Hungry for Food and Community: A Study of Visitors to Food and Wine Festivals

The present study explored the effects of various food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with others) on visitors\u27 sense of community, identification, and place attachment. The authors conducted survey research with 304 former visitors to food festivals. Data were analyzed using partial least square – structural equation modeling. Results revealed that food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with friends and family) positively influenced visitors\u27 sense of community, identification with the event, and attachment to the hosting destination. Significant findings relating to the mediating effect of sense of community were also disclosed throughout this study. The present research exposes some of the expectations held by visitors to food and wine festivals. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature by exposing the role of community and customer interactions in creating the overall food and beverage experience and forming a destination\u27s image

Acculturation and workplace inclusion among immigrant restaurant workers: a study of organizational behavior in hospitality

Immigrants employed in hospitality organizations experience various psychological challenges as they adapt to the cultures of their organizations and the society at large. This dissertation aims to investigate how acculturation and workplace inclusion of immigrant restaurant workers affect their levels of job satisfactions, subjective well-being, work engagement, organizational attachment, and turnover intention. This study followed a cross-sectional research design to explore immigrant restaurant employees\u27 attitudes towards their acculturation process and perceptions of their work experiences in the United States. This study was developed by using scales from the existing literature and a back-to-back translation method by native speakers of Spanish and Haitian Creole languages. The participants of this study were 279 immigrants, who are restaurants employees in the United States. Data were simultaneously collected in three different ways. The questionnaire adopted for this study was distributed at multiple restaurants, including stand-alone and hotel foodservice outlets, in the Southeastern region of the USA. Also, a link to the survey questionnaire was forwarded to other participants via email and social media to individuals who qualify as immigrant restaurant workers. In addition, the data collection the process involved using Amazon Turk, until the required sample size for this study was met. Both SPSS version 24 and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) were utilized to analyze the collected data for this study. This study\u27s results indicate that acculturation and workplace inclusion positively influence subjective well-being and job satisfaction amongst immigrant restaurant workers. Meanwhile, work engagement, organizational, and turnover intention are directly influenced by job satisfaction. The findings of this study advance the knowledge of acculturation and workplace inclusion in both the hospitality discipline and the mainstream human resources literature. While there are very few studies on acculturation and workplace inclusion in the hospitality and tourism literature, no prior research was conducted on immigrants working in the food and beverage sector. Also, no previous studies investigated both the effect of acculturation and workplace inclusion on immigrant employees in a simultaneous manner. Hence this study adds to both the hospitality and organizational behavior body of knowledge. It also provides new insights on how to improve these employees\u27 subjective well-being, job satisfaction, work engagement, organizational attachment, and reduce the chances of quitting their hospitality jobs

Immigrant Hospitality Workers: Familism, Acculturation Experiences, and Perception of Workplace

This study offers an in-depth investigation of acculturation and familism among immigrant hospitality workers as well as their job satisfaction and organizational attachment. A qualitative approach consisting of semi-structured interviews with hospitality employees was adopted. The transcripts from these interviews were analyzed using both inductive and deductive approaches. The study findings suggest that workplace environment and relationships with others have a direct influence on immigrant workers\u27 job satisfaction and organization attachment. Acculturation of individuals in this study was illustrated through their attempt to learn the language and adjust to the mainstream culture of the hosting country. In addition, family and ethnic community are an important support system for maintaining their heritage identity. This study provides several theoretical and practical implications regarding the significant influence of acculturation and familism in the lives of immigrant workers and their role in improving their job satisfaction and organization attachment