Exploring hotel employees’ regulatory foci and voice behavior: the moderating role of leader-member exchange

Abstract

PurposeDrawing on leader-member exchange theory and regulatory focus theory, the purpose of this study is to explore the effects of hotel employees’ regulatory foci on their voice behavior and the moderating role of leader-member exchange.Design/methodology/approachThe questionnaire includes demographics, regulatory foci, leader-member exchange and voice behavior sections. The data was collected via a survey of 10 international tourist hotels in Taiwan and 479 valid questionnaires were completed. Confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were used to test the composite reliability, discriminant validity and convergent validity. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe outcome of this study indicates that both promotion focus and prevention focus can benefit employees’ voice behavior; however, prevention-focused employees have more positive voice behavior than promotion-focused employees. In addition, the leader-member exchange can moderate the relationship between regulatory foci and voice behavior.Originality/valueThis is an empirical study in the hotel field to examine the moderating effects of leader-member exchange on the relationships between regulatory foci and voice behavior. This research is contributed toward human resource management literature in the hospitality and tourism domain. Practices for managers and suggestions for future research are discussed.