Workplace fun and customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior of hospitality employees: The role of emotional exhaustion and gratitude

Abstract

The study aims to examine the impact of workplace fun on customer-oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCBC) of employees in the hotel industry, with emotional exhaustion as a mediating factor and employee gratitude as a moderating factor. The sample was collected using a combination of snowball sampling and quota sampling methods. Cronbach’s Alpha analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were the main analytical methods. The survey results from 469 frontline employees of 3-star or higher hotels in Da Nang City showed that (1) workplace fun and emotional exhaustion directly affect OCBC; (2) emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between workplace fun and OCBC; (3) gratitude moderates the relationship between emotional exhaustion OCBC. The research findings provide theoretical and practical contributions to enhancing the understanding of the formation mechanism of OCBC among frontline hotel employees.