Airline Service Failure

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impacts of causal attributions (controllability, stability, and locus of control) and failure severity on the behavioral intention of passengers in the context of airline service failure. This study also extended the causal attribution theory by incorporating failure severity as another explanatory variable. Furthermore, all the above direct relationships were also expected to be mediated by brand attitude. Essentially, this study attempted to address the issue of the desire of passengers to fly again with the affected airlines and the extent to which they will recommend it to others. This study employed purposive sampling and a questionnaire survey that involved 518 respondents as the main data collection method. All hypotheses were tested using Smart-PLS. The findings revealed that only controllability and failure severity exhibited direct impacts on behavioral intention, whereas stability and locus of control indirectly affected behavioral intention through the mediator of brand attitude. The findings also indicated that brand attitude was a full mediator in the relationships between stability and behavioral intention, as well as between locus of control and behavioral intention.