Can ethical leadership inspire employee loyalty in hotels in China? -From the perspective of the social exchange theory

Based on social exchange theory, this study provides a mediation-moderation model to examine how employees' perception of ethical leadership may inspire employee loyalty through psychologically related resources. A total of 234 hotel employees in Southeast China were recruited as the research respondents. The results show that there is a significantly positive correlation between ethical leadership and employee loyalty. Psychological ownership and organizational justice are two mediating mechanisms in the linkage. Furthermore, power distance orientation moderates the effect of ethical leadership on these psychological processes. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed accordingly.