Enhancing Emotional Culture Through Internal Communication: Impact on Employee-Organization Relationships and Employee Advocacy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to propose and test an integrative model that incorporates internal communication, positive emotional culture, and employee-organization relationships. Drawing from the relationship management theory in public relations and social exchange theory, the model specifically examines the role of employee-organization relationship quality (by considering the effect of internal communication) on employee advocacy with an emphasis on the role of positive emotional culture. To test the hypothesized model, the authors conducted a quantitative survey on a random sample of 287 front-line employees working in two five-star tourist hotels in the Tehran area of Iran. To test the hypothesized model, structural equation modeling analysis was employed. The findings of the present research indicated that symmetrical communication and responsive leadership communication cultivated a positive emotional culture in organizations. Such a culture then enhanced employee-organization relationships. In addition, symmetrical communication, responsive leadership communication, and positive emotional culture influenced employee-organization relationships. Finally, it was found that positive emotional culture and the quality of employee-organization relationships positively affected employee advocacy. This study is one of the first attempts to theorize and operationalize emotional culture to enhance the quality of employee-organization relationships and employees’ supportive behaviors (e.g., employee advocacy) in the hotel industry, which fills the research gap in decades of organizational culture research that focused predominantly on the cognitive aspect. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.