Chinese restaurant employees’ perceptions of their nationals abroad: a comparative study

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to further an understanding of hospitality employees’ perceptions of their customers in the context of service encounter by utilizing the concepts of contact hypothesis and cultural distance in a multi-ethnic environment. The study compares perceptions of Chinese immigrants working in restaurants of their British patrons (from a remote culture) and Chinese patrons (from a proximate culture). The service encounter takes place in the London Chinatown. The dynamics of Chinatown as a “third space” adds complexity to service encounter and employee perceptions. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 118 Chinese restaurant employees in the Soho area of the London Chinatown. Perception questions were based on interviews undertaken in an earlier phase of the research. A paired t-test was run to identify significant differences in the Chinese restaurant employees’ perceptions of the Chinese and British patrons. Discriminant analysis was performed to determine which perception variables discriminated the most between the two patron groups. Findings Despite cultural proximity, the perceptions held by Chinese restaurant employees of their nationals were negative compared to the perceptions of British patrons. Out of 16, in 15 areas of measurement, there were significant differences in the Chinese restaurant employees’ perceptions’ of their Chinese and British guests. Six variables that discriminated the most between the two groups of guests were no tips, not polite, loud, no compliment, messy and demanding. Research limitations/implications Research in ethnic and minority quarters, such as Chinatown in London, may suffer from “recall bias”, or in this case from making the difference between customer groups. Also, the Chinese are not a homogeneous group. For example, despite cultural similarity with mainstream culture, cultural and behavioral characteristics may exist between residents from the South, North and Hong Kong. Practical implications The cultural diversity of the industry’s employees necessitates managing cultural diversity effectively, especially in the sectors that rely heavily on guest–employee interaction. Perceptions affect attitudes and behavior. Training programs about perception and its roots may bridge the service gap in high-contact service encounters. Originality/value This study provides a ground for future empirical research into understanding the immigrant employees’ perceptions of their guests, nationals versus non-nationals and the ways for improving these perceptions. Taking the example of Chinatown as a dynamic “third space” is another approach to understanding the effects of “ethnoscape” on encounters in a more globalized village.

Hostel front desk employees’ perception of customers: a comparative analysis based on cultural background

“…The three important conclusions of this study concerning how hostel employees from different cultural backgrounds perceive customers may have managerial implications for hostels: It has been empirically supported in the study that hostel employees do perceive their culturally diverse customers differently: because perceptions guide attitudes and behaviors, it is important for the management to train employees about cultural sensitivity and appreciation of customers regardless of their “stereotyped” attitudes and behaviors. Differences in perception exist between Western and Eastern employees regarding customers, but they are not all statistically significant, except that Eastern employees find Asian customers more troublesome and more complaining than Western customers. This finding is interesting because it rejects the cultural distance/proximity assumption (Reisinger and Turner, 2003) but supports more recent studies (e.g., Chan, 2006; Moufakkir, 2011; 2012; Moufakkir and Reisinger, 2016), which have argued that negative sentiments between tourism workers and tourists may occur despite cultural proximity. Thus, hostel managers and recruiters should not take the cultural distance assumptions for granted and unquestionably believe that Western employees are better in serving Western customers and that Eastern employees are better in serving Eastern customers. Perception of employees matter, as they can predict and influence attitudes and behavior toward customer groups (Reisinger and Turner, 2003).…”

“…Differences in perception exist between Western and Eastern employees regarding customers, but they are not all statistically significant, except that Eastern employees find Asian customers more troublesome and more complaining than Western customers. This finding is interesting because it rejects the cultural distance/proximity assumption (Reisinger and Turner, 2003) but supports more recent studies (e.g., Chan, 2006; Moufakkir, 2011; 2012; Moufakkir and Reisinger, 2016), which have argued that negative sentiments between tourism workers and tourists may occur despite cultural proximity. Thus, hostel managers and recruiters should not take the cultural distance assumptions for granted and unquestionably believe that Western employees are better in serving Western customers and that Eastern employees are better in serving Eastern customers.…”

“…In a more recent study, contrary to common belief, Moufakkir and Reisinger (2016) find Chinese tourists patronizing restaurants in London’s Chinatown to complain, and complain more than British patrons, about the service provided by Chinese waiters, despite their Confucian beliefs and identity. The authors argue that this behavior may be associated with the impacts of globalization on national culture, as described by Appadurai (1990).…”

“…In his seminal study, Appadurai explains how the globalized world is increasingly governed by the spatial interdependence of “scapes” and “flows”, including “ethnoscape” or the transnational movement of people, such as guest workers and tourists. Moufakkir and Reisinger (2016) further suggest that the acculturation process of immigrant workers in mainstream culture may be an explanatory factor. Duncan et al (2013) suggest that the heterogeneous nature of the tourism and hospitality labor force necessitates a re-conceptualization and re-consideration of those who undertake tourism and hospitality work.…”

Occupational Commitment and Perceived Social Status for Hospitality Educators: A Case Study of Hong Kong

“…Hong Kong is strongly influenced by traditional Chinese culture, giving rise to a community in Hong Kong that values academic and career success (Jamnia and Pan, 2017;Lien and McLean, 2017;Pearce and Lin, 2007). Professional occupations with high academic requirements (e.g., physicians, university teachers, and engineers) are considered to be highly prestigious occupations, whereas those with fewer academic requirements (e.g., waiters and construction workers) are considered to be less prestigious occupations (Lin and Xie, 1988;Moufakkir et al, 2016;Zhao and Ghiselli, 2016).…”