In the hospitality sector, it is often believed that giving more power to customers (e.g., “the customer is king”) would enhance the service quality, customer satisfaction, and organizational performance. However, it can cause a backlash by excessively elevating the level of the customers’ perceived power, which could result in their power abuse against the employees. Based on the organizational support theory, this research argues that balancing the level of power between the customers and the employees (vs. shifting the power to the customers) can be more effective for improving the perceptions of both the current and the potential employees. The argument is empirically supported by the findings from three studies, which showed that adopting a power-balancing message positively affects the current employees’ perceived organizational support and motivates them to feel obliged to give back to the organization and also potential job applicants’ organizational attraction and the job pursuit intention.

在酒店业，人们通常认为，赋予客户更多权力（例如“客户为王”）会提高服务质量，客户满意度和组织绩效。但是，这可能会由于过度提高客户的感知功率水平而引起抵制，从而可能导致他们滥用员工的功率。基于组织支持理论，该研究认为，平衡客户和员工之间的权力水平（相对于将权力转移给客户）可以更有效地改善现有员工和潜在员工的认知。该论据得到三项研究结果的经验支持，