Whistleblowing in the travel industry: A research in the context of idealism and affective commitment

Abstract

Whistleblowing is a topic that rarely garners attention in tourism, particularly within the travel industry. This research, delves into external whistleblowing in relation to idealism and affective organizational commitment. The study aims to examine how affective commitment and idealism influence the attitudes of travel agency employees towards external whistleblowing. Employing a quantitative approach, the study investigated these variables using data from 433 travel agency employees in Turkey. The findings indicate that these employees hold unfavourable opinions regarding external whistleblowing. Affective commitment and idealism are demonstrated to significantly impact attitudes towards external whistleblowing. Moreover, the data suggests that idealism does not moderate the correlation between affective commitment and external whistleblowing. This research represents one of the initial inquiries into whistleblowing within the travel industry. Typically, the effectiveness of organisational behaviours, such as affective commitment and external whistleblowing, may depend on the structural aspects of entrepreneurship, as well as the costs and benefits of such actions, rather than solely on the ethical orientation of individuals. The perception and reporting of unethical practices are heavily influenced by community culture, and Turkish culture, in particular, tends to foster a negative mindset towards reporting unethical behaviour externally.