Harnessing brand authenticity to promote prosocial service behavior

Weng Marc Lim (), Nishtha Malik (), Sahil Gupta () and Himanshu Rai ()
Additional contact information
Weng Marc Lim: Sunway University
Nishtha Malik: Jaipuria Institute of Management
Sahil Gupta: Jaipuria School of Business
Himanshu Rai: Indian Institute of Management Indore

Journal of Brand Management, 2024, vol. 31, issue 4, No 6, 449-468

Abstract: Abstract In today’s fiercely competitive, customer-centric, and service-driven marketplace, where customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty are hard-won currencies, brand authenticity emerges as a pivotal cornerstone, potentially fostering prosocial service behavior among employees—a crucial driver of organizational success. Yet, the intricate link between brand authenticity and prosocial service behavior remains a compelling and notably understudied frontier. To address this gap, we explore how prosocial service behavior can be shaped by brand authenticity. Using partial least squares–structural equation modeling based on survey responses from a random sample of 410 frontline employees in the hospitality industry, we found that brand authenticity alone cannot spark prosocial service behavior. Instead, brands must foster psychological empowerment and organizational commitment in order to activate and harness the power of brand authenticity in nurturing prosocial service behavior. This is because employees require both a belief in their own influence (empowerment) and a strong attachment to their organization (commitment) to fully express the genuine values of a brand through prosocial actions. However, caution should be noted: introducing job autonomy might diminish the impact of psychological empowerment. This counterintuitive effect could be attributed to the perception that excessive autonomy, while meant to empower, might be seen as a lack of guidance or support. Such a scenario may potentially make employees feel isolated or overwhelmed by decision-making responsibilities.

Keywords: Brand authenticity; Frontline employee; Job autonomy; Organizational commitment; Prosocial service behavior; Psychological empowerment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41262-024-00352-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jobman:v:31:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1057_s41262-024-00352-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41262

DOI: 10.1057/s41262-024-00352-1

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Brand Management is currently edited by Joachim Kernstock, Shaun M. Powell, Mark Davies and Ur a Golob

More articles in Journal of Brand Management from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().