Xiaojun Zhan , Xixia Zhang , Yang Yang , Yirong Guo
{"title":"Customer gratitude and employee work behaviors","authors":"Xiaojun Zhan , Xixia Zhang , Yang Yang , Yirong Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105266","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the ever-evolving tourism and hospitality industry, understanding the dynamics between customers and front-line employees is crucial for organizational performance. Drawing on self-awareness theory, this research offers a nuanced perspective on how positive customer interactions can distinctively shape employees' actions, both towards their organization and themselves. Utilizing a dual-method approach, this research comprises an online experiment involving 235 participants and a three-wave field survey of 337 employees. The results show that customer gratitude significantly bolsters employees’ pro-organizational behavior by elevating their public self-awareness. This effect is further amplified when employees possess extrinsic career goals. Additionally, customer gratitude fosters self-improvement behavior among employees by enhancing their private self-awareness. This effect is particularly pronounced when intrinsic career goals drive employees. These findings provide substantial implications for both academic research and practical management within the industry, highlighting the pivotal role of customer gratitude in shaping employee behavior and organizational outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48469,"journal":{"name":"Tourism Management","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 105266"},"PeriodicalIF":12.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tourism Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517725001360","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In the ever-evolving tourism and hospitality industry, understanding the dynamics between customers and front-line employees is crucial for organizational performance. Drawing on self-awareness theory, this research offers a nuanced perspective on how positive customer interactions can distinctively shape employees' actions, both towards their organization and themselves. Utilizing a dual-method approach, this research comprises an online experiment involving 235 participants and a three-wave field survey of 337 employees. The results show that customer gratitude significantly bolsters employees’ pro-organizational behavior by elevating their public self-awareness. This effect is further amplified when employees possess extrinsic career goals. Additionally, customer gratitude fosters self-improvement behavior among employees by enhancing their private self-awareness. This effect is particularly pronounced when intrinsic career goals drive employees. These findings provide substantial implications for both academic research and practical management within the industry, highlighting the pivotal role of customer gratitude in shaping employee behavior and organizational outcomes.
期刊介绍:
Tourism Management, the preeminent scholarly journal, concentrates on the comprehensive management aspects, encompassing planning and policy, within the realm of travel and tourism. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the journal delves into international, national, and regional tourism, addressing various management challenges. Its content mirrors this integrative approach, featuring primary research articles, progress in tourism research, case studies, research notes, discussions on current issues, and book reviews. Emphasizing scholarly rigor, all published papers are expected to contribute to theoretical and/or methodological advancements while offering specific insights relevant to tourism management and policy.