An investigation on the factors influencing passengers' loyalty in the North Cyprus national airline
Tóm tắt
The aim of this study is twofold: first to diagnose service quality perceptions of airline passengers and then links these perceptions to their satisfaction and repurchase intentions, specifically in a new emerging market in the Mediterranean region, North Cyprus. Airline transportation is a major and the most extensively used way to reach North Cyprus, as it is an island state; thus it is important to know passengers' quality perception regarding any quality improvement.
A recently developed, industry‐specific, 43‐item scale (AIRQUAL) based on eight distinct dimensions: airline tangibles, terminal tangibles, personnel, empathy, image, customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, and word‐of‐mouth communication fit well in this study, maintaining its reliability, validity and dimensionality issues. The sample of the study consisted of customers using the national airline company of North Cyprus, who were selected through the non‐probability judgmental sampling technique. A total of 583 questionnaires were found to be useful and data from these questionnaires were tested through SPSS and LISREL statistical software.
A rigorous statistical test indicates a reasonable fit of the eight‐factor model to the data on the basis of a number of fit statistics. Results revealed that, among the quality dimensions, “airline tangibles” was found to be the most significant to affect both customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. Findings also showed that customer satisfaction is positively related to repurchase and word‐of‐mouth intensions.
Since airline transportation is a major and the most important way of reaching North Cyprus, the results of this study provide important insights to practitioners and the tourism ministry about how marketing strategies can be designed to manage service quality perceptions and how the airline industry can use the service quality concept to formulate marketing strategies effectively.
Từ khóa
Tài liệu tham khảo
Anderson, E.W. (1998), “Customer satisfaction and word of mouth”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 5‐17.
Anderson, E.W. and Sullivan, M.V. (1993), “The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms”, Marketing Science, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 125‐43.
Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. and Lehmann, D.R. (1994), “Customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: findings from Sweden”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 53‐66.
Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. and Rust, R.T. (1997), “Customer satisfaction, productivity, and profitability: differences between goods and services”, Marketing Science, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 129‐45.
Anderson, H.C. and Gerbing, D.W. (1988), “Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and recommended two‐step approach”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 103, pp. 411‐23.
Angur, M.G., Nataraajan, R. and Jahera, J.S. Jr (1999), “Service quality in the banking industry: an assessment in a developing economy”, The Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 132‐50.
Aulakh, P.S. and Kotabe, M. (1993), “An assessment of theoretical and methodological developments in international marketing”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 5‐28.
Avrikan, N.K. (1999), “Quality customer service demands human contact”, The International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 61‐74.
Babakus, E. and Boller, G.W. (1992), “An empirical assessment of SERVQUAL scale”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 253‐68.
Babakus, E. and Mangold, G.W. (1992), “Adapting the SERVQUAL scale to hospital services: an empirical investigation”, Health Services Research, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 767‐86.
Barsky, J.D. and Labagh, R. (1992), “A strategy for customer satisfaction”, The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 32‐40.
Carman, J.M. (1990), “Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66, pp. 33‐5.
Churchill, G. (1979), “A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 16, pp. 64‐73.
Churchill, G.A. and Surprenant, C. (1982), “An investigation into the determinants of customer satisfaction”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 19, pp. 491‐504.
Cronin, J.J. and Taylor, S.A. (1992), “Measuring service quality: a reexamination and extension”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, pp. 55‐68.
Cronin, J.J. and Taylor, S.A. (1994), “SERVPERF versus SERVQUAL: reconciling performance‐based and perceptions‐minus‐expectations measurement of service quality”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 125‐31.
Davidow, M. (2003), “Have you heard the word? The effect of word of mouth on perceived justice, satisfaction and repurchase intentions following complaint handling”, Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 67‐80.
Dean, A.M. (2007), “The impact of the customer orientation of call center employees on customers' affective commitment and loyalty”, Journal of Service Research, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 161‐73.
Diamantopoulos, A. and Siguaw, J.A. (2000), Introducing LISREL: A Guide for the Uninitiated, Sega Publication Inc., London.
Ekinci, Y., Prokopaki, P. and Cobanoglu, C. (2003), “Service quality in Cretan accommodations: marketing strategies for the UK holiday market”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 22, pp. 47‐66.
Ekiz, H.E. and Arasli, H. (2007), “Measuring the impacts of organizational responses: case of Northern Cyprus hotels”, Managing Global Transitions: International Research Journal, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 271‐87.
Ekiz, H.E., Hussain, K. and Bavik, A. (2006), “Perceptions of service quality in North Cyprus national airline”, Tourism and Hospitality Industry 2006 – New Trends in Tourism and Hospitality Management, Proceedings of 18th Biennial International Conference, Croatia: Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija, May 3‐5, Vol. 03‐05, pp. 778‐90.
Ennew, C.T., Reed, G.V. and Binks, M.R. (1993), “Importance‐performance analysis and the measurement of service quality”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 59‐70.
Fornell, C. (1992), “A national customer satisfaction barometer: the Swedish experience”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, pp. 6‐21.
Hair, J.F. Jr, Money, A.H., Samouel, P. and Page, M. (2007), Research Methods of Business, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester.
Halstead, D. and Page, T.J. Jr (1992), “The effects of satisfaction and complaining behavior on consumers' repurchase behavior”, Journal of Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Vol. 5, pp. 1‐11.
Hemmasi, M., Strong, K. and Taylor, S. (1994), “Measuring service quality for planning and analysis in service firms”, Journal of Applied Business Research, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 24‐34.
Johns, N., Avci, T. and Karatepe, O.M. (2004), “Measuring service quality of travel agents: evidence from Northern Cyprus”, The Service Industries Journal, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 82‐100.
Joreskog, K. and Sorbom, D. (1996), LISREL 8: User's Reference Guide, Scientific Software International, Inc., Chicago, IL.
Judd, C.M., Smith, E.R. and Kidder, L.H. (1991), Research Methods in Social Relations, 6th ed., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., Fort Worth, TX.
Karatepe, O.M. and Avci, T. (2002), “Measuring service quality in the hotel industry: evidence from Northern Cyprus”, Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 19‐32.
Karatepe, O.M. and Ekiz, H.E. (2004), “The effects of organizational responses to complaint on satisfaction and loyalty: a study of hotel guests in Northern Cyprus”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 476‐86.
Kau, A.K. and Loh, E.W.Y. (2006), “The effects of service recovery on consumer satisfaction: a comparison between complainants and non‐complainants”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 101‐11.
Kozak, N., Karatepe, O.M. and Avci, T. (2003), “Measuring the quality of airline services: evidence from Northern Cyprus”, Tourism Analysis, Vol. 8, pp. 75‐87.
Legoherel, P. (1998), “Quality of tourist services: the influence of each participating component on the consumer's overall satisfaction regarding tourist services during a holiday”, Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Tourism and Hotel Industry in Indo‐China and Southeast Asia: Development, Marketing and Sustainability, Thailand, pp. 47‐54.
Likert, R. (1932), “A technique for the measurement of attitudes”, Archives of Psychology, Vol. 140, pp. 5‐53.
Nadiri, H. and Hussain, K. (2005), “Diagnosing the zone of tolerance for hotel services”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 259‐77.
Newman, K. (2001), “Interrogating SERVQUAL: a critical assessment of service quality measurement in a high street retail bank”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 126‐39.
Nunnally, J.C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, McGraw‐Hill Book Company, New York, NY.
Oliver, R.T. (1980), “A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 460‐9.
Oliver, R.T. (1994), “A conceptual model of service quality and service satisfaction: compatible goals, different concepts”, in Swartz, T.A., Bowen, D.E. and Brown, S.W. (Eds), Advances in Services Marketing and Management, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 65‐85.
Parasuraman, A., Berry, L.L. and Zeithaml, V.A. (1991), “Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 67 No. 4, pp. 420‐50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1985), “A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp. 41‐50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1988), “SERVQUAL: a multiple‐item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64 No. 1, pp. 12‐40.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1994), “Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for future research”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 111‐24.
Schiffman, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L. (2004), Consumer Behavior, 8th ed., Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Singh, J. (1988), “Consumer complaint intentions and behavior: definitional and taxonomical issues”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, pp. 93‐107.
Smith, A.K., Bolton, R.N. and Wagner, J. (1999), “A model of customer satisfaction with service encounters involving failure and recovery”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 36, pp. 356‐72.
Spreng, R.A. and Mackoy, R.D. (1996), “An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 72 No. 2, pp. 201‐15.
Stevens, P., Knutson, B. and Patton, M. (1995), “DINESERV: a tool for measuring service quality in restaurants”, The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 5, pp. 56‐60.
Sultan, F. and Simpson, M. (2000), “International service variants: airline passenger expectations and perceptions of service quality”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 188‐216.
Teas, K.R. (1994), “Expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: an assessment of a reassessment”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 132‐9.
Tourism and Planning Office (2006), Statistical Yearbook of Tourism: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, State Printing House, Nicosia.
Yi, Y. (1990), “A critical review of consumer satisfaction”, in Zeithaml, V.A. (Ed.), Review of Marketing, Vol. 4, America Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 68‐123.
Yilmaz, V. (2004), “Lisrel ile yapısal eşitlik modelleri: tüketici şikayetlerine uygulanması”, Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 77‐90.
Zeithaml, V.A. and Bitner, M.J. (2000), Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus across Firms, 2nd ed., McGraw‐Hill, Boston, MA.