Effect of the In-Flight Meal Service Quality on the Customer Value and Loyalty

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among in-flight meal service quality, customer value and loyalty. To accomplish this, a questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. Methods/ Statistical analysis: A convenience sample of 400 respondents was surveyed and a total of 368 usable questionnaires were analyzed. SPSS 21.0 was used as statistical tool for data analysis. Descriptive analysis was conducted to examine the demographic characteristics of the participants. And to test the constructive validation of the instrument for evaluation, factor analysis was carried out. And multiple regression analysis was performed to know the impact among variables. Findings: The average of in-flight meal service quality score was 3.27/5.00 and in-flight meal service quality was highest with service factor of 3.30, followed by sanitation factor with 3.27 and food factor with 3.25. Meanwhile, the average of customer value score was 3.14 and loyalty was 3.28 respectively. Furthermore, there was a significantly positive correlation among food, service, sanitation, customer value and loyalty (**p<0.01, *p<0.05). Specifically, service factor and the sanitation factor (p <0.01) showed a significant high correlation (p2=0.41, p<0.001). Furthermore, influences of in-flight service quality on loyalty showed significantly positive effects in food (β=0.160, p<0.01), service (β=0.315, p<0.001) and sanitation (β=0.385, p<0.001) factors. Regarding the degrees of influences on customer value and loyalty, sanitation showed the highest effects. Application/Improvements: It is necessary for an airline to continuously understand customers’ needs for supplementary services and hygienic management for in-flight meal, not to mention the quality of in-flight service.