Motivation Herzberg

Tourism Management 30 (2009) 890–899

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Tourism Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of work motivation tested empirically on seasonal workers in hospitality and tourism
Christine Lundberg a, *, Anna Gudmundson b, Tommy D. Andersson c a School of Business and Informatics, University College of Borås, Boras 501 90, Sweden
ETOUR, Mid-Sweden University, Ostersund, Sweden c School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden b a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 9 February 2007
Accepted 2 December 2008

The objective of this study was to understand work motivation in a sample of seasonal workers at a tourism destination strongly steered by seasonality. Furthermore, it was investigated whether seasonal workers could be divided into worker subgroups on the basis of their work motivation. A structural equations model tested Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of work motivation empirically. The findings of the study support the Two-Factor Theory of work motivation. Furthermore, results indicated that a migrant community of workers was significantly less concerned about wage level as well as significantly more concerned about meeting new people than resident workers. As a result of these findings, it is suggested that management of businesses in hospitality and tourism need to consider that the seasonal workforce consists of different kinds of worker subgroups, which have different needs to be satisfied. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Work motivation
Seasonal
Employee
Hospitality
Tourism
Herzberg
LISREL

1. Introduction
The objective of this study is to understand work motivation in a sample of seasonal workers at a ski-resort strongly steered by seasonality, situated in northern Sweden.
Tourism is strongly steered by seasonality. An international definition of seasonality in the hospitality and tourism

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