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Turning Hotel Employees Into Brand Champions: The Roles of Well-Connected Leaders and Organizational Identification

Employees’ positive word of mouth (WOM) about hotel brands has a profound impact on customer choice and hotel effectiveness. On the basis of social identity theory and social information processing theory, we posit a moderated mediation model wherein hotel supervisors’ organizational identification (OI) increases their subordinates’ engagement in positive WOM behavior by enhancing subordinates’ OI. This relationship is moderated by supervisors’ upward-exchange relationships with their bosses (i.e., leader–leader exchange). Data from a two-wave survey conducted in a hotel in China indicate that employees working under supervisors with high levels of OI better identify with the hotel and engage in more positive WOM behavior. This is particularly the case when supervisors engage in high-quality leader–leader exchange and are well connected with their bosses. The article concludes with theoretical and practical implications highlighting the importance of cultivating employees’ organizational identification and positive WOM behavior in the hospitality sector.