Award Date

12-1-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Hospitality Management

First Committee Member

Yen-Soon Kim

Second Committee Member

Seyhmus Baloglu

Third Committee Member

Carola Raab

Fourth Committee Member

Si Jung Kim

Number of Pages

202

Abstract

To keep up with a rapidly expanding aviation industry, it is critical for airline marketers to incorporate most preferred service elements to enhance the passengers’ inflight experience. To attract the valued passengers, the current study focused on inflight foods and included the attributes that address the trends of healthy and environmentally sustainable foods. Usingconjoint value analysis, the study investigated the differences on participants’ preferences and importance of inflight food attributes with their demographic profiles and travel characteristics. The research found that health and taste attributes were found to be the greatest importance of inflight foods and suggested the optimal inflight foods bundle. The study found that frequent and occasional flyers present distinctive inflight foods preferences. By making proper modifications to inflight foods according to the study results, flyers may be attracted and retained. Grounded on spillover theory, the study examined the spillover of the passengers’ attitude toward organic products, healthy eating habits, and grocery purchase behavior on their preferences of foods served on board and inflight foods importance. However, the healthy and environmentally sustainable foods relevant variables from home didn’t spillover to inflight foods’ preferences and their attribute importance. The study also investigated the contribution of the relevant variables toward brand image and flight intention. Research findings indicated that most participants who presented positive attitudes toward organic foods, strong eating habits of healthy foods, and frequent purchases of healthy and environmentally sustainable groceries will build a positive brand image and intend to fly the airlines that offer healthy and environmentally sustainable inflight foods. While the attitude toward organic products and healthy eating habit explained the variance of grocery purchase behavior on ground, they didn’t contribute to the passengers’ preference and importance of inflight foods. Passengers’ inflight food preferences and its attribute importance didn’t contribute to the brand image and flight intention.

Keywords

Airline; Passengers; Inflight food

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations

File Format

pdf

File Size

1600 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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