The Effect of Parents' Trust in Kids’ Club Employees On Satisfaction and Intention to Recommend

This paper examines the trust relationship between parents traveling for family tourism and kids' club employees. Qualifications of staff employed in kids' clubs, as well as their ability to communicate effectively with children, are of critical importance. Besides, kids' club employees should be trustworthy. However, the trust between kids’ club employees and tourists (parents) has not been studied widely in the literature. This study examines the trust that parents place in kids' club employees. The aim is to determine the effect of parents' cognitive and affective trust in kids' club employees on customer satisfaction and intention to recommend. To achieve this objective, survey data were collected from parents who had used kids' club services during their stays at resort hotels in Türkiye within the previous five years. The data were analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression methods. Findings indicate that affective trust in kids' club employees positively and significantly influences both parental satisfaction and intention to recommend, whereas cognitive trust has no significant effect on either outcome. In addition, parental satisfaction positively affects intention to recommend. Findings suggest that parents place greater importance on emotionally based trust than on perceptions of employees’ competence when evaluating kids’ club services. The study contributes to the family tourism and hospitality literature by highlighting the critical role of emotionally supportive employee-parent relationships, empathy, and interpersonal communication in fostering customer satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions.