Inspiring good soldiers cross-culturally through the lens of the theory of planned behavior—which works best, norms or behavioral control?

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in hospitality, no significant studies have examined OCB through the lens of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). To address this gap, the present study aimed to examine whether norms (hotels' customer orientation) and perceived behavioral control (empowerment practices) can influence hotel employees' OCB toward internal and external customers, and whether culture can moderate the proposed relationships. A quantitative cross-cultural research design was supported with data collected from hotel employees in Australia and the U.S. The results showed that customer orientation (norm) was a universal predictor for all three types of OCBs while empowerment (perceived behavioral control) was only a significant predictor for employees' OCB toward customers. Culture moderated these relationships. The study extended the application of the TPB framework in understanding and predicting employees’ behaviors, opening up more opportunities for the application of the TPB to hospitality.