Impression management of tour leaders

The conception of impression management has been widely used for investigating issues such as presentation of staff and enterprise images, or the interaction between customers and service workers. The existing studies in tourism and hospitality tended to adopt an early framework of impression management, thus neglecting the recent development of impression management studies. To enhance the understanding of impression management in relation to tourist service, the present study was conducted to disclose the various strategies tour leaders use for image building or self-presentation. The data were drawn from in-depth interviews. The results showed that diverse tactics, verbal and nonverbal, were employed for impression management in tour operation. Another finding of this study was that the impression management strategies are not mutually exclusive; instead, various links exist among the strategies. The implications for future studies and industry practice were discussed.