The Impacts of Environmental Dynamism on Chinese Tour Guides’ Sustainable Performance: Factors Related to Vitality, Positive Stress Mindset and Supportive Policy

Abstract

Although previous research shows great interest in improving the sustainability of organizations’ performance, little is known about individual sustainable performance, especially for special groups such as tour guides. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study aimed to investigate the effect of environmental dynamism caused by COVID-19 on tour guides’ sustainable performance and mediating role of vitality and intervention mechanism in this relationship. Adopting a quantitative research method, we collected data from 382 professional tour guides in China via three surveys. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) and PROCESS were used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that: (1) environmental dynamism was negatively related to tour guides’ sustainable performance and (2) vitality at work mediated this negative effect; (3) a positive stress mindset moderated the relationship between environmental dynamism and vitality; (4) supportive policy’s moderating role in the relationship of vitality and sustainable performance was not significant. The above conclusions contribute to the literature about the external environment, emotional state, performance management and application boundary of COR theory in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examining the impacts of emotional intelligence on tour guide citizenship performance

“…Tourism studies increasingly recognize the significance of synthesizing TGs' performance (Doyle and Kelliher, 2023; Huang et al , 2010; Sun et al , 2022; Syakier and Hanafiah, 2022; Zhang and Chow, 2004), with a recent line of enquiry approaching the construct through the lens of EI theories (Gültekin and Icigen, 2019; Min, 2017; Min and Peng, 2012; Tekeli and Özkoç, 2022; Tsaur and Ku, 2019). Even though the relations between EI and TGs' performance are reportedly considered crucial, there has been a lack of past research studies on the effects of EI on TGs' performance with special reference to the citizenship behaviors.…”

“…Al-Okaily (2022) further found that TGs' citizenship performance includes five key dimensions: (1) Helping, which captures TGs' pro-social acts toward tourism society, such as co-workers; (2) Self-development, which relates to TGs' capacity to expand their professional knowledge and skills with time; (3) Initiative, which explains proactive efforts on the part of TGs, such as handling anticipated obstacles during a tour; (4) Compliance, which demonstrates TGs' commitment to follow work regulations without formal monitoring and (5) Adaptability, which concerns TGs' social and physical coping abilities. However, additional studies in TG performance have informally included factors related to citizenship behaviors (Cetin and Yarcan, 2017; Huang et al , 2010; Sun et al , 2022; Syakier and Hanafiah, 2022). For instance, Zhang and Chow (2004) examined TGs' performance in Hong Kong through factors like helping, initiative and compliance.…”

“…For example, this group is held accountable for the efficient implementation of the itinerary in the processes of tourists' consumption experiences (Pond, 1993). Concurrently, TGs act as cultural mediators, facilitating interactions between the tourist and different individuals from the host destination (Doyle and Kelliher, 2023; Sun et al , 2022). Incongruent interests and the needs of the involved parties can evoke different forms of negative emotions, also exposing TGs to the stressful effects of role conflict and job burnout (Akgunduz and Eser, 2022; Yetgin and Benligiray, 2019).…”

“…A review of the tourism literature suggests that a growing body of studies focus on TG performance as a way of improving competencies (Doyle and Kelliher, 2023; Huang et al , 2010; Sun et al , 2022; Yetgin and Benligiray, 2019), with a recent strand of research approaching the construct through the lens of EI theories (Gültekin and Icigen, 2019; Min, 2017; Min and Peng, 2012; Tekeli and Özkoç, 2022; Tsaur and Ku, 2019). However, attempts to empirically examine EI from the perspective of TGs appear limited and remain in formative stages.…”

The Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19 and Psychological Distress in Tour Guides: The Mediating Role of Job Insecurity and the Moderating Role of Psychological Resilience

“… 5 To our knowledge, there was no prior research analyzing the mechanism effect between tour guides’ working status and psychological status in the context of COVID-19. At present, this theory mainly focuses on the study of tour guide’s job satisfaction 48 and sustainable performance, 49 but neglects the study of tour guide’s negative mental state. This study attempted to fill this gap.…”