Correspondence: Catherine R. Curtis, Rosen College of Hospitality Management University of Central Florida 9907 Universal Blvd Orlando, FL 32819, USA. Tel: +1 407 903 8000; Fax: +1 407 903 8105; E-mail: catherinecurt@gmail.com

¹is a doctoral candidate in the Rosen College's Hospitality Leadership doctoral programme at the University of Central Florida. Catherine has over ten years of restaurant management as well as resort accounting experience. Her research interests centre on employee motivation, organisational justice and organisational commitment.

²previously was the graduate program director of the Rosen College's graduate degree programmes at the University of Central Florida. Dr Upchurch has over 25 years of industry experience in the lodging industry, and his research interests centre on timeshare resort management, organisational culture, ethics and consumer behaviour.

Received 9 January 2008; Revised 9 January 2008.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine the range of workplace factors that influence employee perceptions of their work environment as what is casually referred to as a 'fun' place to work. The assumption is that a collection of workplace factors (ie, attractors) lead to overall positive benefits for hospitality operators with the foremost being the establishment of a strong service culture. This study begins with a review of emotional contagion, emotional labour, service culture, social bonding theory and from the practitioner 'trade literature' literature, fun in the workplace. In this study, the principal component factor analysis was applied to 572 questionnaires on this compiled scale of reported workplace attractors. The factor analysis procedure indicated that two components were derived that fit well within two aspects of social bonding theory; that of attachment and involvement.