Airport service quality and passenger satisfaction : the impact of service failure on the likelihood of promoting an airport online

Abstract

Based on the analysis of 2278 online passenger ratings of airports worldwide, this study uses a standard multinomial logit model to determine the likelihood of a passenger being a promoter of an airport when a service attribute has failed, controlling for several passenger and airport characteristics. Results show that failures associated with airport staff and queueing times are most likely to reduce the probability of a passenger being a promoter of an airport. Failures associated with airport shopping and wifi service are least likely to do so. More importantly, the failure of any service attribute in this study significantly reduces the probability of a passenger being a promoter of an airport. This suggests that all parts of the airport value chain are likely to suffer when a service attribute fails. Passenger and airport characteristics included in this study do not add significant explanation to whether a passenger becomes a promoter. Keywords: airport service quality, service failure, online ratings, airport value chain, passenger satisfaction