Unlocking the power of employee advocacy: The role of internal communication and engagement in five-star hotels

Employee advocacy on social media is an effective way to expand the organic reach of a company’s messaging. Yet the ethical practices driving employees’ intrinsic motivation to advocate in hospitality industry remains understudied. This study aims to fill in the gap by examining the influence of internal communication factors on employee social media advocacy and how employee engagement mediates relationships in China. This study also investigates the moderating effects of gender and age on the association of employee engagement and social media employee advocacy. The findings showed a significant positive effect of transformational leadership and supervisor-subordinate guanxi on employee engagement and social media employee advocacy. Only transformational leadership has an indirect effect on social media employee advocacy through employee engagement. Engaged younger and male employees have stronger intentions to advocate on social media than older and female employees. The findings provide guidelines for improving employees’ voluntariness in social media advocacy, and the managerial interventions for each demographic group.