Feri Ferdian, Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, Vanica Serly, Hijriyantomi Suyuthie, Hendri Azwar, Agariadne Dwinggo Samala, Yudha Aditya Fiandra
Anchored in Expectancy Theory of Motivation, this study investigates how expectancy, instrumentality, and valence influence hotel employees’ intention to stay in the industry, while assessing the moderating role of technology support. The research was conducted among operational employees of four- and five-star hotels across fourteen provinces in Indonesia, yielding 388 valid responses through purposive sampling. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire via online and analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings demonstrate that all three motivational components; expectancy, instrumentality, and valence exert significant positive effects on employees’ intention to remain, reaffirming the robustness of expectancy theory within contemporary hospitality settings. These results suggest that employees are more inclined to stay when they perceive a clear link between effort and performance, trust that performance will lead to valued rewards and assign meaningful value to those outcomes. However, technology negatively moderates the relationship between expectancy and intention to stay, as well as between valence and intention to stay, indicating that technology-intensive environments may weaken certain motivational perceptions. In contrast, no significant moderating effect was observed in the instrumentality retention relationship. Collectively, the findings contribute theoretically by contextualizing expectancy theory in technology-driven workplaces and offer practical insights for hotel managers seeking to design balanced, human-centered retention strategies. © 2026 Regional Science Association of Subotica (Drustvo za Regionalne Nauke). All rights reserved.
Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Air Tawar, Padang, 25131, Indonesia; Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, UCSI University, 1 Jalan UCSI, UCSI Heights (Taman Connaught), Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, 56000, Malaysia; Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Air Tawar, Padang, 25131, Indonesia; Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Air Tawar, Padang, 25131, Indonesia; Research Center for Sustainable Tourism Development, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka Air Tawar, Padang, 25131, Indonesia
