Impacts of personality, emotional intelligence and adaptiveness on service performance of casino hosts: A hierarchical approach

The premium player segment is a major source of revenues and profit for the casino sector. In their roles as providers of personalised services casino hosts are an important determinant in attracting and retaining this market segment. The service performance of such hosts impacts on both player retention and casino profitability. In seeking to explain these relationships, the present study identifies the antecedents of host service performance by using the five factor model of personality (FFM) and the concepts of emotional intelligence and adaptiveness. The researchers test the proposed relationships by adopting a hierarchical approach to FFM and emotional intelligence as basic personality traits or independent variables, adaptiveness as a surface trait or mediator, and host performance as the dependent variable. A sample of casino hosts at a large Australasia-based casino responded to a questionnaire-based survey which considered the five factors of personality, emotional intelligence, adaptiveness and service performance ratings. The results indicate that the FFM, emotional intelligence and adaptiveness have a significant influence on host performance. Structural equation modelling confirmed the existence of a hierarchical relationship between the basic personality traits, adaptiveness and performance outcomes and demonstrates that the inclusion of a mediator contributes to an enhanced evaluation of service performance. These findings enrich the literature by identifying new traits and provide insights that will support practitioners with their selection and training-related activities.