Examining the impact of risk perceptions on intentions to travel by air: A comparison of full -service carriers and low-cost carriers

Abstract

This study is aimed to examine the impact of perceived risk on passenger's intentions to travel by air. Furthermore, this study also examines these relationships across full -service and low-cost air carriers. This study employed a convenience sampling method for collecting data from 755 respondents using a self-administered questionnaire. Moreover, variance based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed structural model. The results revealed that socio-psychological risk, financial risk and performance risk are significantly negative predictors of passengers' intentions to travel by air. Whereas, surprisingly, physical risk is found to be a non-significant predictor of passengers' intentions to travel by air. Results from multi-group analysis showed for passengers in full service carriers, all the dimensions of perceived risk have a significant impact on their intentions to travel by air. Whereas, for passengers in low cost carriers, physical risk and performance risk are significant predictors while socio-psychological and financial risk are non-significant predictors of their intentions to travel by air. It is expected that findings of this study will help airlines to understand the role of various dimensions of perceived risks that shape passenger's intentions to travel by air.