Assessing the effects of perceived value (utilitarian and hedonic) in LCCs and FSCs: Evidence from South Korea

In the airline industry, passengers choose and buy service based on their perception of which airline delivers better value. Thus, it is important to compare two types of airlines, Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) and Full Service Carriers (FSCs), to measure how much their product or service is worth and the effect of perceived value on passengers' purchase decisions. This study examined the relationship between perceived value, satisfaction, and purchase intention in both FSCs and LCCs. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were performed for data analysis. Our findings reveal that passenger satisfaction in LCCs is affected by hedonic value and utilitarian value, but passengers' future purchase intention is not dependent on satisfaction even when passengers are satisfied. In FSCs, moreover, utilitarian value is not a significant factor for satisfaction and purchase intention. This research provides implications for airline marketers and directions for future research.     

Investigating factors that influence passengers' shopping intentions at airports – Evidence from Taiwan

This study examines the influence of passengers' socio-demographic characteristics, trip characteristics and perceptions of airport shopping on their shopping intentions at airports. We collected a sample of passenger survey data at two major international airports in Taiwan. Two primary shopping intentions, namely pre-planned shopping and impulse shopping, are identified based on the results of factor analysis. A seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) model is then adopted to measure the relationships between the two buying tendencies and potential determinants. Passengers' perceptions of airport shopping show positive impacts on their shopping intentions. The SUR results also reveal significant differences among the personal profiles of passengers in determining various shopping tendencies.     

A study on travelers' transport mode choice behavior using the mixed logit model: A case study of the Seoul-Jeju route

This study is to analyze passengers' choice of the mode of transportation when air transportation is in competition with high speed rail (HSR). The Seoul-Jeju route analyzed as an empirical case study, in which the construction of an undersea tunnel to connect Seoul and Jeju city by HSR has been considered. The study also included two new variables, ‘safety of transportation’ and ‘availability of duty free shopping’ in addition to traditional transport choice variables such as travel time, travel costs and frequency of service to reflect special characteristics of the market. As data gathering tools, SP techniques and mixed logit model, for analytical methodology, were utilized. The authors found that the goodness of fit of the models was improved with new variables. The models also showed that the characteristics of business passengers and leisure passengers in choosing the mode of transportation were different. Business passengers were apt to choose a safety secured mode of transportation regardless of fare while leisure passengers preferred to use duty free shops more than business passengers.     

Hedonic and utilitarian shopping values in airport shopping behavior

This study aims to examine airport travelers' shopping decision mechanisms based on a value–attitude–behavior framework. In particular, the proposed model investigates the complex relationships between pairs of shopping values (hedonic versus utilitarian), attitudes (cognitive versus affective), and behavior (repatronage intention versus retailer interest) to compare the relative importance between hedonic- and utilitarian-oriented decision paths. A survey was administered at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where 300 valid questionnaires were collected. Using structural equation modeling, this study finds that the direct effects of shopping values on shopping behavior are stronger than their indirect effects through attitudes. Compared with utilitarian shopping values, hedonic shopping values exert a stronger effect on airport shopping behavior, implying that airport shopping involves more multisensory decisions than cognitive decisions. In addition, avoiding negative feelings (e.g. regret) appears to be a stronger antecedent of airport shopping behavior than pursuing positive feelings (e.g. excitement). Marketing strategies of airport retailing are discussed.     

Detecting passengers' heterogeneity on airlines’ services using SP data

In this paper, the heterogeneity in passengers' perceptions of airlines' services has been investigated by using a Random Parameter Mixed logit model. To calibrate and validate the proposed model, data from a Stated Preferences choice experiments was used. The survey was conducted online and involved the whole population of the University of Calabria (Italy). The experiments were designed by considering the main service attributes characterizing air travellers’ experience in its entirety: before, during, and after the flight. Differently from the previous studies using Stated Preferences survey, two different groups of choice experiments were designed: the former referring to before/after the flight stages, and the last referring to during the flight experience. For each group, specific attributes were considered.Final findings remark that flyers' perceptions on airline's services vary among the different service aspects and among individuals. Specifically, we found that curtesy of cabin crew, space available, temperature, cleanliness, service on board and ticket cost are attributes referring to the during the flight stage of the travel that showed heterogeneity in passenger's perceptions. On the contrary, the attributes referring to the before/after the flight stages for which we detected heterogeneity in passengers' perceptions are waiting time at check-in, delay of flight departure, and ticket cost.     

Cruise travel motivations and repeat cruising behaviour: impact of relationship investment

Passenger retention is undoubtedly one of the major challenges for cruise lines. Given that little is known about passengers’ post-purchase behaviour in the luxury cruise sector, this study addressed this omission by empirically verifying the imperative role of motivations, values, image, desire, and relationship investment in generating repeat cruising intentions. The proposed conceptual framework comprising these triggers was in general supported. In addition, its prediction ability for repurchase decision was sufficient. Specifically, our empirical findings demonstrated the adequacy of the higher order structure of cruise travel motivations that considerably increase hedonic and utilitarian values. Our results further identified the comparative importance of overall company image in determining intention. The mediating role of the study variables was also found. Lastly, the results of the metric-invariance model assessment revealed that relationship investment significantly moderated the value–image–desire linkages. Implications for tourism academics and cruise practitioners and future research directions are discussed.     

Study abroad motivations,destination selection and pre‐trip attitude formation

This study examines the role of motivations, prior travel experience, social ties and destination choice in pre‐trip attitude formation. The sample for this study is composed of a group of university students who recently participated in study abroad programs to the South Pacific or Europe. The results revealed that academic motivations and social ties influence students' destination selection for the study aboard program. Social motivation emerged as the most important factor that influences attitude toward the destinations prior to the trip. Further analysis found that the destination intended to visit mediates the effect of social motivation on pre‐trip attitude formation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Family Members and Vacation Satisfaction: Proposal of a Conceptual Framework

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the other family members (spouse and/or child/ren) in a family influence the vacationers' overall vacation satisfaction and future behavioural intentions. As part of the study, a conceptual framework was proposed where overall vacation satisfaction mediates the relationships between spouses' and child/ren's vacation evaluations and respondents' return and recommending intentions. The methodology included self‐administered surveys of 445 families from the UK, which were completed at a Turkish resort airport in August 2007. The results indicate that the respondents' vacation satisfaction is influenced more strongly by spouses. Furthermore, the results show that respondents' return intentions are determined by their and their spouses' vacation satisfaction, whereas respondents' recommending intentions are determined by their and their child/ren's vacation satisfaction. These results bring new insights into the post‐purchase vacation behaviour for both theory and practice. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of value perceptions on tourist souvenir purchase decisions

Shopping is an important activity impacting the travel and tourism industry. This research explores the influence of value perceptions on tourists' souvenir purchase decisions. A convenience sample of 380 respondents from a southeastern US university completed a survey regarding value perception towards the destination visited, type of shopping venue, and souvenir purchase intention. Through structural equation modeling, results revealed that functional and social value significantly influenced tourists' purchase intentions. This result provides valuable insight suggesting destination marketers should focus on these two indicators in future planning and promotion strategies. Limitations and directions for future research are provided.     

The self‐presentation and self‐development of serious wildlife tourists

The notion of self‐concept and choice of tourism products has yet to be applied to wildlife tourism. The question of how consumers perceive themselves is considered fundamental to understanding purchase and consumption behaviours. This ethnographic study is based upon ‘serious’ wildlife tourism participants, for whom studying fauna and flora is the primary motivation for travel. The findings demonstrate how the ‘culture’ of ‘serious’ wildlife tourism is made up of individuals who differentiate themselves from other tourists in terms of dress, behaviour, development of skills, equipment and intellectual capital, illustrated by their desire to scope, identify and photograph wildlife. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Grid‐group Analysis of Tourism Motivation

Marketing theorists have widely proposed that culture is one of the underlying determinants of consumer behavior and that increasing globalization is creating a multicultural marketplace. Empirical inquiries in the field of tourism remain scarce, particularly regarding the understanding of behavioral influences. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the influence of sub‐cultures on tourism motivation. Drawing on grid‐group cultural theory, an analysis of survey data from 727 Chinese tourists reveals that respondents classified as different cultural types had different travel motivations. Contributions and limitations of the study are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring passenger preferences in airline service attributes: A note

This paper examines passengers' valuations on airline service attributes using stated preference analysis in the direct flight air market between Taiwan and China. An experiment design reflecting the characteristics of low cost airlines is used to collect stated preference data from Taiwanese air passengers. Empirical results reveal not only the implicit values of service attributes but also the preference differences in attributes between business and non-business travelers.     

Analysis of shopping preference and satisfaction with airport retailing products

This paper studies passengers' responses to retail products at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Incorporating the passengers' demand factors, modified grey relational analysis is applied to establish the priority relations of product categories for shopping purposes and satisfaction. The results indicated that travelers valued the utility and souvenir characteristics of products. The youngest respondents tended to shop in souvenir and café stores. Satisfaction analysis showed higher rankings for brand-name, utility, and low-cost products, and low satisfaction levels on quality and price of café products.     

Airline brand equity,brand preference,and purchase intentions—The moderating effects of switching costs

This study examines the relationships between brand equity, brand preference, and purchase intentions on international air passengers’ decisions in Taiwan. The findings indicate positive relationships between brand equity, brand preference, and purchase intentions with a moderation effect of switching cost affecting the relationship between brand equity and purchase intentions. More specifically, the effect of brand equity on purchase intentions is not significant for passengers with low switching costs.     

Analyzing passengers’ emotions following flight delays- a 2011–2019 case study on SKYTRAX comments

The text mining technology enables researchers or enterprises to automatically and efficiently access the information in text comments. This paper obtains 24,165 reviews from SKYTRAX between September 2011 and March 2019, 5700 of which express that passengers had experienced flight delays. It uses sentiment analysis based on a sentiment dictionary to classify user reviews and uses co-occurrence analysis to identify passengers' concerns on different aspects of service in the aviation industry. The results of the user sentiment analysis show that there is a significant and negative correlation between the user's emotions and their flight delay experiences. After flight delay, passengers' attention to the service aspects has increased, while satisfaction with the airport service has dropped dramatically. This paper shed some new light on public opinion about flight delays.     

The Stein Effect: an Alternative Film‐induced Tourism Perspective

Cornwall, in the far west of England, has long been a popular holiday destination, attracting visitors with a range of motivations, both domestically and internationally. At the same time, gastronomy has become more of a motivation, and when viewed on the small screen with celebrity chef involvement, it is argued that a form of film‐induced tourism occurs. The research identified the influence of television celebrity chef Rick Stein upon visitors to the small, coastal town of Padstow, also now known as Padstein. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Model of passenger behavior choice under flight delay based on dynamic reference point

Flight delay has always been a concern of scholars, but in previous studies, there has been little discussion of passenger behavior choice after flight delay. The paper based on the prospect theory, taking the Beijing-Shanghai route as an example, constructs the passenger behavior choice model under flight delay, and in order to explore the decision-making behavior of passengers with different attributes under different delay scenarios. The results show that the reference point of passengers' behavioral decision-making is dynamic due to different delay scenarios and passengers' attributes. For the same reason, passengers have different behavioral choices when encountering flight delay. Through empirical analysis, it is found that the choice of passengers based on prospect theory is in line with the actual choice of passengers. The choice model proposed in the paper can effectively describe the passenger's choice behavior.     

Evaluation of passengers' buying behaviors toward low cost carriers in Southeast Asia

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Southeast Asian passengers' attitudes and behaviors affect their buying intention and actual purchase of Low Cost Carrier (LCC) tickets. A research model was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A survey of 791 passengers was conducted in two major airports in Thailand to test the hypotheses. Results indicated the important role of passengers' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in LCC passengers' buying behaviors. The paper provides LCCs with useful information about passengers’ attitudes and behaviors toward using LCC services, which will help the carriers form necessary strategies to attract more customers.     

Modelling roles of task‐technology fit and self‐efficacy in hotel employees' usage behaviours of hotel information systems

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hotel information system (HIS) users' personal perceptions and beliefs of the given system and their daily routine usage intention via the technology acceptance model (TAM), considering the two external variables (motivational variables) of the model — ‘task‐technology fit’ (extrinsic motivation; system feature) and ‘self‐efficacy’ (intrinsic motivation; personal feature). Data were collected from hotel employees of 13 upscale hotels in Jeju, South Korea, and path analysis was utilised to test structural model and hypotheses. The results provided empirical support for an extended TAM, and verified its robustness in predicting hotel employees' intention to use a HIS. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non‐participation of Domestic Tourism: Analyzing the Influence of Discouraging Factors

This study analyzes the factors that discourage non‐tourists' participation in domestic tourism. Data were collected in 15 cities in China and analyzed using a comparative analysis and non‐parametric ridit analysis. The findings indicate that (i) non‐tourists have low internal travel motivation and attitude and are more likely to be under 25 or above 55 years old, less educated, less healthy, with small child(ren) and lower income; (ii) non‐tourists consider less on destination environment and attraction, but focus on price and travel expenses when making a travel decision and destination choice; and (iii) economic and leisure time are their main situational travel constrains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.