International Journal of Hospitality Management 102 (2022) 103149 Available online 10 January 2022 0278-4319/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Occupational stigma and career commitment: Testing mediation and moderation effects of occupational self-esteem ☆ Hediye Kusluvan a, 1 , Orhan Akova b, 2 , Salih Kusluvan c, *, 3 a Hediye Kusluvan is a freelance lecturer and researcher in Istanbul, Turkey b Orhan Akova is a professor of tourism management at the Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Economics, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey c Salih Kusluvan is a professor of tourism management at the Faculty of Tourism, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Occupational stigma Occupational self-esteem Career commitment Tourism and hospitality industries Mediation and moderation ABSTRACT This study analyses the neglected role of occupational self-esteem as an intervening mediator and moderator variable between perceived occupational stigma and career commitment. The study develops two conceptual models and several hypotheses regarding the roles of occupational stigma and occupational self-esteem on career commitment. To test the hypothesis and models, a total of 1000 responses from undergraduate tourism and hospitality management students were collected using self-report scales. The fndings suggest that occupational stigma has a total negative effect, as well as direct and indirect negative effects through occupational self-esteem, on career commitment. Occupational self-esteem has a positive effect on career commitment and plays a partial mediator role between occupational stigma and career commitment. The effect of occupational stigma on career commitment is not dependent on the level of occupational self-esteem. The research has important conceptual and practical implications for increasing prospective employees’ career commitment. 1. Introduction A large proportion of tourism and hospitality management un- dergraduates worldwide do not intend to take up employment in tourism and hospitality industries (THIs) and many leave their jobs and the industry shortly after a period of work following graduation (Cheng and Tung, 2019; O’Leary and Deegan, 2005). One of the reasons that account for low school to work/industry transfer and short careers in the THIs include ‘stigma consciousness’ or occupational stigma (Shigihara, 2018; Wildes, 2005) and poor/low social image/status of some of tourism and hospitality jobs (THJs) (Brien, 2004; Jiang and Tribe, 2009). Although the effect of stigma consciousness and low social status regarding some of THJs is acknowledged and studied as a cause of tourism and hospitality students’ and employee’s avoidance of line-level tourism and hospitality occupations (THOs), the knowledge about the effects of occupational stigma, stigma consciousness or low status of jobs on employee turnover or commitment relies on bivariate relationships and fndings. Little is known about the process by which perception of stigma regarding THOs unfolds into employee withdrawal or why and how occupational stigma reduces prospective or actual employee’s career commitment (Shigihara, 2018). Similarly, limited research has explored the intervening factors that may buffer the negative effect of stigma consciousness on prospective or actual employees’ work and career outcomes (Wildes, 2007). To obtain a better understanding of the effects of occupational stigma on career commitment, the contingencies of this relationship, including an emphasis on its mediators and mod- erators, need to be examined. This paper argues that occupational self-esteem has the potential to be the critical intervening variable that explains the process or mechanism by which occupational stigma damages prospective or actual employees’ commitment to occupations in the THIs. It also suggests that depending on its level, occupational self-esteem may be the critical factor to resist the negative effect of ☆ This study is based on PhD thesis of Dr Hediye Kusluvan titled ‘The impact of occupational stigma consciousness of undergraduate tourism management students on occupational commitment: Mediating and moderating role of occupational self-esteem’. Social Science Institute of Istanbul University. Istanbul. Prof. Dr Orhan Akova is the supervisor of the thesis. Prof. Dr Salih Kusluvan has contributed to the statistical analysis and writing of the article in English. * Correspondence to: Acıbadem Mah. Cakmak Sitesi Sok., Cakmak Sitesi G Blok Daire:18, Kadıkoy, 34718 Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail addresses: skusluvan@gmail.com, salih.kusluvan@medeniyet.edu.tr (S. Kusluvan). 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1874-3174. 2 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7740-2938. 3 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8746-6839. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Hospitality Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhm https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103149 Received 28 March 2021; Received in revised form 30 December 2021; Accepted 4 January 2022