Innovating under pressure: how task crafting and fun activities shape service innovation in tourism employees

Purpose Building upon the job demand-resource theory, this study examines the nonlinear relationship between performance pressure and service innovative behavior (SIB) of frontline employees in the tourism industry. It also explores the mediating role of task crafting and the moderating effect of fun activities. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 454 supervisor-subordinate dyads in China’s tourism industry across three waves and subsequently analyzed. Findings The results show that (1) performance pressure has a significant inverted U-shaped relationship with both task crafting and employees’ SIB, (2) task crafting mediates the relationship between performance pressure and employees’ SIB, and (3) fun activities moderate the mediating role of task crafting between performance pressure and employees’ SIB. Originality/value The contributions of this study are as follows: (1) Identifying a nonlinear relationship between performance pressure and employees’ SIB in the tourism sector; (2) Highlighting the mediating role of task crafting from a resources perspective; (3) Establishing the boundary conditions of fun activities, extending the theoretical understanding of workplace fun.