06 Jul 2026
A research project led by Dr Li Pan, Dr Yue Xu and Dr Daniel Hampson from the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, in collaboration with Natasha Clennell from the University of Liverpool has been formally published in International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM), a leading academic journal ranked SSCI Q1, CAS Tier 1 Top, ABDC A* and ABS 3. Hanhong Feng, a doctoral researcher at IBSS, is the first author of the paper.
Based on a three-month longitudinal field survey across eleven premium hotels in China, the study challenges conventional industry perceptions. Contrary to common belief, customer compliments, positive online reviews and expressions of gratitude do not merely improve brand reputation; they inspire authentic pride among frontline employees and motivate voluntary mutual assistance within teams, offering cost-effective new approaches to hotel workforce management.
Across hospitality, catering and travel industries, operators mostly regard customer gratitude as a branding asset that drives repeat purchases and online exposure. This research, however, identifies substantial internal spillover value stemming from customer gratitude: positive customer feedback gradually shapes employee’s positive emotions, which subsequently enhances coworker collaboration and improves internal operational coordination.
Drawing on Affective Event Theory and Monitor and Acceptance Theory, the research team collected 271 valid questionnaire responses from frontline hotel staff via three-wave survey rounds over three months. Multiple quality checks including attention-check questions and anonymous participant coding were adopted to minimise statistical bias and ensure empirical findings reflect real-world hotel operations.
## Full psychological pathway: Customer gratitude → authentic pride → coworker-directed helping behaviour
Verbal praise, favourable online comments and tips serve as tangible recognition of employees’ hard work, cultivating authentic pride rooted in personal effort rather than hubristic pride. Driven by such authentic pride, employees voluntarily share heavy workloads, resolve tricky customer complaints and provide cross-departmental backup during peak hours to enhance their standing within teams.
Empirical comparison further proves authentic pride, instead of general positive affect, acts as the core psychological driver of coworker-directed helping conduct. By identifying authentic pride as a distinct explanatory mechanism, this research enriches current understanding of the internal organizational consequences of customer gratitude.
## Core finding: Mindfulness works as an effective amplifier of gratitude benefits
Mindfulness, defined as non-judgemental present-centred awareness, functions as a critical moderator determining whether customer appreciation translates into collaborative workplace conduct.
- Employees with high mindfulness can capture subtle signs of gratitude such as casual thanks or nods, accurately attributing positive feedback to their own service input and developing stronger willingness to support colleagues.
- Those low in mindfulness easily overlook faint customer recognition, with positive feedback barely boosting their cooperative motivation.
Unlike fixed personality traits, mindfulness can be cultivated via short regular training, making it an accessible low-cost management tool for hospitality operators.
### Three Practical Low-cost Operational Strategies
The research proposes three easy-to-implement solutions for hotels, homestays and catering businesses to build a virtuous operational cycle:
- Improve service visibility: Design open kitchen or guest-facing working spaces to let customers observe behind-the-scenes efforts, naturally raising the frequency of spontaneous customer gratitude. Mandatory tipping schemes should be avoided to prevent forced compensation from diluting sincere appreciation.
- Foster authentic pride via regular recognition: Deliver personalised thank-you notes and monthly outstanding staff awards to sustain employees’ sense of achievement and intrinsic motivation to assist teammates.
- Deliver daily short mindfulness sessions: Just 10 to 20 minutes of daily mindfulness training sharpens employees’ sensitivity to subtle customer appreciation and turns scattered positive feedback into sustained team synergy.
Putting the three measures in place creates a sustainable positive loop: customers express gratitude → employees gain authentic pride → voluntary peer support → upgraded service quality → more customer appreciation, cutting staff turnover and internal administrative expenses.
Author Profiles
Dr Li Pan
Dr Li (Sunny) Pan currently serves as Assistant Professor and Director of Mindfulness Center at the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
With over 20 years of experience in both industry and academia in the field of marketing, Dr. Pan has extensive multinational industry experience encompassing market consulting, B2B and B2C marketing. She is also the co-founder of TEDxSuzhou. Her consultation clients include Unilever, Abbott, Apple, Amway, Nike, Nissin. Her current academic research focuses on consumer behavior, entrepreneurship and innovation, mindfulness, and healthcare. She has published papers in top academic journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Medical Internet Research. She is Principal Investigator of grants received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China Young Scientists Fund and Talent Program of Jiangsu Province.
Dr Pan is Qualified Teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Seed Teacher of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). She founded the mindfulness community W.E.leader and is dedicated to promoting the development of the mindfulness industry in China. Her consultation client includes Now, Juexin, Flow and BrainCo. Her mindfulness teaching focuses on the workplace, leaders, and entrepreneurs, with clients including CRRC, Gaia Works, Prysmian, Fore Sight, and ICBC. She was awarded the "Jiangsu Innovation and Entrepreneurship Doctor" for her research in mindfulness and innovation. She serves as Deputy Director of the Mindfulness Psychology Committee of the Chinese Psychological Association and a committee member of the Mindfulness Professional Committee of the China Life Care Association.
Dr Yue Xu
Dr Yue Xu, an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at SMO, IBSS, XJTLU, has a rich and diverse research repertoire. Her intellectual pursuits span a broad spectrum, including Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), leadership, entrepreneurship, and behavioral decision-making. With a string of high-quality publications adorning the pages of influential journals such as Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and Journal of Vocational Behavior, this latest accomplishment further solidifies her status as a luminary in the field.
Dr Daniel Hampson
Dr Daniel Hampson earned his Ph.D from the University of Manchester in 2014. Under the supervision of Professor Peter McGoldrick, Daniel’s thesis explored the effects of the Great Recession on consumer psychology and behavior. Subsequent published work examines various facets of the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and consumerism, including conspicuous consumption and domestic product purchases in Brazil, price consciousness and store disloyalty in the UK, and financial well-being and vulnerability in the US. Current research projects include examination of the relationship between consumer confidence and ethical consumption, and the effects of financial comparisons on the gifts that we buy for our friends. In addition to his primary research interest in economics and marketing, Daniel has collaborated with other scholars on a range of marketing and management subjects, including consumer incivility in the sharing economy, curatorial consumption in the context of vintage markets, intra-organizational knowledge hiding and sharing, and the relationship closeness paradox.
Hanhong Feng
Hanhong Feng is a doctoral student at International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, and also at the Management School, University of Liverpool, UK. His primary research focuses on the application of mindfulness in frontline service contexts, specifically exploring the effects of mindfulness on frontline service employees' well-being, customer interaction performance, and ethical decision-making. Many of his research findings have been presented and discussed at important domestic and international academic conferences in management and marketing, and he has papers either published or under review in internationally renowned journals.
Journal Introduction
International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM) is a globally leading benchmark publication for hospitality and tourism research. Classified as SSCI JCR Q1, Chinese Academy of Sciences Tier 1 Top, ABDC A and ABS 3, it adopts strict peer review standards and publishes cutting-edge original empirical research across global hospitality, tourism economics and service management.
By Linlin Xie
Edited by Li Pan
Reviewed by Yifei Wu
06 Jul 2026