Will catering employees’ job dissatisfaction lead to brand sabotage behavior? A study based on conservation of resources and complexity theories

Abstract

Purpose Integrating conservation of resources (COR) and complexity theories, this study aims to develop and assess a research model of the relationship between job dissatisfaction and brand sabotage behavior (BSB) based on the moderating mechanism of psychological resources (i.e. brand-based role identity and relational energy). The interdependence between these influencing factors is analyzed from the perspective of social science holism. Design/methodology/approach A total of 381 valid questionnaires were collected from frontliners serving in full-service restaurants in Guangzhou, China. Regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses and combined with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the complex triggering mechanism of BSB. Findings Job dissatisfaction is positively related to BSB, brand-based role identity internalization and relational energy weaken this effect, whereas brand-based role identity compliance strengthens it. Qualitative comparative analysis shows that a single condition does not constitute a necessary condition for BSB. The interdependence of job dissatisfaction and employee psychological resources forms multiple asymmetric paths that trigger high and low BSB. Practical implications The findings can be used by catering organizations as guidelines for conducting training for brand internalization, formulating strategies to avoid BSB among employees and strengthening brand building. Originality/value This study is the first to integrate COR and complexity theories to comprehensively analyze how BSB is formed among dissatisfied employees. The authors advance theory by distinguishing the role of brand psychological resources (i.e. brand-based role identity) and psychological resources obtained from the environment (i.e. relational energy) in stimulating or buffering dissatisfied employees to engage in BSB.

How to enhance psychological security of enterprise employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: Based on MRA and fsQCA

“…It can be seen that the combination of MRA and fsQCA can not only reveal the correlation between variables and the internal connection between data but also deeply explore the combination of conditions affecting complex social phenomena (Mao & Xu, 2018 ). At present, the combination of MRA and fsQCA have also been applied to many research topics, such as customer engagement (Gligor & Bozkurt, 2020 ), adolescents’ attitudes towards diversity (Guasp-Coll et al, 2021 ), users’ health information literacy (Fu et al, 2021 ), and brand sabotage behavior (Peng et al, 2022 ). However, few scholars have applied the combination of MRA and fsQCA to the research on the PS of enterprise employees.…”

How organizational dehumanization impacts hospitality employees service recovery performance and sabotage behaviors: the role of psychological well-being and tenure

“…FLEs need to allocate personal resources to repress workplace deviance (Mead et al , 2009; Yu et al , 2020), according to the COR theory. Unfortunately, this process can be grueling for individuals after substantial depletion of positive emotional resources, where the task of securing resources needed to manage emotions and behaviors effectively becomes more difficult to acquire (Peng et al , 2022). To better cope and control for continued loss of resources, FLEs frequently resort to sabotaging behaviors (Wang et al , 2011).…”

“…FLEs often find it difficult to repress deviant workplace behaviors due to their inability to accrue more personal resources (Mead et al , 2009; Yu et al , 2020). When one’s positive emotional resources are attacked and ultimately reduced it becomes increasingly difficult for this individual to recover positive and emotional resources required to rebound and control their emotions and behaviors (Peng et al , 2022). In turn, FLEs adopt sabotaging behaviors to control for additional resource loss (Wang et al , 2011).…”

How and when does leader humility promote followers’ proactive customer service performance?

“…Based on COR theory, employees with more resources may be more willing to perform voluntary behaviors (Hobfoll, 1989(Hobfoll, , 2001). Thus, employees with higher relational energy spend more valuable resources on work challenges and opportunities and take the initiative to shape satisfactory experiences for customers when delivering services (Peng et al, 2022;Raub and Liao, 2012). Employees with less relational energy tend to preserve their limited energy resources and do not consider out-ofrole service behaviors (Hobfoll, 1989).…”