Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effect of a supervisory support climate on frontline employees’ service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) using a multilevel conceptual model. A positive group affective tone – a meaningful construct – is introduced to investigate the mediating and moderating roles in this relationship in the context of hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 41 international tourist hotels in Taiwan. A total of 476 valid questionnaires from frontline employees were received for data analysis. The results were analyzed by using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).
Findings
These results not only indicate that a supervisory support climate has a positive effect on service-oriented OCB but also reveal that a positive group affective tone partially mediates and notably interacts with the relationship between the supervisory support climate and service-oriented OCB.
Practical implications
Based on the results, this study recommends that hotels train their managers to build a supervisory support climate, because this is the key source of service-oriented OCB in frontline employees. In addition, hotel managers need to exert a positive group affective tone to reinforce the effect of a supervisory support climate on service-oriented OCB.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the current hospitality literature by verifying the effect of a supervisory support climate on service-oriented OCB from a multilevel perspective. It also extends the understanding of the mechanism and interaction effect of the positive group affective tone in this multilevel relationship.
