1 ENHANCING HOTEL EMPLOYEES’ BRAND UNDERSTANDING AND BRAND-BUILDING BEHAVIOR IN CHINA

To participate effectively in the present Chinese hotel market, multinational companies must achieve a competitive advantage, which they attain by building the brand. This study promotes employee brand understanding as a precursor to positive brand-building behavior. Results indicate that internally oriented brand activities, especially brand-oriented recruitment, brand-oriented training, and brand-oriented support, exert a significant influence on employees ’ brand understanding, leading to subsequent exhibition of pro-brand behavior. In developing brand understanding, hotels must take into account the potentially limited knowledge of mainland Chinese employees regarding global hotel brands. The findings suggest that Chinese hotel employees ’ understanding of multinational hotel groups ’ brand is critical to successful brand-building behavior