International service variants: airline passenger expectations and perceptions of service quality

The primary objectives of this study are to determine if consumer expectations and perceptions of airline service quality vary by nationality. The study also examines whether the relative importance attributed to service quality dimensions in domestic settings can be replicated internationally. An empirical examination of airline passengers is conducted for airlines competing on the transatlantic corridor using a survey instrument in three languages. The study is the first application of an existing model, SERVQUAL, to examine consumer expectations and perceptions in an international environment. It differs from earlier published SERVQUAL research in two significant respects; first, it applies the model internationally in a general classification of business, i.e. international airline service, rather than to individual domestic business enterprises. Second, it applies a portion of the SERVQUAL model to assess service quality by comparing the expectations and perceptions that European and US airline passengers have of both European and US airline groups.

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