Airline Brand Loyalty: A case study involving the three airlines, - SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Tourist Studies at UiT The Arctic University of Norway by Basant Raj Shrestha Course code: RMG40 Candidate no. 3 Student no. 420456 October 2014 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are several people, without whom this Master thesis would never have been started, let alone finished and who deserve to be thanked and acknowledged for their support and inspiration. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Per Kåre Jakobsen for guiding me through this process. I would also like to thank my methodology supervisor, Professor Kjell Hines, whose open- minded approach to the Master process enabled me to develop in my own words. His comments and suggestions for improvements to my dissertation are highly valued and gratefully acknowledged. Secondly, I am very grateful for the help provided in execution of the field study by securities of the Alta airport. Many thanks to Mr. Arnulf Nilsen and to some members of Avionor for their help and co-operation. Many thanks to travelers who took the time to thoughtfully provide the information used in this study. Thirdly, I would like to thank my teachers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, in particular Professor Bente Haug, Professor Bente Heimtun, and Professor Britt Kramvig not only for creating intellectual space but also for supporting me when things got difficult and for cheerfully taking the time to listen even when the only thing I ever wanted to talk about was my thesis, not yours. And last but not least, I would like to thank my families, friends, and colleagues for their continued support during this semester, your consideration and insights have been a source of inspiration during this whole process. 2 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the dissertation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master and entitled “Airline Brand Loyalty: A case study involving the three airlines, - SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe”, represents my own work and has not been previously submitted to this or any other institution for any degree, diploma or other qualification. Alta, 31st of October 2014 Basant Raj Shrestha E-mail: [email protected] 3 Table of Contents 1.0 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………8 2.0 Introduction……………………………….……………………………………...........9 2.1 Introductory background……………………………………….…………..……….9 2.2 Background and History of the three airlines, - SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe….12 2.3 Alta airport…………………………………………………………………………15 2.4 Research objectives…………………………………..……………………………17 2.5 Consumer behaviour….............................................................................................18 2.6 Research contribution……………………………………………………………...20 2.7 Structure of the thesis……………………………………………………………...20 3.0 Literature Review….....................................................................................................22 3.1 Factors affecting customer loyalty………………………………………….……..22 3.2 Determinants of consumer analysis………………………………………………..27 3.3 Attitude.………………………………………………………………….………...28 3.3.1 Definition…………………………………………………………………….29 3.3.2 Attitude towards objects……………………………………………………...30 3.3.3 The three components of attitude………………………….............................31 3.3.4 Attitude strength……………………………………………………………...33 3.3.5 Change in attitudes…………………………………………………………...33 3.3.6 Implicit and explicit attitudes………………………………………………...34 3.3.7 Situational occurrence………………………………………………………..35 3.4 Behavior…………………………………………………………............................35 3.4.1 Habit…………………………………...……………………………………..36 3.4.2 Behavioral intentions…………………………………………………………37 3.4.3 The relationship between habit and customer loyalty………………………..39 3.5 Satisfaction…………………………………………………………………………39 3.5.1 Definition…………………………………………………………………….40 3.5.2 Measurements of satisfaction………………………………………………...43 3.5.3 Equation of satisfaction………………………………………………………44 3.5.4 Different types of satisfaction evaluations…………………………………...45 4 3.5.5 The relationship between brand loyalty and satisfaction…………………….47 3.6 Loyalty……………………………………………………………….......................48 3.6.1 Definition…………………………………………………………………….48 3.6.2 Dimensions of loyalty ……………………………………………………….49 3.6.3 Degrees of loyalty……………………………………………………………53 3.7 Factors (Service, Safety, Comfort, Luggage allowance and Bonus)……………...…...54 3.7.1 Service……………………………………………………………………..…54 3.7.2 Safety…………………………………………………………………………55 3.7.3 Comfort………………………………………………………………………56 3.7.4 Luggage allowance………………………………………………………..…57 3.7.5 Bonus…………………………………………………………………………58 4.0 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………..59 4.1 Research philosophy………………………………………………………………59 4.2 Research design……………………………………………………………………61 4.3 Data collection method……………………………………………………………62 4.3.1 Primary data…………………………………………………………………63 4.3.2 Secondary data……………………………………………………………….63 4.4 Questionnaire design………………………………………………………………63 4.4.1 Step 1: Specify what information will be sought…………………….65 4.4.2 Step 2: Determine type of questionnaire and method of administration………………………………………………65 4.4.3 Step 3: Determine content of individual questions………………......66 4.4.4 Step 4: Determine form of response to each question……………......70 4.4.5 Step 5: Determine wording of each question………………………...72 4.4.6 Step 6: Determine sequence of questions…………………………….72 4.4.7 Step 7: Determine physical characteristics of questionnaire…………73 4.4.8 Step 8: Re-examine steps 1-7 and revise if necessary……………......74 4.4.9 Step 9: Pretest questionnaire and revise if necessary………………...74 4.5 Sample collection…………………………………………………………………..75 4.6 Data collection process……………………………………………………………..76 5 5.0 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………….…77 5.1 Demographic profiles……………………………………………………………....77 5.2 Purpose and travel frequency …….…………………………………………..……80 5.3 Four key factors.........................................................................................................80 5.4 Factors (Service, Safety, Comfort, Luggage allowance and Bonus)...…………….84 5.5 Factors versus the three airlines………………………………………….………...88 5.6 Discussion and findings………………………………………………….………...88 6.0 Conclusion and Implications of the study...................................................................92 6.1 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….........92 6.2 Implications of the study…………………………………………………………...94 7.0 Limitation and Suggestions for future research………………………………….....94 8.0 References.......................................................................………………….…………..99 9.0 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………..123 9.1 Appendix 1: Translation permission request………………………………………123 9.2 Appendix 2: E-mail request to participate in airline survey.....................................124 9.3 Appendix 3: The survey questionnaire in English………………………………...125 9.4 Appendix 4: The survey questionnaire in Norwegian……………………………..128 9.5 Appendix 5: The survey questionnaire in English……..………………………….131 9.6 Appendix 6: The survey questionnaire in Norwegian……………………………..134 List of Figures Figure 1: The factors of affecting of customer loyalty…….…………………………….....27 Figure 2: The wheel of consumer analysis…………………………………………………27 Figure 3: Attitude definitions, ordered according to their conceptualization of attitudes as stable entities (left) versus temporary constructions (right)………...30 Figure 4: The three components (cognitive, behavioral & affective) of attitude and their interaction…………………………………………………………………32 Figure 5: The comfort model for sitting……………………………………………………57 6 List of Tables Table 1: Conceptual and operational definitions of ‘satisfaction’…………………………42 Table 2: Oliver’s four stage of loyalty model……………………………………………...49 Table 3: The loyalty dimensions (behavioral, attitudinal and cognitive)…………………..52 Table 4: key factors and their sources……………..……………………………………….67 Table 5: Age composition of travelers (%)………………………………………………...77 Table 6: Gender composition of travelers (%)……………………………………………..78 Table 7: Educational level of travelers (%)………………………………………………...78 Table 8: Occupational status of travelers (%)……………………………………………...79 Table 9: Purpose and travel frequency (business, visiting friends/relatives, visitor/tourist and others) composition of travelers (%)………………………………………...80 Table 10: Travelers’ rating scale 1 to 5 of the three airlines. Mean scores and Standard Deviations………………………………………………………………………...81 Table 11: Habit composition of travelers (%)……………………………………………...81 Table 12: Number of airplane trips by the three airlines’ travelers during the last month. Mean scores and Standard Deviations…………………………………………...82 Table 13: Satisfaction index of the three airlines’ travelers. Mean scores and Standard Deviations………………………………………………………………………...83 Table 14: Loyalty index of the three airlines’ travelers. Mean scores and Standard Deviations………………………………………………………………………...84 Table 15: Factors (Service, Safety, Comfort, Luggage allowance and Bonus) index of the three airlines’ travelers. Mean scores and Standard Deviations………………….85 Table 16: Factors versus the three airlines. Mean scores…………………………………..88 7 1.0 Abstract The general object of this study is to explore the airline brand loyalty. The primary objective of this study is to explore the nature of consumer loyalty and its major determinants with respect to the three airlines - SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe; analyze the data concerning relationships between consumers'