The effect of brand name and service quality on customer loyalty toward airline industry : a cross-cultural perspective | |
| Author | Veerapong Malai |
| Call Number | AIT Diss no.SM-04-09 |
| Subject(s) | Airlines--Customer services Customer loyalty |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | This paper examines how cultural effects can be integrated into the relationship between two key customer values (perceived service quality and brand name of the service provider) and customer loyalty. The individualism - collectivism dimensions were used for culture illustration. One of our primarily interests is in looking at how to model cultural impacts. Customers make decisions to select service providers based on their perceptions of value they will receive. This study proposes a simple conceptual framework for how perceived customer value affects customer loyalty in international markets, but our basic model is not radically different from current understanding, and it is not the main point of the discussion. Culture may well affect things, so we also investigate how culture might be considered a main effect on the antecedents of loyalty, and as a moderator of the relationships. Thus, the main point here is to suggest an approach to how researchers can think about and model culture when examining models of customer behavior. The study applied both qualitative pilot (in-depth interviews) and quantitative research (field survey). The field survey was conducted by convenience sampling. The target population was people who are currently using airline services. The sampling frame was the passengers waiting for their flights on the targeted airlines at a departure terminal in Bangkok International Airport, which is located in the world's fastest growing air travel market. The airlines were Northwest Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Thai Ai1ways. A questionnaire package was distributed to target respondents in the depaiture terminal, and respondents were asked to complete the selfadministered questionnaire. Data were collected from 611 airline passengers across three Asian and three Western nationalities (108 Japanese; 98 Hong Kong Chinese; 113 Thai; 94 Germans; 98 British; and 100 from USA). Scale reliability was checked by Cronbach alpha, and we found that overall scores for each concept are .9031 for customer loyalty, .9441 for perceived service quality, .8677 for perceived brand name, .9526 for customer satisfaction, 8200 for collectivist and .8425 for individualist. Simple and multiple regressions were used to test the relationships. The two key components of customer value, perceived brand name value and service quality, do affect customer loyalty, and this study suggests that cultural traits can have an impact on these basic issues. Using individual level measures of individualism and collectivism, we demonstrated that people with different levels of these cultural h·aits can view the customer value dimensions influencing customer loyalty somewhat differently. The results showed that neither of the individual level measurements of the cultural h·aits of individualism (IDV) and collectivism (CLT) could moderate the relationship between the customer values and customer loyalty. However, when we look at an aggregate level measure of national culture by using Hofstede's individualism - collectivism index, the aggregate level of culture in te1m of individualism could affect the perceived customer value and moderate the customer value - loyalty relationships. For practitioners, this study suggests that managers could use the framework as a guide to examine how consumers in different foreign markets would respond to their services in terms of loyalty. When launching or developing a service in different parts of the global market, sh·ategies focusing on service quality must adapt to cross-cultural differences in how consumers view service quality. |
| Year | 2004 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Zimmermann, Willi;Speece, Mark W. (Co-Chairperson); |
| Examination Committee(s) | Johri, Lalit M.;Swierzeck, Fredric W. ;Dimmitt, Nicholas J.;Teerapat Sanguankotchakom;Wagner, Janet; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Bangkok University; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004 |