کیفیت روابط خطوط هوایی: بررسی مسافران تایوانی

Customer relationship management has become an increasingly important issue for airlines. This study develops a model to investigate the antecedents of airline relationship quality from the customer's perspective. Based on the findings from in-depth interviews with airline customers, we examine the relative impact of customer orientation, domain expertise, interpersonal relationships, service recovery, and information technology on customers’ perceptions of the quality of their relationships with airlines. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze survey data collected from 252 domestic passengers in Taiwan. The results show that, in the order of importance, customer orientation, domain expertise, service recovery performance, and interpersonal relationships are the major factors contributing to airline relationship quality, whereas information technology has no significant effect.

In today's environment, firms are increasingly dependent on the relationships they have with their customers. Committed customer relationships often bring about greater payoffs for the firm, such as customer satisfaction, positive word of mouth, referrals, and loyalty (Kim & Cha, 2002). In particular for services businesses, managing customer relationships is important because of the inherent intangibility and heterogeneous characteristics associated with service delivery. Signifying a paradigm shift, relationship marketing has attracted much attention from academics and practitioners (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In contrast to transactional marketing, relationship marketing emphasizes more on the development and maintenance of long-lasting relationships between the firm and its customers (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995). The characteristics of airline service offer many opportunities for practicing the relationship marketing approach. For example, a relatively small part of an airline's customer base accounts for the majority of its profits. It is in the best interest of the airline to build a long-term relationship with these customers to ensure repeat patronage (Shaw, 2004). For this purpose, most airlines establish and maintain frequent flyer databases to develop customer profiles so as to provide customized products and services and create superior value for customers. Moreover, the airline sector has been an early adopter of information technology such as computerized reservation systems, the Internet and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. With the help of these tools, airlines are able to enhance individual relationships with their customers (Buhalis, 2004; Doganis, 2001). For a relationship marketing strategy to succeed, it is important that customers and airlines must both benefit from the exchange relationship (Berry, 1983). From the customer's viewpoint, the positive benefits of relationship marketing can only be realized if customers are willing to engage in long-term relationships (Gwinner, Gremler, & Bitner, 1998). For airlines, the development of a strong customer relationship promises improved customer loyalty, which in turn leads to increased profits for the firm (Reichheld, 1993). One important question is what makes customers stay with a service provider or switch. The answer may, in part, depend on the quality of the relationship that customers keep with the service provider, i.e., customers decide whether to maintain a long-term relationship with the service provider based on the level of relationship quality achieved (Walter, Muller, Helfert, & Ritter, 2003). Given the importance of relationship quality in retaining customers, it is critical for airline management to understand, from the customer's perspective, what factors contribute to relationship quality. While a vast amount of relationship marketing literature exists, little empirical work has been done to explore this important issue in the air transport sector. The objective of this study is to investigate the antecedents affecting relationship quality between airlines and their customers and analyze their relative impact on relationship quality. Comprehending the essentials of what determines relationship quality can provide useful management insights into developing effective strategies that allow airlines to retain customers.

This research adds to the relationship quality literature by focusing on the analysis of relationship quality in the marketing of an airline service and by pointing out areas in which training and organizational development can have an impact. As expected, the results uncovered in this research are largely consistent with similar studies conducted in other fields (Crosby et al., 1990; Driver, 2001; Guenzi & Pelloni, 2004; Hennig-Thuraus, 2004; Kim & Cha, 2002; Lin & Ding, 2005). Customer orientation, domain expertise, interpersonal relationships, and service recovery are found to exert significant positive impacts on airline relationship quality. From a strategic viewpoint, this suggests that airline marketers focus on these fronts to develop effective relationship marketing strategies and plans in order to establish a long-term relationship with their customers. Information technology, which is unique in this study, does not show a significant influence on relationship quality. In the light of the findings from previous research, we, however, must not ignore the role of information technology as an important strategic asset in maintaining customer relationships (Chiou & Droge, 2006; Kim & Cha, 2002). This study suffers from some limitations relating to data collection and result interpretation. First, our survey respondents were chosen from a convenience sample and the representativeness of our sample may be questioned. Second, this study has been conducted in one particular industry in a single-country setting. Caution should be exercised in making generalizations across different industries and countries. Cross-national studies are welcome to investigate whether cultural differences exist in the development of customer relationships with airlines. Third, the targeting of the total market may obscure different segments’ needs, expectations, and requirements and, thus, the factors affecting their relationship quality with airlines. Future research may make a step further to explore the differences in various target segments, such as business, leisure, and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) sub-markets. Finally, for reasons of simplicity and focus, this study does not consider outcome variables. Future research may consider extending the current model to include outcome variables such as commitment, word-of-mouth, willingness to recommend, and customer loyalty.