Effects of Internal Branding on Frontline Employees Work Attitudes and Behaviours: Exploring the Role of Psychological Contract as the Mediator, The Case of North Cyprus Hotels

This thesis develops an empirical model to test the effect of internal branding and brand-oriented leadership on employees’ service recovery performance and turnover intention, with a particular emphasis on psychological contract as a mediator. Using a quantitative approach, questionnaires were distributed among frontline employees of four- and five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus and responses were collected from. Statistical analyses were performed using the SmartPLS software. The results of the statistical analyses showed internal branding and brand-oriented leadership have a direct and positive effect on psychological contract. Psychological contact also positively influenced service recovery performance and negatively influenced turnover intentions. The results suggest that hotels need to establish effective IB mechanisms to convey their brand messages through internal communication, training, briefing and meeting. It was observed that the overall psychological contract guarantees a partial complementary mediation between internal branding and brand oriented leadership on service recovery performance and turnover intention. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications were discussed in this research.