With an increasing number of people who travel to foreign countries in recent years, more attention has been paid to the accumulation and use of airline mileage. Since previous studies regarded airline mileage simply as one of service factors, little ...
With an increasing number of people who travel to foreign countries in recent years, more attention has been paid to the accumulation and use of airline mileage. Since previous studies regarded airline mileage simply as one of service factors, little research has been conducted on the use behavior of individuals' actual mileage use. The current study investigated the use behavior of mileage in two phases: Study 1 examined how consumers respond to various conditions of mileage use and Study 2 investigated the effects of recognition of equivalence and perceived value on the use intent of mileage, incorporating mileage benefits, consumers’ experience and knowledge, etc. as variables. The specific research questions of the current study are as follows:
1. How do consumers opt to use various conditions/options of mileage use? And are these selections reasonable?
2. What are benefits and convenience of mileage use, consumers’ past efforts to earn miles/points, and their mileage use experience and knowledge related to the consumers’ perceived value and recognition of equivalence?
3. How do benefits and convenience of mileage use, consumers’ past efforts to earn miles/points, and their mileage use experience and knowledge affect the consumers’ perceived value, affective commitment, and calculus commitment?
4. What are the effects of consumers’ recognition of equivalence on their perceived value of mileage and continuous mileage use intent in the future?
5. What are the effects of consumers’ recognition of equivalence on their affective commitment, calculus commitment, airline loyalty, and continuous mileage use intent in the future?
In Study 1, a total of 258 undergraduate and graduate students participated in the survey. The study employed a 3 x 2 x 2 between-subject factorial design: 3 high/middle/low of accumulated miles, 2 basic options of distance asymmetry (high i.e., short distance) vs. low (i.e., long distance), and 2 additional options of upgrade asymmetry (high vs. low). Each cell consisted of 20 to 23 participants. Of 258 questionnaires, 248 questionnaires were used in the final analysis, excluding incomplete 8 questionnaires.
The results showed that in distance asymmetry situation, consumers with many miles/points were found to have intent to use their mileage to buy an air ticket for a long distance trip. The results seem to support the loss aversion theory and the hedonistic framing theory. In addition, only with many miles/points accumulated, were customers intent on upgrading their tickets in distance and upgrade asymmetry situations since they felt the loss as comparatively low due to the abundance of miles they had. The results indicate that airlines need to segmentize their customer groups into those who have many miles and those who do not, thereby adjusting the loss reference point and deciding whether to use hedonistic framing.
In Study 2, which investigated the effect of airline mileage use behavior on use intent, questionnaires were conducted in an airport in Gwangjoo with airline customers who had an experience of using airline mileage before. A total of 158 questionnaires were collected and used in the final analysis.
The analysis showed the following results. First, benefits and convenience of mileage use significantly affected perceived value of airline mileage while efforts to earn mileage or experience of mileage use did not. Of benefits and convenience of mileage use, efforts to earn mileage, and experience of mileage use knowledge, only benefits and convenience of mileage negatively affected recognition of equivalence whereas the rest showed positive effects. Second, recognition of equivalence showed a significant effects on perceived value of airline mileage and intent to use mileage, and perceived value of airline mileage significantly affected affective and calculus commitment. Since it was found that recognizing equivalence led to intent to use mileage in the future, airlines need to employ specific related strategies. Third, both affective and calculus commitment had a significant effect on airline loyalty and mileage use intent. While calculus commitment did not significantly affect mileage use intent, airline loyalty did. Therefore, the results reveal that benefits of mileage itself, some attachments to the airline, and trust can lead to loyalty. Moreover, calculus commitment was found not to affect mileage use intent significantly, which indicates that the extent of mileage helpfulness in terms of benefits, discount, etc. does not actually lead to mileage use intent.