Deviance, deviant behaviour and hospitality management: Sources, forms and drivers

Abstract

Drawing on multi-disciplinary literature, this paper provides an integrative review of the concept of deviance, examining its relationship with and application to hospitality management. It synthesises conceptualisations of deviance in the social sciences and applications of the concept in organisational and consumer behaviour research. The paper distinguishes between four sources of deviance in hospitality management: staff, suppliers, customers and external actors, exploring different forms of deviance stemming from each. The subsequent discussion explores multiple antecedents and drivers of deviance, considering how these have been conceptualised in various disciplines at different levels of analysis: organisational; interpersonal, social and cultural; and personality and individual. The critical synthesis identifies diverse themes in the connections between deviance and hospitality management, and their implications for research and practice.

Responding to a major global crisis: the effects of hotel safety leadership on employee safety behavior during COVID-19

“…Safety compliance involves compliant behavior consistent with institutional norms, position responsibilities, and specific task requirements, and safety participation is proactive behavior that contributes to developing an environment that supports safety (Newaz et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2019). However, hospitality companies encounter diverse and complex safety issues due to the risks from multiple external and internal factors (e.g., terrorist attacks, crimes, diseases, colleague rule-breaking, and customer behavior) (Kubickova et al, 2019;Liu-Lastres et al, 2019;Lugosi, 2019). Therefore, hotel managers and staff must be increasingly adaptable, versatile, and creative in solving threats and issues to ensure safety.…”

“…Hospitality is a comprehensive service industry and employee safety behaviors have a fundamental impact on workplace safety, product service quality, and corporate safety performance (Neal et al, 2000). However, behaviors such as service sabotage, rule-breaking, deviance, counterproductivity, bullying, and violence are common in hotel workplaces (Ghosh and Shum, 2019;Harris and Ogbonna, 2002;Lugosi, 2019). Hotel employee safety behavior particularly during crisis events (e.g., ) is a basic prerequisite for customers to feel safe and enjoy service experiences without fear as well as for workplace safety.…”

Exploring the hospitality-tourism nexus: Directions and questions for past and future research

“…This may range from ‘cultural pollution’, terrorism and disease (Gössling et al, 2021; Harrison and Lugosi, 2013; Korstanje, 2017). Hospitality venues become potential targets for crime and violence; they may also be seen as risky sites insofar as they enable deviant behaviour (Lugosi, 2019). The heightened risks associated with human encounters thus renders some places inhospitable because people feel exposed and unsafe.…”

“…People’s mobilities and behaviours are monitored; physical, economic, administrative and symbolic barriers are erected to separate locals from tourists; and distinctions are drawn between different types of visitor based on their potential value or capacity to harm (cf. Lugosi, 2019; Morgan and Pritchard, 2005; Schmid, 2008; Vollmer, 2020).…”

Theory of Lodging

“…Gursoy, Cai, and Anaya (2017) produced a typology featuring seven categories of disruptive behaviors of customers: hysterical shouters, inattentive parents with naughty children, oral abusers, outlandish requesters, poor hygiene manners, service rule breakers, and ignorant customers. Lugosi (2019) created a robust summary of deviant behavior categories in service management including the belligerent, cheats, deadbeats, family feuders, rule breakers, vandals, and thieves.…”