Self-Enhancement Driven First-Class Airline Travelers’ Behavior: The Moderating Role of Third-Party Certification

Abstract

This study was designed with a focus on self-enhancement by flying in first class to understand the intricate associations in the formation of well-being, brand attachment, and word-of-mouth. In addition, this study aimed to examine the moderating effect of third-party certification among consequent variables. For this, data were collected from 199 first-class airline travelers. A quantitative method that was comprised of structural equation modeling and multiple-group analysis wasused to test the research hypotheses. Our findings revealed that both achievement and power were significant drivers of well-being perception of first-class airline travelers and their perceived well-being contributed to building positive brand attachment and word-of-mouth. The association between brand attachment and word-of-mouth was also statistically supported. Furthermore, the moderating role of third-party certification was identified in the causal relationship between well-being perception and brand attachment. Implications were discussed along with diverse approaches for customized and exclusive offerings such as butler services pre- and post-flights or during transit at airports, and mini stretching sessions in flights to improve self-enhancement during the whole journey of a first-class experience.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Travelers’ Well-Being Perceptions: Focusing on Chinese Tourist Shopping at a Duty Free

“…For example, creating a zone equipped with relaxing music, sofas, massage machines, or gaming facilities can be considered to enhance comfort, emotional security, and entertainment. Kim et al [59] asserted that travelers' experiences improve their quality of life, which is interchangeable in terms of well-being perception. They introduced enhanced programs and facilities at an airline lounge, such as a yoga session, and stressed the importance of wellness programs in enhancing travelers' level of life quality.…”

“…That is, shopping activities at a duty free shop would create an opportunity to enrich travelers' well-being perceptions. Furthermore, purchasing luxurious products is known to elevate individuals' perceptions of well-being and it has been verified across various settings in the hospitality and tourism industry [58,59]. In the meantime, a number of researches have confirmed the positive outcomes of well-being perceptions.…”

“…Kim et al [61] explained that travelers' word-of-mouth communication was dependent on travelers' well-being perceptions of an airline lounge. Similarly, Kim et al [59] addressed the strong associations among airline travelers' well-being perceptions, brand attachment, and word-of-mouth. On the basis of these theoretical foundations and empirical evidences, it is reasonable to expect the significant impact of travelers' well-being perceptions on customer responses towards brand and behavior in the context of a duty free shop: Percy and Rossiter [82] conceptualized brand attitude in that motive-anchored and stressed brand attitude involves an expected buying motive.…”

Understanding Customer Experience and Satisfaction through Airline Passengers’ Online Review

“…It means transportation for boarding also can affect the satisfaction, because passengers wrote down their airline experience mentioning this segmentation. In addition, this service can improve passengers' perceived achievement and power compared to others [49]. To make it easier to see which words belong to each group, the words grouped in the cluster and the ones to be noted are listed in Table 5.…”

“…It means transportation for boarding also can affect the satisfaction, because passengers wrote down their airline experience mentioning this segmentation. In addition, this service can improve passengers' perceived achievement and power compared to others [49]. Table 6 displays the results of the linear regression analysis with 'Customer Satisfaction (CS)' as the dependent variable and it has six independent variables: 'Seat comfort (SC)', 'Staff (S)', 'Food & Beverage (FB)', 'Entertainment (E)', 'Ground service (GS)' and 'Value for money (VM)'.…”