internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment: moderating effects of work...

ISSN 0031-5125DOI 10.2466/01.11.PR0.113x18z8

Psychological Reports: Employment Psychology & Marketing

INTERNAL MARKETING, CUSTOMER ORIENTATION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT: MODERATING EFFECTS OF

WORK STATUS 1 , 2 , 3

MEIJU HUANG

Graduate Institute of Physical EducationNational Taiwan Sport University

MEI-YEN CHEN

Graduate Institute of Sport, Leisure & Hospitality ManagementNational Taiwan Normal University

Summary .— Associations among internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment were examined, particularly with regard to the mod-erating eff ects of work status on the relationships between internal marketing and customer orientation or organizational commitment, in a cross-sectional design with structural equation modeling. Two studies ( N s = 119 and 251) were conducted among full- and part-time service employees at Taipei Sports Centers. Internal marketing was associated with organizational commitment and customer orientation. Customer orientation was associated with organizational commitment and partially mediated the relation between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Further-more, work status signifi cantly moderated the relationships between internal market-ing and customer orientation but not between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.

Increased competition in service settings has led many organizations to implement new strategies to improve service quality and achieve diff er-entiation from competitors. The nature of the interactions, especially with regard to employee behavior, aff ects perceived service quality, customer sat-isfaction, and the repeat purchase behavior of customers (Tansuhaj, Randall, & McCullough, 1988). To implement new strategies successfully, it is nec-essary to alter the culture of an organization to align employees' attitudes with the new strategies ( George, 1990 ). Because an organization is a collec-tion of people, the culture of an organization is dependent on how employ-ees view their organization and its goals ( Hogg, Carter, & Dunne, 1998 ). As such, internal marketing is useful in developing and maintaining a culture

© Psychological Reports 20132013, 113, 1, 180-198.

1 Address correspondence to Mei-Yen Chen, 162, Heping East Road, Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan or e-mail ([email protected]).2 This study was partially sponsored by the Sports Administration of Ministry of Education in Taiwan under the “Sports Development Fund.” 3The results were partially presented in an oral presentation called, “The eff ects of internal marketing on employees’ customer orientation and organizational commitment.” Paper pre-sented at the 2012 International Conference on Management and Service Science, Shanghai, China, August 2012.

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MODERATING EFFECTS OF WORK STATUS 181

within which customer-oriented behaviors should be recognized, communi-cated, and rewarded ( George, 1990 ; Arnett, Laverie, & McLane, 2002 ).

Internal marketing originates from the marketing concept. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) described internal marketing as comprising attract-ing, developing, motivating, and retaining qualifi ed employees through work products that satisfy their needs. Employees are viewed as internal customers ( Foreman & Money, 1995 ). By satisfying the needs of internal customers, organizations can ensure that employees will be more moti-vated and committed to off er high-quality service, resulting in external customers' satisfaction ( Kotler, 1991 ). Bennett and Barkensjo (2005) fur-ther identify the core elements of internal marketing, such as providing employees with a vision, encouraging eff ective internal communica-tions, providing employee training and development, promoting team-work, developing a well-defi ned organizational structure, and providing employee recognition and empowerment. Internal marketing can be con-ceptualized as a management philosophy that focuses on the creation of eff ective internal relationships among individuals at all levels of an orga-nization by developing service- and customer-oriented employees ( Kele-men & Papasolomou-Doukakis, 2004 ). It has evolved into a strategic tool that organizations use to create customer consciousness ( Barnes, Fox, & Morris, 2004 ), clearly articulating to the employees services expected ( Liao & Chuang, 2004 ) and applying a performance-reward system ( Foreman & Money, 1995 ). Employees who deliver services need to understand how their work fi ts into business operation and how their work contributes to the organization ( Berry & Parasuraman, 1991 ). Linking excellent per-formance with rewards enhances the instrumentality of service behavior.

Because a committed workforce is more likely to perform well and have reduced turnover, decreasing recruiting and training costs, manag-ers should learn how to retain committed workers and increase the com-mitment of those workers. An understanding is needed of how internal marketing practices can improve employees' attitudes. Organizational commitment is an important attitude-related construct that has been widely studied in the work setting, including the sports environment (Martinez, Stinson, & Jubenville, 2010). Mowday, Steers, and Porter (1979) defi ned organizational commitment as an attitudinal commitment to a particular organization and its goals and a wish to maintain one’s relation-ship with the organization to facilitate the achievement of that goal ( Mow-day, et al., 1979 ). Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa (1986) have emphasized the importance of work experiences that demonstrate organizational supportiveness and contribute to aff ective commitment of employees; one such experience is an internal marketing program. Organizational commitment is linked to reduced employee turnover and


M. HUANG & M-Y. CHEN182

enhanced job performance ( Turner & Chelladurai, 2005 ). Several stud-ies have shown that successful implementation of internal marketing can lead to an increase in employees' organizational commitment ( Bennett & Barkensjo, 2005 ; Martinez, et al., 2010).

Hypothesis 1. Internal marketing will be positively associated with organizational commitment.

Service employees are directly involved in satisfying customers' needs within the parameters of the organization's service guidelines and the marketing concepts that are used to convey the organization's service vision. Customer orientation ( Brown, Mowen, Donavan, & Licata, 2002 ) is defi ned as the tendency or predisposition of employees to meet customer needs in a working environment ( Brown, et al., 2002 ) and could be used to measure employees' ability and motivation to serve and meet customers' needs. Implementing internal marketing practices could modify customer orientation ( George, 1990 ; Kelemen & Papasolomou-Doukakis, 2004 ; Tsai & Tang, 2008 ).

Hypothesis 2. Internal marketing will be positively associated with customer orientation.

Customers evaluate service quality based on their interaction with service employees and the behavior of such employees. Consequently, employee knowledge and interpersonal skills are important to the success of a service fi rm ( Bitner, Booms, & Tetreault, 1990 ). Employees' customer-oriented behavior is a result of individual and situational fi t ( Donavan, Brown, & Mowen, 2004 ), including the fi t between the employee and orga-nization and between the employee and the job (person-job fi t). Meyer and Allen (1997) argued that the fi t between a person's values or needs with the demands of the job will enhance an employee's aff ective commitment. Don-avan et al. (2004) linked the customer orientation of employees to their orga-nizational commitment: highly customer-oriented employees fi t a service job better and thus become more committed to their services organization.

Hypothesis 3. Customer orientation will be positively associated with organizational commitment.

Internal marketing in service organizations should identify and retain customer-oriented employees ( George, 1990 ). Therefore, such programs must reinforce and build a customer-oriented culture in which employees are well trained and motivated to refl ect the organization's vision and be committed to their organization.

Part-time employees are an important source of labor in service indus-tries ( Feldman, 1990 ), since they enable an organization to respond to fl uctu-



ating market demand ( Cappelli, 1995 ). These non-standard workers operate under explicit restrictions either in the hours worked per week or in the duration of their employment ( Broschak & Davis-Blake, 2006 ), receive fewer fringe benefi ts, have fewer advancement opportunities, and receive little or no training ( Rotchford & Roberts, 1982 ). Prior research ( Stamper & Van Dyne, 2001 ; Tsui & Wu, 2005 ) has clarifi ed that part-time workers are more likely to develop economic rather than social exchange relationships with their employers. Employees who work part-time jobs generally have less involve-ment in internal marketing practices, and may be less customer-oriented.

Hypothesis 4. Customer orientation will mediate the relationship between internal marketing and organizational commitment.

Hypothesis 5. Work status will moderate the relationship between internal marketing and customer orientation; the relationship will be greater for full-time employees than for part-time employees.

Meyer and Allen (1991) stated that employees tend to develop strong commitment when the incentives off ered exceed their expectations. Extending social exchange theory to service settings suggests that when employers invest more in their employees, employees are more likely to reciprocate the benefi ts that they receive ( Tsui & Wu, 2005 ; Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005 ). Researchers have identifi ed the need to examine the diff erences of attitudes and behaviors between part-time and full-time employees, because those diff erences may have an infl uence on organi-zational personnel policies ( Van Dyne & Ang, 1998 ; Chang & Chelladurai, 2003 ). Fewer rewards for part-time employees may lead to a weaker com-mitment to an organization ( Gakovic & Tetrick, 2003 ).

Hypothesis 6. Work status moderates the relationship between internal marketing and organizational commitment: the rela-tionship between internal marketing and organizational com-mitment will be stronger for full-time employees ( Fig. 1 ).

Study 1 In this study, the measures were translated into Chinese. The factor

structure and item functioning was checked. Study 1 was conducted in October, 2010 and adopted a cross-sectional design using self-adminis-tered questionnaires to collect data.

METHOD Sample

The participants in the fi rst study were drawn from 12 sports centers in Taipei, Taiwan. The centers, owned by the Taipei Municipal Govern-ment, off er a wide variety of well-equipped facilities, space, and indoor



fi tness programs that promote public health and provide leisure and sport activities. A total of 119 service employees (55 men, 64 women) were recruited for the fi rst study. Most of the participants (73.9%) were 21 to 30 years old, 76 had full-time jobs and 43 had part-time jobs. In addition, 37.9% of the participants had one to three years of work experience at the Taipei Sports Centers. Measures

The questionnaire was divided into two sections. The fi rst section included three scales: internal marketing, customer orientation, and orga-nizational commitment. The second section included questions about gen-der, age, education, tenure, and work status.

Internal marketing .— Internal marketing was assessed using the 15-item scale developed by Foreman and Money (1995) . The scale comprises three subscales: service training programs (Development, 8 items; “We pre-pare our employees to perform well”), a reward system (Reward, 5 items; “In our organization, those employees who provide excellent service are rewarded for their eff orts”), and the vision of service excellence (Vision, 2 items; “Our organization off ers employees a vision that they can believe in”). Rating scale anchors were 1: Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree.

Organizational commitment .— Organizational commitment was mea-sured using the scale that was developed by Mowday, et al. (1979) . It has three subscales: Value (4 items; “I found my values and the organization's values are very similar”), Eff ort (6 items; “I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organization to work for”), and Retention (5 items; “There is not too much to be gained by sticking with this organization indefi nitely”). The measure employed a seven-point Likert-type scale with anchors 1: Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree.

Customer orientation .— Customer orientation was assessed using a 12-item scale developed by Brown, et al. (2002) with two subscales: Enjoy-

InternalMarketing

CustomerOrientation

OrganizationalCommitment

Direct Effect

Moderating Effect

H1

H2

H3

H4

H5

Work Status

H6

FIG. 1. Conceptual Framework



ment (6 items; “I get satisfaction from making my customers happy”) and Needs (6 items; “I try to help customers achieve their goals”). The mea-sures employed a seven-point rating scale with anchors 1: Strongly dis-agree and 7: Strongly agree.

Work status .— Employees were asked to indicate their employment status, whether they were working full-time or part-time. Translation

The Internal Marketing, Organizational Commitment, and Customer Orientation scales were translated into Chinese by the authors of this arti-cle. To create an initial questionnaire and to ensure the accuracy of word-ing and interpretation of items, the content and wording of the items were examined by two academics who have obtained their Ph.D. degrees in the U.S. and are fl uent in both Chinese and English, one sports center director, and two sports center staff members. Procedure

The purposive sampling method was used in both studies. Each par-ticipant was informed that his or her participation was confi dential and voluntary, and that he or she would receive a gift for completing the ques-tionnaires. Subsequently, the questionnaires were administered to 128 ser-vice employees of Taipei Sport Centers, and 119 valid questionnaires were collected, yielding a response rate of 93%. Analysis

A two-step approach was employed ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ). Con-fi rmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on each of the three scales, to estimate the convergent validity and discriminant validity of the mea-surement models ( Wang, Chen, & Chen, 2012 ). AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structure) 17.0 was used with maximum likelihood estimation to evaluate the factor structures of the three scales. Reliability was assessed by exam-ining whether each factor loading exceeded the criteria of .50, whether the composite reliability (CR) exceeded the criteria of .60, and whether the aver-age variance extracted (AVE) exceeded .50 ( Bagozzi & Yi, 1988 ). In addition to the chi-squared statistics, four fi t indices (RMSEA, SRMR, CFI, and TLI) were used to assess model fi t. Discriminant validity was assessed using the approach suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981) : validity is acceptable if the square root of AVE is larger than the correlation between the off -diago-nal latent variables ( Wang, et al., 2012 ).

RESULTS Because the results of the CFA indicated that the overall model fi t for the

initial measurement model for internal marketing [χ 2 (87) = 242.56, p < .001; χ 2 / df = 2.79; TLI = .89; CFI = .91; SRMR = .07, RMSEA = .123] was not good,



fi ve items were removed from the original scale. The re-specifi ed measure-ment model for Internal Marketing indicated that the construct has three fac-tors (Vision, Development, and Reward) containing 10 items with loadings between .79 and .93 ( Table 1 ). The model fi t for the measurement model of internal marketing had an acceptable fi t to the data [χ 2 (32) = 46.20, p = .05; χ 2 / df = 1.4; TLI = .98; CFI = .99; SRMR = .03, RMSEA = .06].

TABLE 1 CONSTRUCT RELIABILITY AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY COEFFICIENTS FOR INTERNAL MARKETING

( N = 119)

Constructs/Factors/Items SIL CR AVEInternal Marketing (IM) Vision .92 .85 1. Our organization off ers employees a vision that they can

believe in .91 2. We communicate our organization's vision well to employees .93 Development .92 .70 3. We prepare our employees to perform well .79 4. Our organization views the development of knowledge and

skills in employees as an investment rather than a cost .88 5. Skill and knowledge development of employees happens as

an ongoing process in our organization .81 6. We teach our employees “why they should do things” and not

just “how they should do things” .86 7. In our organization we go beyond training and educate

employees as well * In this organization, the employees are properly trained to perform

their service rolls *This organization has the fl exibility to accommodate the diff ering

needs of employees *We place considerable emphasis in this organization on communicat-

ing with our employees

.85

Reward .86 .67 8. Our performance measurement and reward system

encourages employees to work together .81 9. Our organization communicates to employees the importance

of their service roles .80 10. In our organization, those employees who provide excellent

service are rewarded for their eff orts *We measure and reward employee performance that contributes most

to our organization's vision *We use data we gather from employees to improve their jobs, and to

develop the strategy of the organization

.84

Note .—SIL = Standardized Item Loading; CR = Composite Reliability; AVE = Average Vari-ance Extracted; italic items marked with asterisks represent those items that were deleted from the original scale.



Regarding the discriminant validity of Customer Orientation, the con-fi dence interval around the correlation between Enjoyment and Need included 1.0 ( r = .92, CFI = 123.11) ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ). The overall model fi t for the initial measurement model for customer orientation [χ 2 (53) = 116.84, p < .001; χ 2 / df = 2.20; TLI = .95; CFI = .96; SRMR = .03, RMSEA = .10] was not good, seven items of Customer Orientation construct were removed from the original scale. Results indicated that Customer Orientation was a single-factor construct containing fi ve items, with item loadings between .83 and .95 ( Table 2 ). The model fi t for the re-specifi ed measurement model of Customer Orientation indicated an acceptable model fi t to the data [χ 2 (5) = 7.30, p = .20; χ 2 / df = 1.5; TLI = .992; CFI = .996; SRMR = .016, RMSEA = .062].

Regarding the discriminant validity of Organizational Commitment, the confi dence interval (± 2 SD ) around the correlation between Value and Eff ort includes 1.0 ( r = .98, CFI = 33.38) ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ). The two dimensions were combined into a single dimension, Identifi cation. Because the overall model fi t for the initial measurement model for orga-nizational commitment [χ 2 (87) = 2.88, p < .001; χ 2 / df = 2.79; TLI = .83; CFI = .83; SRMR = .13, RMSEA = .126] were not good, six items were removed from the original scale. As shown in Table 3 , the results indicated that Organiza-tional Commitment was conceptualized as a two-factor construct (Identifi -cation and Retention) containing nine items with item loadings between .56 and .88 ( Table 3 ). The model fi t for the re-specifi ed measurement model of organizational commitment also revealed an acceptable model fi t to the

TABLE 2 CONSTRUCT RELIABILITY AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY COEFFICIENTS FOR CUSTOMER ORIENTATION

( N = 119)

Constructs/Factors/Items SIL CR AVECustomer Orientation .95 .79 1. I enjoy responding quickly to my customers' requests .88 2. I get satisfaction from making my customers happy .93 3. I really enjoy serving my customers .95 4. I try to help customers achieve their goals .86 5. I achieve my own goals by satisfying customers *I fi nd it easy to smile at each of my customers *I enjoy remembering my customers' names *It comes naturally to have empathy for my customers *I get customers to talk about their service needs with me *I take a problem-solving approach with my customers *I keep the best interests of the customer in mind *I am able to answer a customer's questions correctly

.83

Note .—SIL = Standardized Item Loading; CR = Composite Reliability; AVE = Average Vari-ance Extracted; italic items marked with asterisks represent those items that were deleted from the original scale.



data [ χ 2 (26) = 28.65, p = .33; χ 2 / df = 1.10; TLI = .993; CFI = .995; SRMR = .054 and RMSEA = .029]. As indicated in Tables 1 to 3 , all item loadings exceeded .50 for the three constructs (internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment). The average variance extracted (AVE) val-ues all exceeded the recommended value of .50, and all of the composite reliability values exceeded the recommended value of .60. Table 4 shows discriminant validity results. From the analysis of the Study 1 results, three measurement models demonstrated adequate convergent validity and discriminant validity.

TABLE 3 CONSTRUCT RELIABILITY AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY COEFFICIENTS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL

COMMITMENT ( N = 119)

Constructs/Factors/Items SIL CR AVE Identifi cation Commitment .91 .64

1. I found that my values and the organization's values are very similar .78

2. This organization really inspires the very best in me in the way of job performance .77

3. I am willing to put in a great deal of eff ort beyond that nor-mally expected in order to help this organization be successful .78

4. I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organiza-tion to work for .85

5. I am proud to tell others that I am part of this organization .826. I am extremely glad that I chose this organization to work for

over others I was considering at the time I joined *I would accept almost any type of job assignment in order to keep working for this organization *Often, I fi nd it diffi cult to agree with this organization's policies on important matters relating to its employees *I really care about the fate of this organization *For me this is the best of all possible organizations for which to work

.79

Retention Commitment (RC) .79 .577. It would take very little change in my present circumstances

to cause me to leave this organization (R) .568. There is not too much to be gained by sticking with this

organization indefi nitely (R) .889. Often, I fi nd it diffi cult to agree with this organization's poli-

cies on important matters relating to its employees (R) *I feel very little loyalty to this organization (R) *Deciding to work for this organization was a defi nite mistake on my part (R)

.78

Note .—An “R” means a negatively phrased and reverse-scored item; SIL = Standardized Item Loading; CR = Composite Reliability; AVE = Average Variance Extracted; italic items marked with asterisks represent those items that were deleted from the original scale.



DISCUSSION Based on 119 samples from the 12 sports centers, CFA was used to exam-

ine the factor structures of the three measurement models. The results reported a higher correlation ( r = .92) and multicollinearity between Enjoy-ment and Need factors underlying the customer orientation construct. The multicollinearity indicated that the distinct conceptual status of the two variables was questionable. The model was re-specifi ed and Enjoyment and Need factors combined into one single factor ( Grewal & Cote, 2004 ). Furthermore, the sample size in the fi rst study was not large enough and models had large numbers of variables, which often resulted in fi t diffi cul-ties ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ). Several scale items were trimmed from each model, and the key observed variables included in the model were ensured to have adequate convergent validity and discriminant validity. After shortening the scales, Cronbach's α for internal marketing scale, cus-tomer orientation scale, and organizational commitment scale was .94, .95, and .81, respectively. All reliability estimates exceed .70. After acceptable fi t had been achieved, the next step in the process was to cross-validate the SEM model in the second study ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 ).

Study 2 METHOD

Sample The participants in Study 2 were service employees drawn from 12

sports centers in Taipei, Taiwan. Of the 251 participants (122 men, 129 women)

TABLE 4 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, INTERNAL CONSISTENCY RELIABILITY, CORRELATIONS, AND DISCRIMINANT

VALIDITY OF VARIABLES ( N = 119)

Construct Full Time ( n = 76)

Part Time ( n = 43) Cronbach's

α Correlation

M SD M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6Internal Marketing 1. Vision 5.09 1.15 4.92 1.11 .91 .92 2. Development 5.19 1.08 5.10 0.92 .92 .79† .83 3. Reward 5.00 1.09 4.70 1.14 .86 .70† .75† .82 4. Customer Orientation 5.55 0.96 5.60 0.95 .95 .42† .49† .43† .89 Organizational Commitment 5. Identifi cation 5.11 0.97 5.08 1.04 .91 .70† .77† .78† .64† .80 6. Retention 3.89 1.19 3.92 1.16 .78 .07 .18* .19* –.05 .10 .75 Note .—Diagonal elements (bold) are the square root of average variance extracted (AVE); off -diagonal elements are Pearson correlations between variables. * p < .05. † p < .01.



recruited, 68.9% were ages 30 or under. In addition, 40.2% of the partici-pants had one to three years of work experience at a Taipei Sports Center. A total of 175 of the participants (69.72%) were full-time workers, and 76 of them were part-time workers. Measures

The Internal Marketing scale, Customer Orientation scale, and Orga-nizational Commitment scale validated in Study 1 were used in Study 2. The scale anchors were 1: Strongly disagree and 7: Strongly agree. Procedure

In Study 2, the relationships proposed in the research hypotheses were examined. Fig. 1 displays the hypothesized conceptual model in the present study. Study 2 was conducted in November, 2010. With the assistance of the CEO and manager of each sports center, a total of 330 questionnaires were distributed to the full and part-time workers at Tai-pei Sports Centers. All respondents participated on a voluntary basis and were assured of their confi dentiality. After completing the questionnaires, the participants were given a small gift as a token of appreciation. Of the 279 questionnaires returned, 28 were excluded because of incomplete or invalid answers. There were 251 eff ective samples and the valid response rate was 76.1%. Analysis

To assess the hypothesized relationships among scale scores, SEM with maximum likelihood estimation was employed with AMOS 17.0. A nested model approach was used to compare the model fi t between a fully mediated model and a partially mediated model ( Aryee, Budh-war, & Chen, 2002 ). A Sobel test was also conducted to test the mediat-ing eff ect of customer orientation on the relationship between Internal Marketing and Organization Commitment ( Sobel, 1982 ). Finally, the mod-erating eff ect of work status on the relationship between Internal Mar-keting and Customer Orientation or Organizational Commitment was analyzed using multi-group SEM with AMOS 17.0.

RESULTS Main Eff ects and Mediating Eff ects

To examine the fi rst three hypotheses, fi rst the fi t of the SEM in Fig. 2 was assessed. The overall model fi t was good (χ 2 / df = 2.9, p < .05; TLI = .96; CFI = .97; SRMR = .037; RMSEA = .08). Fig. 2 presents the path coeffi cients and their statistical signifi cance for all of the relationships in the structural model. The relationships assumed by the model were supported. There was a signifi cant path coeffi cient of .80 ( t = 2.92) between Internal Market-



ing and Organizational Commitment. There was also a signifi cant path coeffi cient of .45 ( t = 6.54) between Internal Marketing and Customer Ori-entation. These results support Hypotheses 1 and 2. In addition, there was a statistically signifi cant path coeffi cient of .25 ( t = 2.87) between Customer Orientation and Organizational Commitment, supporting Hypothesis 3.

In Hypothesis 4, it was predicted that the infl uence of Internal Market-ing on Organizational Commitment would be partially mediated by Cus-tomer Orientation. To test this hypothesis, the model fi ts for a fully mediated model and a partially mediated model were compared ( Aryee, Budhwar, & Chen, 2002 ). The partially mediated model (χ 2 / df = 2.9, p < .05; TLI = .96; CFI = .97; SRMR = .037; RMSEA = .08) as shown in Fig. 2 , provided a much bet-ter fi t than the fully mediated model (χ 2 / df = 9.99, p < .05; TLI = .81; CFI = .86; SRMR = .145; RMSEA = .19). To conduct the actual mediation analysis, the formula developed by Sobel (1982) was applied to test the indirect eff ect of the independent variable on the dependent variable via the mediator. If |z| > 2, the indirect eff ect was statistically signifi cant; z for the mediation analysis was 2.63 ( p < .01). The results indicate that the Customer Orien-tation partially mediated the relationship between Internal Marketing and Organizational Commitment. Hence, this fi nding supports Hypothesis 4. Moderating Eff ects

To test the moderating eff ect of employee work status, the respon-dents were divided into two groups based on their work status at Tai-pei Sports Centers. The full-time group comprised 175 employees, and the part-time group 76 employees. Confi rmatory factor analyses were per-formed with the data from both full- and part-time workers. The raw data

InternalMarketing

CustomerOrientation

.45†

.25†

.80†

OrganizationalCommitment

FIG. 2. Structural equation model of internal marketing, customer orientation, and orga-nizational commitment. †p < .01.



matrices from both groups were used as input data to generate the covari-ance matrices for the constructs ( Chang & Chelladurai, 2003 ). Before com-paring the hypothesized paths between the full- and part-time groups, a measurement invariance test was conducted to assess whether the mea-surement model is invariant across groups ( Han, Kim, & Hyun, 2011 ).

A non-restricted model in which the factor loadings of the three con-structs were relaxed to vary across groups was fi rst assessed, and then the equality of the factor loadings between the two groups was assessed (full-metric invariance model). The non-restricted model fi t the data well(χ 2 / df = 2.05, p < .05; TLI = .957; CFI = .969; SRMR = 0.034; RMSEA = .065). The full-metric invariance model also yielded a good fi t to the data (χ 2 / df = 2.03, p < .05; TLI = .958; CFI = .967; SRMR = .035; RMSEA = .064). The results of a chi-squared diff erence test between the non-restricted model and the full-metric invariance model showed that the full metric invariance was sup-ported across the two groups (Δχ 2 = 13.16, Δdf = 7, p = .07). As suggested by Little (1997) , because the χ 2 statistic is an overly sensitive index of model fi t for large samples, the diff erence in fi t between the freely estimated and the constrained model should be negligible (the absolute value of ΔNNFI and ΔIFI � .05) when assessing the tenability of measurement equivalence. Since ΔNNFI = .006 and ΔIFI = .003, the results indicated that the factor loadings between the full- and part-time groups were invariant.

To test the moderating eff ect of work status on the hypothesized paths (Internal Marketing → Organizational Commitment; Internal Marketing → Customer Orientation), the baseline models were run by adding paths among the constructs ( Han, et al., 2011 ). All paths of the baseline mod-els can be freely estimated, but the nested models were constrained to equality across groups. As shown in Table 5 , chi-squared diff erences were found in the comparison of the baseline models and nested models. The infl uence of Internal Marketing on Customer Orientation diff ered across the two groups (Δχ 2 = 9.34, Δdf = 1, p < .05). Therefore, the results sup-ported Hypothesis 5, but full metric invariance was not supported.

Furthermore, there was no statistically signifi cant diff erence in the infl uence of Internal Marketing on Organizational Commitment between

TABLE 5 STRUCTURAL INVARIANCE FOR HYPOTHESIZED MODERATION ( N = 251)

LinkFull Time Part Time Baseline Model Nested Model

Coef. t Coef. t Freely est. Const. equalIM→CO .46 6.85 .39 6.85 χ 2 (71) = 144.17 χ 2 (72) = 153.51IM→OC .83 6.49 .81 6.49 χ 2 (71) = 144.17 χ 2 (72) = 144.20

Note .—Coef. = coeffi cient; Const. = constrained (to be equal); IM = Internal Marketing; CO = Customer Orientation; OC = Organizational Commitment.



the two groups (Δ χ 2 = .03, Δdf = 1, p = .86). This result does not support Hypothesis 6, and full metric invariance was supported. To further exam-ine the infl uence of Internal Marketing on Customer Orientation between the two groups, it was noted that the path coeffi cient values of the full-time group ( γ = .46, p < .001) were higher than those of the part-time group ( γ = .39, p < .001). Based on the results of the above analysis, work status appears to moderate the relationship between Internal Marketing on Cus-tomer Orientation; contrary to expectation, work status did not moderate the relationship between Internal Marketing on Organizational Commitment. Assessment of Common Method Variance

The data for this study were self-reported and collected at one time period. To address the common method variance ( Podsakoff & Organ, 1986 ), a two-step approach was used. In Study 1, the psychometric prop-erties of the scales were assessed. In Study 2, the research model was examined in another group of samples drawn from the same populations. The results showed that the questionnaire had some validity and reliabil-ity across the two studies. Secondly, Harman's one-factor test ( Podsakoff & Organ, 1986 ) was employed to examine the fi t of a model in which all indicators loaded on one factor: if method variance is largely responsible for the variations among the measures, a CFA would indicate that a single factor fi ts the data ( Mossholder, Bennett, Kemery, & Wesolowski, 1998 ). In this study, one-factor model indicated worse fi t indices (χ 2 = 1084.60, df = 252; χ 2 / df = 4.30, p < .05; TLI = .624; CFI = .657; SRMR = .12; RMSEA = .167). These fi ndings indicate that common methods variation did not have a signifi cant eff ect on the relations among the variables.

DISCUSSION The results support the basic premise that employee perceptions of

internal marketing or customer orientation is positively associated with organizational commitment, at least insofar as the measures were valid. Indeed, previous research has documented relations between internal mar-keting and organizational commitment ( Chang & Chang, 2008 ; Martinez, et al., 2011 ) and between customer orientation and organizational commit-ment ( Hartline, Maxham, & McKee, 2000 ; Donavan, et al., 2004 ). One of the main contributions is the exploration of a mediation model. Customer ori-entation was found to mediate the relation between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Internal marketing seems to reinforce a cus-tomer-oriented culture ( George, 1990 ; Kelemen & Papasolomou-Doukakis, 2004 ) as the organization assists employees in internalizing the organiza-tion's service vision, communicates clear performance standards through training programs, and increases motivation through fair performance incentives ( Liao & Chuang, 2004 ). These practices support employees



in their eff orts to deliver eff ective services and to develop customer-ori-ented attitudes and behaviors ( Peccei & Rosenthal, 2001 ). This is in line with the idea that if employees receive greater support from an organiza-tion, they are likely to reciprocate with greater aff ective commitment and greater eff orts to contribute to achieving organizational goals ( Eisenberger, Armell, Rexwinkel, Lynch, & Rhoades, 2001 ).

Another contribution of this study was investigation of the relation-ships between customer orientation and organizational commitment. The models indicate that customer orientation may be an antecedent of organi-zational commitment, which supports the assertions of previous research-ers (e.g., Meyer & Allen, 1997 ; Holtom, Tidd, & Lee, 2002 ; Donavan, et al., 2004 ): the fi t of an individual's knowledge, skills, and abilities with the demands of a job will enhance aff ective commitment. There are three main implications for marketing and human resources management in service settings. Firstly, based on person-job dynamic, recruiting and attracting employees who fi t well with an organization's vision or culture is more likely to lead to better employee customer-oriented attitudes and behav-iors. Secondly, as suggested by Berry and Parasuraman (1991) , an orga-nization that invests in customer service-oriented training for employees gives employees the knowledge necessary to eff ectively perform their service roles while increasing their confi dence and customer orientation. Thirdly, retaining employees who exhibit high customer orientation and aff ective commitment by rewarding them with performance incentives will inspire other employees to emulate these behaviors, leading to higher organizational performance standards.

In addition, customer orientation is found to partially mediate the relationship between internal marketing and organizational commitment. Higher customer orientation refl ects higher concern for the customer's needs. Given the unpredictability of customer needs, customer orienta-tion is particularly important for service jobs such as fi tness instruction or facilities rental at sports centers. As suggested by the result of the par-tial mediation model, organizations that wish to have more committed employees should focus on implementing internal marketing programs to improve employee-customer orientation, as well as attracting and retain-ing employees with higher levels of customer orientation.

The results of the moderating test indicated that the infl uence of internal marketing on customer orientation was stronger for full-time employees than for part-time employees, supporting the notion of a social exchange relationship in which employees exchange their positive atti-tudes and work behaviors for support from their employer ( Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005 ). Full-time employees who receive more investments from their employers will have a higher level of perceived obligations toward



their employers ( Gakovic & Tetrick, 2003 ), while part-time employees will adopt a more transactional view of the employment relationship ( Stamper & Van Dyne, 2003 ). The diff erential infl uence of internal marketing on cus-tomer orientation in part-time and full-time employees suggests that inter-nal marketing can be a catalyst for motivating employees to improve their customer orientation. Fit theory indicates that person and situation com-bine to aff ect the person's behavior (Chatman, 1989). Internal marketing programs as a situational context can help employees develop customer-oriented behavior to further achieve a higher level of customer orienta-tion. There is a need to segment and understand the drivers of employee motivation to assist in developing eff ective programs and rewards for employees with diff erent work statuses ( Joseph, 1996 ). In sport partici-pant services, part-time employees have played a critical role in service delivery and are considered as an essential human resource. Their perfor-mance is critical to customer perceptions of service quality. For part-time employees with higher aff ective commitment and customer orientation, a proactive approach could be adopted to treat these employees as a read-ily available pool of candidates for full-time employment ( Polivka & Nar-done, 1989 ; Chang & Chelladurai, 2003 ). Limitations and Future Research

The limitations of this study should also be addressed, given the small number of part-time employees in Study 2. Another limitation was the translation of the scales into Chinese. Although every eff ort was made to preserve the original meaning of the test items, it is not clear that the scales are measuring the constructs in the same manner as originally intended. The other limitation is that the scope of this study is limited to the 12 sports centers in Taiwan; therefore, generalizing the study fi ndings to the entire service industry is not possible.

This study explored the relations among internal marketing, customer orientation, and organizational commitment. Future research should explore the antecedents of internal marketing such as leadership or the outcome variables, such as organizational citizen behavior.

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Accepted August 16 , 2013 .


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