The effects of tourist incivility, job stress and job satisfaction on tourist guides' vocational commitment

Abstract

PurposeThis empirical study explored how tourist incivility, job stress and job satisfaction affect tourist guides' vocational commitment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected via a questionnaire on a convenience sample of tourist guides during February–March 2018. A total of 172 valid questionnaires were collected, of which 100 were online and 72 face-to-face. The hypotheses were tested through multiple regression analyses.FindingsThe results show that job stress reduces both the affective and normative commitment of tourist guides whereas tourist incivility only reduces their normative commitment. The results also show that job satisfaction increases their affective commitment.Practical implicationsThe results show that vocational commitment of tourist guides can be strengthened when job stresses are reduced, they are faced with less incivil behaviors and job satisfaction increases. Tour operators and travel agency managers can implement managerial practices that will reduce the job stress of tourist guides and increase job satisfaction. At the same time, it can be ensured that tourist guides develop a positive attitude toward their profession by supporting the legalization and implementation of regulations that protect from incivil tourist behavior.Originality/valueAlthough both job stress and job satisfaction have received past research attention, no research has studied them in an integrated form with tourist incivility and vocational commitments of tourist guides. In this study, it is predicted that tourist incivility and job stress both affect the job satisfaction and vocational commitment of tourist guides. Conducting such a study of tourist guiding is important because the literature survey reveals that only very limited research has been done into the work of this profession.