recovery performance

According to affective events theory (AET), organizational contexts can produce “affective events” that shape individuals’ emotional experiences, subsequently influencing those individuals’ work behaviors. This study hypothesized that every time an error occurs in an error management culture, it is an affective event that can stimulate employees’ gratitude and reduce their anxiety toward their respective organizations. Gratitude and anxiety are positively and negatively associated with employees’ service recovery performance, respectively. Drawing on three waves of data collected from 218 hotel employees, this study found that error management culture was positively associated with gratitude and negatively associated with anxiety. Consequently, gratitude and anxiety influenced employees’ service recovery performance, as rated by the employees’ supervisors. These findings suggest that error management culture can influence employees’ service recovery performance through the culture’s impact on gratitude and anxiety.     

Predicting hospitality employees’ safety performance behaviors in the COVID-19 pandemic

This study develops and tests a research model to explain and predict how and when organizational safety climate influences hospitality employees’ safety performance behaviors by proposing two boundary conditions: communication transparency and safety-related stigma based on expectancy-valence theory. Specifically, we examined if communication transparency intensifies the impact of perceived safety climate on employees’ safety motivation that drives safety performance behaviors through prevention work focus and if safety-related stigma attenuates the links between safety motivation and safety performance behaviors. Based on two national samples of 214 South Korean and 240 U.S. foodservice employees, this research found that safety climate was positively associated with safety motivation, prompting safety behaviors with the key mediating mechanism of prevention focus work. However, there were different patterns observed for the moderating roles of communication transparency and stigma for the foodservice employees between South Korea and the United States. Implications of the findings are discussed for hospitality researchers and practitioners.     

The impact of the challenge and hindrance stress on hotel employees interpersonal citizenship behaviors: Psychological capital as a moderator

This study investigates the relationships between challenge and hindrance stressors and hotel employees’ interpersonal citizenship behaviors (ICB). The study also tests the moderating role of hotel employees’ psychological capital (PsyCap) on the aforementioned relationships. Data were collected from 213 U.S. hotel frontline employees. The results showed that both challenge and hindrance stress had a negative relationship with ICB. PsyCap was found to moderate both relationships. Implications for hospitality researchers and industry practitioners are discussed along with the limitations and suggested avenues for future research.     

Leading a successful hotel: A look at the general manager’s ability to utilize multiple leadership styles

Using a case study format the researcher examines the leadership styles of three ultra-successful general managers (GMs) in select- and limited-service hotel environments. The study’s findings identify and characterize specific situations in which each GM was able to: 1) effectively utilize their primary leadership style and 2) intuitively shift to a non-prevalent style to accomplish a specific task. Applications of various aspects of leadership styles observed in the field were compared with the results of a formal leadership assessment. The cross-case analysis produced three dominant themes: 1) the GMs under study balanced the needs of their followers and guests; 2) while the GMs took three separate approaches to developing their followers, each built a cohesive management team with loyal employees; and 3) the GMs shifted leadership styles to help employees learn from their mistakes. Each GM utilized all aspects of their primary leadership style while also employing secondary styles when needed.     

Exploring the business feasibility of childcare provision in hotels

In light of continuous growth of family tourism hotels should consider providing childcare to family guests. Very few hotels have however embraced this market opportunity and the determinants of childcare provision in hotels remain poorly understood. This paper contributes to knowledge by exploring the business feasibility of providing childcare in hotels. Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, i.e. family guests (n = 20) and managers (n = 9), in UK hotels establish the numerous benefits of childcare provision. They also reveal such barriers of implementation as increased operational costs, lack of adequate staffing, children’s safety considerations and seasonality of family tourism demand. To enhance feasibility of childcare provision, hotels should collaborate with each other, but also with local nurseries, to resolve the issues of fluctuated demand and staffing. Hotels should further consider extending childcare provision to their own employees and local residents. Policy interventions can facilitate this by offering dedicated financial and training support.     

How should I respond to a complaining customer? A model of Cognitive-Emotive-Behavioral from the perspective of restaurant service employees

Many studies on coping have been conducted in diverse industries but within the hospitality industry, studies on how employees cope with customer complaints have only just begun, despite the task being one of the most significant stressors amongst service employees. The aim of this paper was to explore the cognitive appraisals, emotional elicitations, emotional coping behavior and complaint handling behavior of service employees. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 26 frontline restaurant employees. The results show that service employees engaged in different cognitive appraisals and emotional reactions in response to different customer complaints. Subsequently, they engaged in different emotional coping behaviors including both positive and negative of avoidance and approach. Theoretically, a model was developed to depict a holistic picture of Cognitive-Emotive-Behavioral in a complaint-handling context. The findings might assist industry practitioners to devise better complaint handling and coping strategies to enhance both customer and employee satisfaction.     

Nonverbal communication in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation

Although the Service-Dominant Logic literature hinted on the importance of nonverbal language for value co-creation, nonverbal communication as an experience co-creation component has not been explicitly addressed in either hospitality and tourism or general management context. Through the constructivist lens, this research focuses on kinesics, which is the most noticeable component of nonverbal communication, in hotels as a medium of experience co-creation in the guest-employee dyad. Four video-elicitation focus groups, with 12 hotel employees and 12 guests, found reciprocity (mutual recognition, insight exchange, expectation formation) and engagement (customized attention, relationship building, a sense of affinity) as two major dimensions of kinesic experience. Furthermore, employees' imperative and guests' complacent cues act as value triggers, contributing to experience co-creation between guests and employees. Based on empirical results and related literature, the framework of experience co-creation centred on kinesics is proposed; practical implications regarding frontline employees’ nonverbal communication competencies are discussed.