The following section addresses the importance of investigating the relationships among the constructs identified in the research questions, namely, emotional intelligence, the FFM of personality factor, customer orientation, and adaptability. Since this study focuses on a very particular industry, the reason for choosing that study context, the high-end market of the casino industry, is also revealed.
1.6.1 Emotional intelligence
Although emotional intelligence has been extensively discussed in the relevant literature since its inception in the early 1990s, its empirical application in an organizational context has been scarce. The investigation of emotional intelligence as a factor in service performance of frontline employees is still at the exploratory stage. However, emotional intelligence has appeared in personnel selections and training programs at some casinos, notably, Harrah’s, one of the world’s biggest casinos. Casino managers have realized the importance of emotional skills in dealing with casino players. A few anecdotes and episodic advices that have implications for emotional competencies used in dealing with casino clients appear on the website of Bright Ideas of Urbino (e.g., Kale, 2001; 2005, Karoul, 2006). Based on this fact, an empirical study specifying the relationship between emotional intelligence and the
service performance evaluation of casino frontline employees has the following benefits: it would broaden the application of emotional intelligence; reinforce the importance of the concept in its existing practice in the casino industry facilitating personnel selection and training programs; and provide potential for expanding its applications in casinos and associated industries.
1.6.2 The FFM of personality
Given that personality measures have been evidenced in numerous studies as a factor in job performance, the application of the FFM of personality in the service performance evaluation of frontline employees has been surprisingly limited. Even in Brown et al.’s (2002) study mentioned previously a non-FFM model was used. This study extends the use of FFM to the casino context. The use of FFM in this study adds to its credibility by broadening its application to the casino key account context through the analysis of the relevant relationships identified in the research questions.
1.6.3 Customer orientation and adaptability
The use of customer orientation and adaptability as two approaches to selling has been widely discussed in the marketing literature. They appear regularly in the service context as service implementation behaviours. However, little research-based evidence has been provided for their relationship with service performance. In addition, studying adaptability as a surface trait has not been done in previous research. Therefore, this study adds credibility to the view that the two constructs may be valid predictors of service performance as two relationship-oriented characteristics, and be mediators as surface traits mediating between the basic personality traits and performance evaluation.
1.6.4 The casino industry
Gambling has an ancient and almost universal history. According to Schwartz (2006), dice was recovered from Egyptian tombs; the Chinese, Greeks and Romans were known to play games of skill and chance for amusement back in 2300 B.C.; British colonization of America in the early 17th century was partly financed through lottery proceeds; Harvard and Yale ran lotteries to construct some of the buildings. Gambling can be regarded as a subset of all voluntary human risk taking activities, such as buying shares, purchasing a house or investing funds in any scheme with a degree of risk. Gambling operations are ubiquitous: from charity and church fund-raising activities through to professional horse racing punters, “high roller” casino players and internet gaming (Productivity Commission submission, 2004). Casinos are regarded as a major part of the gambling operations to attract consumers’ discretionary, disposable income (Macomber 1999)
Increasing gaming revenue has encouraged keen interest in casino industry. Gambling, once thought to be a shady and corrupt business, according to Awe, Keating and Schwartz (2002, p169), has become more widely accepted as a legitimate industry, and is now often called “gaming”. Casinos as an industry, apart from gaming entertainment, do contribute to society. Taking the USA as a sample, according to the gaming market research handbook 2003 (Walker, 2003), the data shows that more than $3 billion in 1999 in gaming tax revenues paid by the industry to the states and communities where casinos operated provided funding for needed services and programs. Taxes paid by commercial casinos increased to $3.6 billion in 2001, (an increase of $ 147 million since 2000 on casino gaming) have made more dollars
services, public transportation and safety efforts and programs for the elderly and disabled (Walker, 2003). The presence of casinos has also contributed to the economic revitalization of riverfronts and downtown areas (Briggs, 2001). Among all gaming activities, casinos create jobs and often spur hotel construction and retail development, for example, approximately 365,000 people were directly and indirectly employed by commercial casinos in 2001. The American Gaming Association estimates that every $1 million in casino revenue creates 13 jobs at an average wage of $ 26,000 (Walker, 2003). It also has an impact on tourism revenue and other economic activity (Walker & Jackson, 2007).
In addition, the current study has specific implications for casinos in Australasia with the rapid erection of new casinos in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Macau and the Philippines. Researchers such as Kale (2007) and Lam (2007) have noted that Macau has become the largest gaming destination in the world, known as Asia’s Las Vegas since early this century. The ubiquity of casinos in this region is reinforced with the two licences awarded to Las Vegas Sands and Genting Malaysia in Singapore. The blossoming of this industry implies the need for relevant academic research to accommodate a better understanding of casino expansion. The scarcity of empirical studies of the casino industry has stimulated the current study.
1.6.5 The context of casino key accounts
The current study focuses on the casino high-end market and high roller settings. Due to the significance of this market for casino profitability, applying the aforementioned constructs may have implications for both casino operators and practitioners.
Casino operators often establish separate gaming areas to cater for gamblers in different segments, such as a general gaming floor for casual players, and VIP rooms for domestic and international high rollers. Though small in number, according to Kale (2005), the latter group makes up the major revenues and profits for the casino property. This segment has received increasing attention from casinos. For example, in the article ‘High Rollers Fly High’, it is stated “the Mirage will fly in a whale on a chartered jet… Each hotel has deluxe suites reserved for high rollers” (In Style, Oct 1, 1998, p 174); while in ‘Catering to the Wealthy’, Ulfelder (2003) noted that “when a high roller steps into a Harrah’s casino, the host – whose job is specifically to look after such top players – is likely to ask about his wife by name, tell him his suite has been stocked with his favourite brand of cigars and slip him tickets to that week’s PGA gold tournament” (published on 13th November, 2003). Similarly, Kale (2005) has observed that “casinos have always bent over backwards in trying to accommodate the needs, preferences, whims, and idiosyncrasies of their high rollers. From lavish gifts to the redesigning of hotel rooms and suites, casinos will do almost anything to cater to the fancies and superstitions of their high-end customers” (24th February, 2005).
High rollers account for a disproportionately large share of the revenues and profits of casinos. According to Lucas, Kilby and Santos (2002), 5 per cent of high rollers, can produce 40 percent of the gross gaming win. Kale (2003) reported that 90 per cent of the table games revenues could be generated from a mere 3 per cent of premium players. In fact, Bill Eadington, a respected gaming scholar, claimed that just ten high rollers may account for as much as one-third of Baccarat revenues for Las Vegas’s major casinos (cited by Hannum & Kale, 2004).
A 2001 article in the Wall Street Journal reported that high rollers are essential if a casino is to generate sufficient cash flows to provide a return on the large capital outlays used to build a mega-resort (Binkley, 2001; cited by Hannum & Kale, 2004). Hannum and Kale (2004) have also referred to the views of several researchers and authors (e.g., MacDonald, 2001a; Lucas, Kilby & Santos, 2002; Watson & Kale, 2003) who perceive high rollers as the saviours of casino establishments. Based on the definition of key accounts within the marketing literature, this group of players will be classified as casino key accounts. They are sometimes described as premium players (Hannum & Kale, 2004), high-end clients (Kale, 2005), and Whales (Ulfelder, 2003). The most popular names for these players within the industry are VIP players or high rollers. For the purpose of the current study, the name of casino key accounts will be used.
Although the study of problem gambling has been dominant in gaming-related research, statistics have shown that only two percent approximately of gamblers are at risk of developing gambling problems (Productivity Commission Submission, 1999). For many people, gambling is an occasional activity and a form of recreation or entertainment. When they have finished gambling, they promptly move to other non- gambling activities (Zies, 2001). As a large body of research has been undertaken on problem gambling, the present research will be an important addition to the neglected area of casino employees.