The link between tourism involvement and service performance: Evidence from frontline retail employees

Abstract

Despite the increasing attention on employee performance, empirical research to explain the consequences of employee involvement in tourism on their service performance has been overlooked. This study proposes new insights into theoretical concepts and evaluates the empirical evidence on the direct relationship between tourism involvement and employee service performance and its indirect relationship through work engagement and job satisfaction in the context of retail. To test the proposed model, this study applies variance-based structural equation modeling partial least squares (PLS) with a sample of 408 frontline store employees in Bandung, Indonesia. The results reveal that tourism involvement directly affects service performance. Further, this study confirms that the linkage between tourism involvement and service performance is partially mediated by work engagement and job satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial practices consequences of these findings are discussed.