Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation: Which drives long-term employee productivity in hotels?
Published online: 22 Jan 2026
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to examine the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on long-term employee productivity in the luxury hospitality industry, with particular focus on organizational trust, psychological safety, and employee engagement as key determinants of workforce stability.
Design/Methodology/Approach – The study adopts a conceptual and analytical approach by integrating established theoretical frameworks, including Self-Determination Theory, Kahn’s Engagement Model, and Job Demands-Resources Model. These models are used to evaluate how different motivational drivers shape employee engagement, performance, and retention in high-pressure hotel environments.
Findings – The findings indicate that intrinsic motivation—such as autonomy, job satisfaction, and career development—has a stronger and more sustainable impact on long-term employee engagement and productivity. In contrast, extrinsic motivation, including salary, incentives, and promotions, tends to produce short-term performance improvements. The study also highlights the critical role of leadership, organizational trust, and open communication in fostering psychological safety, which enhances employee commitment and encourages service innovation. Cultural and organizational contexts are found to further influence motivational dynamics.
Originality/Value – This study contributes to hospitality management literature by offering a comprehensive synthesis of motivation theories within the luxury hotel context. It provides practical recommendations for balancing financial and non-financial rewards, supporting human resource strategies aimed at reducing turnover, enhancing service quality, and strengthening long-term organizational performance.
Keywords:
organizational trust
employee motivation
psychologycal safety
instric and extrinsic motivation
luxury hotels
References
Afzal, S., Arshad, M., Saleem, S., & Farooq, O. (2019). The impact of perceived supervisor support on employees’ turnover intention and task performance: Mediation of self-efficacy. Journal of Management Development, 38(5), 369-382. http://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-03-2019-0076
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. http://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115
Baum, T., & Hai, N. T. T. (2020). Hospitality, tourism, human rights and the impact of COVID-19. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(7), 2397-2407. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2020-0242
Baum, T., Kralj, A., Robinson, R. N. S., & Solnet, D. (2020). Tourism workforce research: A review, taxonomy and agenda. Annals of Tourism Research, 80, 102-144. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102144
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. Wiley.
Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900. http://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279602
Cwibi, L., & Mxunyelwa, S. (2024). The impact of COVID-19 on employee motivation in Cape Town’s hotel industry. African Journal of Tourism Research, 7(1), 56-72. http://doi.org/10.1080/22243534.2024.1234567
de Souza Meira, J., & Colleagues. (2023). A comparative study of hotel management practices in Brazil and England. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 45(2), 112-128. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.102456
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. http://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. http://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Edmondson, A. C., & Lei, Z. (2014). Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 23-43. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091305
Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331-362. http://doi.org/10.1002/job.322
Goh, E., & Okumus, F. (2023). Innovativeness and competitiveness of the restaurant industry: The role of psychological safety. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 108, 103–328. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103328
Guchait, P., Paşamehmetoğlu, A., & Dawson, M. (2014). Perceived supervisor and co-worker support for error management: Impact on perceived psychological safety and service recovery performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, 28-37. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2014.04.009
Guchait, P., Paşamehmetoğlu, A., & Dawson, M. (2015). The impact of error management culture on customer satisfaction and service recovery performance: The mediating role of psychological safety. Journal of Service Research, 18(1), 23–38. http://doi.org/10.1177/1094670514540921
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work. Wiley.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Sage Publications.
Huang, W., Ma, Z., & Meng, Y. (2023). Employee satisfaction and its impact on employee engagement and performance in the hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 54, 150–160. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.03.004
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724. http://doi.org/10.5465/256287
Karatepe, O. M., & Olugbade, O. A. (2009). The effects of job and personal resources on hotel employees' work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(4), 504–512. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2009.02.003
Kim, H., & Jogaratnam, G. (2010). Effects of individual and organizational factors on job satisfaction and intent to leave in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29(3), 609-619. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2009.11.001
Kim, H., Lee, S., & Jang, J. (2022). The impact of effective communication and transparency on employee engagement in luxury hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 103–123. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103123
Kim, W. G., Woo, H., & Uysal, M. (2018). Tourism employee performance: The role of supervisor, coworker, and nonwork support. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 70, 35-44. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.10.022
Kong, H., Jiang, X., & Liu, Y. (2020). Trust in leadership and employee performance: The mediating effect of employee engagement. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 44(5), 829–846. http://doi.org/10.1177/1096348020915571
Krishna, A., Kim, S., & Bapat, D. (2022). Transformational leadership, trust, and turnover intention in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(1), 123–145. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2021-0475
Kusluvan, S., Kusluvan, Z., Ilhan, I., & Buyruk, L. (2010). The psychological and behavioral consequences of employee satisfaction in hospitality organizations. Tourism Management, 31(3), 617-626. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2009.07.002
Lashley, C. (2018). Empowerment: HR strategies for service excellence. Routledge.
Lee, A., Legood, A., Hughes, D., & Tian, A. W. (2021). Leadership, creativity, and innovation: A meta-analytic review. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 30(1), 1–35. http://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2020.1812295
Lee, L., & Madera, J. M. (2023). Ethical decision-making, open communication, and employee morale in luxury hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 105, 103–156. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103156
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. http://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080335
McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. Van Nostrand. http://doi.org/10.1037/14359-000
Miao, R., & Cao, Y. (2019). High-performance work system, work well-being, and employee creativity: Cross-level moderating role of transformational leadership. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(9), 1640. http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091640
Miao, R., & Kim, H. (2019). The role of cultural differences in the relationship between leadership and employee voice behavior: A comparison of the United States and China. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26(3), 337-348. http://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819849003
Mordor Intelligence. (n.d.). Luxury hotel market in India: Growth trends and forecasts. Mordor Intelligence. Retrieved from https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/luxury-hotel-market-in-india
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521–535. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. http://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press.
Saks, A. M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600–619. http://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.
Tsui, A. S., Pearce, J. L., Porter, L. W., & Tripoli, A. M. (1997). Alternative approaches to the employee-organization relationship: Does investment in employees pay off? Academy of Management Journal, 40(5), 1089-1121. http://doi.org/10.5465/256928
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. Wiley.
Whitener, E. M., Brodt, S. E., Korsgaard, M. A., & Werner, J. M. (1998). Managers as initiators of trust: An exchange relationship framework for understanding managerial trustworthy behavior. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 513–530. http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1998.926624
World Travel & Tourism Council. (2022). Economic impact of travel and tourism in India. WTTC Report. Retrieved from https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact
Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., & Ilies, R. (2021). Everyday working life: Explaining within-person fluctuations in employee well-being. Human Relations, 74(2), 205–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719857114
License
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Borneo Novelty Publishing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Permission is granted subject to the terms of the License under which the work was published. Permission will be required if your reuse is not covered by the terms of the License.
How to Cite
Sailesh, B., & Karthikeyan, K. (2026). Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation: Which drives long-term employee productivity in hotels?. Journal of Rural Tourism , 3(2), 138-154. https://doi.org/10.70310/jrt.2026.03021272
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
