International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to identify that both work values and burnout are important predictors for promoting organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Moreover, this research also seeks to investigate the moderating impact of burnout on the relationships between work values and OCBs.

Design/methodology/approach – A total of 310 employee-supervisor dyads of hotel front-line service employees in Taiwan were selected as the research participants. The employees were asked to provide information on the items about work values and burnout, and their supervisors were asked to complete items concerning the OCBs of their subordinates. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to investigate measurement reliability and validity. All hypothesized relationships and moderating effects were tested using hierarchical regression equations.

Findings – It was found that both work values and burnout are important factors to consider for promoting OCBs. In addition, the study also proves that burnout as a moderator can decrease the predictions of the relationship between work values and OCBs.

Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the context culture and data collection process.

Practical implications – This research argues that an employee having higher work values may extend his/her upward striving from in-role behavior to extra-role behavior. However, a diminished sense of personal accomplishment signifies that this job may no longer offer a personal interest to the point that an employee is unwilling to display OCBs.

Originality/value – Findings of the present study suggest that not only both work values and burnout are important factors in influencing OCBs, but also their interaction effect is a key factor in influencing OCBs.