The Differential Effects of Touchpoint Functions in Airline Apps on Customer Engagement and Customer Retention for Different Traveler Personalities

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The Differential Effects of Touchpoint Functions in Airline Apps on Customer Engagement and Customer Retention for Different Traveler Personalities The differential effects of touchpoint functions in airline apps on customer engagement and customer retention for different traveler personalities Master Thesis 0 Student: Nadja Ella Hutton-Mills Student No.: 11145781 Study: MSc in Business Administration- Marketing Track 1st Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ed Peelen University of Amsterdam Date: 27.01.2017 Version: Final Student: NE Hutton-Mills Student No.: 11145781 Statement of Originality This document is written by Student Nadja Ella Hutton-Mills who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document. I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it. The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents. 1 Student: NE Hutton-Mills Student No.: 11145781 Table of Contents Statement of Originality .......................................................................................................................... 1 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Scientific Relevance ...................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Managerial Relevance ................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Research Question ........................................................................................................................ 8 2 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................ 9 2.1 Customer Relationship Management ............................................................................................ 9 2.2 Mobile Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ................................................................. 10 2.3 Mobile CRM Applications .......................................................................................................... 11 2.4 The airline industry ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.5 Touchpoints in CRM ................................................................................................................... 12 2.6 Managerial Perspective of Touchpoints in Airline Apps ............................................................ 13 2.7 Customer Engagement ................................................................................................................ 16 2.8 Customer Engagement and Customer Retention ........................................................................ 19 2.9 Traveler Personalities .................................................................................................................. 21 2.10 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................. 25 3 Data and Method ................................................................................................................................ 27 3.1 Research Methodology ............................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Method Design and Collection Procedure .................................................................................. 27 3.2.1 Exploratory Research: Expert Interview .............................................................................. 27 3.2.2 Experimental Research: Vignette Study .............................................................................. 27 3.2.2.1 Pretest ................................................................................................................................ 28 3.2.2.2 Experimental Survey ......................................................................................................... 29 3.2.2.3 Experimental Design ......................................................................................................... 30 3.3 Variable and Scale Development ................................................................................................ 31 3.3.1 Traveler Personality ............................................................................................................. 31 3.3.2 Touchpoint Functionality ..................................................................................................... 31 3.3.3 Customer Engagement ......................................................................................................... 31 3.3.4 Customer Retention.............................................................................................................. 32 4 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 33 2 Student: NE Hutton-Mills Student No.: 11145781 4.1 Sample and Between Group Homogeneity Analysis .................................................................. 33 4.2 Homogeneity of Experimental Groups ....................................................................................... 35 4.3 Reliability Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 36 4.4 Descriptives and Correlation Matrix ........................................................................................... 37 4.5 Hypothesis Testing ...................................................................................................................... 43 5 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 57 5.1 Findings....................................................................................................................................... 57 5.1.1 Industry Developments and Trends ..................................................................................... 57 5.1.2 Touchpoint Functionality ..................................................................................................... 58 5.1.3 Traveler Personality ............................................................................................................. 58 5.1.4 Touchpoint Functions, Customer Engagement and Customer Retention ............................ 58 5.1.5 Hypothesis Testing ............................................................................................................... 59 5.1.6 The Research Question ........................................................................................................ 60 5.1.7 Context with Prior Research ................................................................................................ 60 5.2 Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 61 5.3 Future Implications ..................................................................................................................... 62 5.2.1 Scientific Implications ......................................................................................................... 62 5.2.2 Managerial Implications ...................................................................................................... 63 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 69 Appendix 1: Expert Interview with Fredrik Forstbach from Lufthansa Innovation Hub ................. 69 Appendix 2: Field Analysis of Touchpoints in Global Airline Apps ................................................ 76 Appendix 3: Pre-test Survey on Qualtrics ......................................................................................... 93 Appendix 4: Pre-test Output on SPSS............................................................................................. 102 Appendix 5: Experimental Survey .................................................................................................. 104 5.1 High Functionality English ................................................................................................... 104 5.2 Low Functionality English .................................................................................................... 113 5.3 High Functionality German .................................................................................................. 123 5.4 Low Functionality German ................................................................................................... 133 Appendix 6: SPSS Data Output .....................................................................................................
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