Does service recovery affect satisfaction and customer loyalty? An empirical study of airline services

This paper investigates the relationships among service recovery, recovery satisfaction, overall customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in airline services. The perception of justice in service recovery is specifically examined. A survey of airline passengers who have experienced service failure and recovery is analyzed using structural equation models. It is found that both interactional and procedural justice have a significant effect on recovery satisfaction. Overall satisfaction mediates the relationship between recovery satisfaction and loyalty.     

Does the nature of airport terminal service activities matter? Processing and non-processing service quality,passenger affective image and satisfaction

The surge in air transport demand and the increasingly competitive and volatile market dynamics due to airline deregulation are rapidly transforming airports’ character into multi-service firms and destinations. As a result, service performance measurement of significant systems and their consequent impact on airport users are crucial in creating better airport service design, operation and management for sustainable competitive advantage. The present study 1) assesses the applicability of the Airport Indicators of Passenger Experience (AIPEX) model on Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), and 2) tests a theoretical model that explores the direct and indirect relationships among airport service quality, passenger affective image and satisfaction, as well as the moderating mechanism of passenger type (travel purpose) in these associations. The results indicate that, the AIPEX model fits the PVG context for airport service performance assessment. Also, the theoretical model suggests robust direct associations among processing/non-processing domains and passenger satisfaction, as well as the processing domain and passenger affective image, except non-processing domain and passenger affective image relation. Moreover, significant mediating and moderating effects of passenger affective image and travel purpose on the significant positive direct associations are found. Further, implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Examining the influence of casino attributes on baby boomers’ satisfaction and loyalty in the casino industry

The baby boomer market draws attention from the hospitality industry due to its economic power and substantial size. Despite the importance of this market segment, no empirical research to date has provided effective strategies to maximise baby boomer casino visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty. The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate possible casino attributes that influence baby boomer casino visitors’ satisfaction levels and (2) to examine how these attributes influence satisfaction level, thus resulting in the formation of loyalty. Based on a literature review, five casino attributes influencing casino visitors’ satisfaction were derived. Exploratory factor analysis conducted with 700 baby boomers resulted in the hypothesis that baby boomers’ satisfaction with a casino is determined by five casino attributes: slot machines, table games, winning perception, non-gaming-related services, and promotions and benefits. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling analysis revealed that four of the five casino attributes derived from the literature review are key antecedents of gaming satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, and behavioural loyalty formation in the casino industry: slot machines, table games, non-gaming-related services, and winning perception. With regard to the fifth attribute, promotions and benefits were actually not found to heavily influence baby boomers’ casino satisfaction and loyalty. Based on the findings, the key theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in the latter part of this article.     

What is ‘neighborhood walkability’? How the built environment differently correlates with walking for different purposes and with walking on weekdays and weekends

Residential environments are associated with people's walking behavior. Transit-related, non-transit-related, and recreational walking may be differently associated with residential environments on weekdays and weekends, but empirical evidence is scarce. We therefore examined 1) to which extent these types of walking correlated with natural and built environmental characteristics of residential neighborhoods, 2) how these correlations differ for walking on weekdays and weekends, and 3) what substitution and complementarity effects between different types of walking exist. Our sample comprised 92,298 people aged ≥18 years from the pooled Dutch National Travel Survey 2010–2014. Multivariate Tobit regression models were used to assess the associations between the natural and built environment and the three types of walking (in average minutes per day). Our models accounted for cross-correlations between the walking types. Our results showed that denser residential areas encouraged both longer transit-related and non-transit-related transport walking on weekdays and weekends, whereas lower density neighborhoods were positively associated with recreational walking on weekdays. Shorter distances to public transport were only significantly associated with transit-related transport walking on weekdays. Shorter distances to daily facilities were positively associated with non-transit-related transport on weekdays. No significant associations between built environment and recreational walking were found on weekends. Additionally, some compensation effects between different types of walking seem to be at play: during weekends, recreational walking was inversely correlated with transit-related transport walking. Residential environments seem to affect walking types in a different way, suggesting that one size fits all policies might be less effective. Intervention strategies should be tailored for each walking type separately.     

Benders’ decomposition for concurrent redesign of forward and closed-loop supply chain network with demand and return uncertainties

This paper attempts to design a reverse supply chain network (SCN), add it to an existing multi-product forward SCN and simultaneously redesign the existing forward supply chain (SC). The problem considers uncertainty on products demand and and also returned products in multi-period context. Benders’ decomposition is applied to solve the stochastic mixed-integer model to optimality. The scenarios are generated based on the demand distribution function using Cholesky’s factorization method to consider correlation among different products’ demands. To decrease the computational effort, the number of scenarios is reduced using k-means clustering algorithm. The method is tested on a cell phone SC.     

What the newcomers to transit-oriented development are confronted with? Evidence from Iranian policy and planning

Today, the American model of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has gained widespread adoption around the world. Together with pioneer cities in the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and other European countries, there are newcomers to TOD, mainly from the cities located in the developing countries with rapid urbanization and motorization trends, with the purpose of benefiting from TOD advantages in response to the apparently unsustainable traffic-caused challenges. Opportunities, challenges and prerequisites needed for TOD planning seem to have been unclear so far for such nations. Hence, the present study, aims to fill this gap through examining an analytical framework for TOD planning in the case of Iran. The recent policies on TOD also have been initiated at both national and local levels in this country. Directed content analysis of 11 call interviews with Iranian urban professionals and government officials demonstrated that, as with global experiences, adversary physical characteristics and policy background of Iranian cities tremendously preclude joint transport land-use initiatives so that the nature of urban (transport) policies and planning as well as the resulting urban form are both car-oriented. As such, there is a great deal of fundamental works that should be accomplished by the newcomers. The results showed the extent to which the conditions for TOD newcomers are similar which could provide a common framework to the future customized analysis of the individual challenges and planning prerequisites.     

Mergers and service quality in the airline industry: A silver lining for air travelers?

We examine the relationship between mergers in the US domestic market and service quality, as measured through late flights, mishandled bags, involuntary boarding denials and flight cancellations. We find that in the immediate years following a merger, service quality generally deteriorates, and that the drop in service is due simultaneously to the merger and the increased concentration of the market. Thus, recent mergers in the US, including Delta and Northwest, United and Continental, Southwest and AirTran, have likely resulted in increased market concentration and decreased service levels. From a public policy perspective, our results point to the importance of regulators monitoring airline actions, such as mergers and acquisitions, that serve to increase the concentration of markets, and may also result in decreased service quality.     

Residential self-selection and travel behaviour: What are the effects of attitudes,reasons for location choice and the built environment?

In studies of the effect of built environment on travel behaviour, residential self-selection is an increasingly important issue. Self-selection implies that households locate in places that provide them with conducive conditions for their preferred way of travelling. In these studies, it is assumed that attitudes toward different travel modes are an important factor in location choice, and that households are unconstrained in choosing their preferred residential location. This paper challenges these assumptions, by distinguishing between the more passive travel attitude and travel considerations as a deliberate reason to locate in a certain place. Based on a survey among 355 recently relocated households in Dutch TOD locations, we find that the association between travel attitude and residential environment is weak, and that the association between travel attitude and travel as a factor in location choice is moderate at best. Multivariate models show that both travel attitude and travel being a reason for location choice influence travel mode use, suggesting that travel attitude is insufficient to fully reflect self-selection processes. In comparison to other travel modes, train travel is most influenced by the fact whether residents deliberately chose to live in an environment conducive to using this mode.     

Reducing car-use for leisure: Can organised walking groups switch from car travel to bus and train walks?

This paper deals with the significant leisure travel sector, focusing on the attitudes of organised walking groups towards public transport use. A series of interviews with walking group leaders explored the design of organised walks, and factors affecting journeys to and from start points. The themes presented suggest an overlying group culture involving mainly circular walks, reached by car. The research indicates an underlying engrained dependency on cars to reach walks and a degree of opposition to using public transport, which generally contradicts widely-held attitudes towards protecting the environment. Future research should focus more in depth on the long-term removal of psychological barriers to using public transport for leisure, and persuasive measures aimed at groups.     

Road traffic noise in Montreal and environmental equity: What is the situation for the most vulnerable population groups?

Road traffic noise is one of the most detrimental environmental nuisances for the population. Prolonged exposure to high road noise levels can lead to various problems in people's health and well-being. The objective of this article is to determine whether the groups most vulnerable to road noise, that is, children under 15 years old, people 65 years old and over, and the groups most likely to experience high nuisance levels, visible minorities and low-income individuals, are affected by an environmental inequity related to this nuisance. The method of estimating this nuisance employed in the study is based on a combination of several elements: that is, average traffic flows, road geometries, normal atmospheric conditions, and the characteristics of the urban environment. All of these parameters were considered for the 14 boroughs that make up the central portion of the Island of Montreal. Modelling was used to calculate the maximum daily road noise, based in part on the LimA software predictive model and according to the XPS 31-133 computation method. The results obtained from three different statistical tests and spatial regression analyses show that, on the one hand, the groups chosen on the basis of age are not affected by any environmental inequity related to the phenomenon of road traffic noise. On the other hand, low-income individuals and visible minorities live in city blocks marked by road traffic noise levels that are slightly higher than those experienced by the rest of the population.     

Mode choice in commuting and the built environment in México City. Is there a chance for non-motorized travel?

Non-motorized transportation (NMT) has emerged as a mitigating alternative for the negative externalities of motorized travel. This research presents an overview of the intra-metropolitan geography of transportation mode choice in the journey to work in the México City Metropolitan Area (MCMA), which can be seen as a representation of the huge socioeconomic inequalities typical of the Global South. The regression model applied showed that, as expected, socioeconomic variables were strong determinants of mode choice. An increase in age, as well as lower categories of socioeconomic class and educational attainment, were associated with the use of transit and non-motorized travel. Other factors positively associated with bike use were distance to the center, density of mass-transit systems stations, street intersection density, and the flat surface. The pattern of walk commuting with respect to the city center followed a u-shaped curve, while factors significantly positively associated were female, population density, the jobs-housing ratio at the origin, and the density of mass-transit systems stations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research implications to leverage public policy efforts to promote NMT.     

Ready for digital transformation? The effect of organisational readiness,innovation, airport size and ownership on digital change at airports

This study investigates the effect of organisational readiness, innovation and airport size and ownership on digital change at airports. Data is collected from a survey of managers at 94 airports worldwide and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Organisational readiness is found to have a direct effect on digital change. Organisational readiness also has a direct effect on innovation, which subsequently affects digital change. Airport size has a direct effect on digital change while the effect of ownership is not significant. The findings show that successful development of organisational readiness can be used to speed up the rate of innovation needed for digital change at airports.     

Can public slow charging accelerate plug-in electric vehicle sales? A simulation of charging infrastructure usage and its impact on plug-in electric vehicle sales for Germany

Alternative fuel vehicles face the lack of refueling infrastructure as one obstacle to market diffusion and potential operators of refueling stations await significant market shares before constructing a dense refueling network. The resulting lock-in effect or chicken-egg-problem has scarcely been analyzed for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) up to now. The research question of this article is How much public charging infrastructure for PEVs is needed and is there mutual interaction in the diffusion of public charging infrastructure and electric vehicles?

Here, we present an agent-based market diffusion model for PEVs and their charging infrastructure that is based on a large number of individual driving profiles for private and commercial car holders in Germany. Our results demonstrate the possibility of a market diffusion in Germany without any slow public charging infrastructure until 2030. Although a charging point at home is obligatory for early adopters, the second-best option for an infrastructure set-up is at work where the majority of vehicles is parked for a long time during the day, the installation is not costly and users profit more than from public facilities. Public slow charging facilities do not increase PEV market shares and they need to be subsidized for a long time.