Employee engagement in brand value co-creation: An empirical study of Vietnamese boutique hotels

Abstract

Although employee engagement is essential to hotel performance, few studies have identified context-specific manifestations of employee engagement in the boutique hotel business. Drawing on the service-dominant logic and dual processing theory, this study investigated the experiential and rational factors driving employee engagement in hotel brand value co-creation. Data collected from 570 employees working in boutique hotels in Vietnam showed that under the influence of organizational tenure, internal brand communication and external social media brand communication facilitate the employee perceived service climate, which, in turn, triggers employee engagement in brand value co-creation. The study provides beneficial implications for employee management in boutique hotels.