Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252

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Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

journal homepage: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-hospitality-
and-tourism-management

Origin and money matter: The airline service quality expectations of

international students
Sherwin Shenwei Lim, Aaron Tkaczynski*
School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics & Law, University of Queensland, Cnr Blair Drive & Campbell Street, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: International students represent a relevant market for national tourism organisations, educational in-
Received 21 July 2016 stitutions, travel agencies and transport providers. These potential tourists may travel for a variety of
Received in revised form touristic and non-touristic reasons and an understanding of their origin, nancial status and the service
27 January 2017
quality levels they require for an airline service is relevant for destination stakeholders to remain
Accepted 1 March 2017
competitive and potentially adjust to these tourists' requirements. Data was collected from 563 inter-
national students studying at a university in Queensland, Australia to determine 1) the airline service
quality expectation factors of international students; and 2) if signicant differences existed between
Keywords:
Airline
these potential tourists based on their source of funding, country or origin and employment status. Five
Australia service quality expectations factors were produced and signicant differences existed between the ex-
Employment pectations of ancillary services for students that were current employed and those that were not.
International student Furthermore, students rated ancillary service, employee service and service indicators differently based
Service quality expectations on their country of origin. Conversely, the relationship between service quality expectations and source
Transport of funding was insignicant. Recommendations as a result of the ndings are made and future oppor-
tunities to direct research are also outlined.
2017 The Authors.

1. Introduction Several considerations will invariably inuence international

International students represent a substantial, growing market
to the global economy. The youth and student travel market is
estimated to represent approximately US$165 billion and a fth of
global travel (WYSE Travel Confederation., 2013). By 2020, it is
anticipated that this market will increase to 370 million youth
travellers (World Tourism Organization, 2016). Undeniably, air
travel is indispensable for international students. These students
will travel using air transport for reasons such as going on holiday
during a vacation break or visiting friends and relatives in their
home country. Despite a growth in airline student travel interna-
tionally, it is argued that the converge of airline business models
and the competition for the same customer will signicantly
impact how airlines design their fare products and manage their
revenue (Dieter, 2012). Consequently, there will be increased
pressure to maintain protability by focusing on yield
management.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: a.tkaczynski@uq.edu.au (A. Tkaczynski).
students' choice of airline, such as an airline's perceived service
quality. Service quality represents an attitude or verdict around the
superiority of a service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988) and
expectations play an indispensable role in service quality evalua-
tion. Consumers (e.g. international students) will compare their
expectations of the level of service with what they have experi-
enced. Consumer satisfaction will become apparent if the perceived
service quality exceed what consumers expect (Gro nroos, 1984;
Parasuraman et al., 1988).
Whilst many studies have been conducted into measuring
airline service quality and personal characteristics amongst a va-
riety of airline passengers (e.g. Chiou & Chen, 2012; Jager, Zyl, &
Toriola, 2012), little research has been conducted into identifying
what international students expect when considering travelling by
air transport to an international destination. Given that interna-
tional students from a variety of backgrounds may expect different
levels of quality from airlines based on their nancial situation (e.g.
source of funding and employment status), or country of origin,
research into this potential heterogeneous and growing market is
required to provide greater understanding of this possibly nan-
cially attractive market.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2017.03.001
1447-6770/ 2017 The Authors.
 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252
2. Literature review
2.1. Tourism and air transport
Transport and tourism are symbiotically linked; tourism cannot
happen without transport options to bring tourists to a destination
(Prideaux, 2000). Transport, or the journey itself, can often be a key
part of the tourism experience; hence, attesting to the importance
of the provision of service quality within. Among the range of
tourism transport modes, air transport is possibly the most
important and widely used means of travel (Bieger & Wittmer,
2006). Airplane services typically involve a complex service pro-
cedure which involves aspects from ground services to in-ight
meals and cabin service to baggage delivery (Chiou & Chen, 2012).
Full service carriers (FSC), also known as legacy airlines that
focus on providing a wide range of pre-ight and on-board services
(e.g. different service classes and connecting ights) have tradi-
tionally controlled what passengers receive for an aviation service.
However, the market deregulation in the United States and Europe
between the 1970s and 1980s respectively transformed the airline
industry (Cento, 2009). As multiple airlines started to compete on
the same route, consumers started to have more choices (Martin,
Roman, & Espino, 2008). The operations strategies of airlines
changed from using pricing as a competitive tool to a greater focus
on marketing and service quality (Eldad, 2006). Intense competi-
tion accelerated the need for customer-based and competition-
sensitive marketing, which is now regarded as crucial competi-
tive advantages in light of the ease in replicating price moves
(Tiernan, Rhoades, & Waguespack, 2008). As a consequence, new
sets of business models have emerged (Cento, 2009).
Low cost carriers (LCCs), or budget airlines commonly operate a
basic point-to-point network which offer no frills service and
generally offer lower fares and fewer comforts (O'Connell &
Williams, 2005). The LCC business model was rst conceptualised
by Southwest Airlines in the United States in the early 1970s as a
niche option for price-sensitive consumers (Franke, 2004). A study
by O'Connell and Williams (2005) revealed that the LCC model can
be replicated in any part of the world as passengers' expectations to
airline choice are consistent throughout different markets. Testa-
ment to this, operators such as Jetstar and AirAsia are increasingly
establishing themselves in the Asia Pacic region (Graham &
Vowles, 2006). The proliferation of LCCs and concurrent growth
in the number of travellers has intensied competition. As a result,
passengers are becoming more sophisticated in sieving out airlines
with lower fares and higher service standards (Dolnicar, Grabler,
Grun, & Kulnig, 2011; Forgas, Moliner, Sanchez, & Palau, 2010).
Intense competition has forced many airlines to rethink their
corporate strategy such as the level of services that they will pro-
vide for the price offered. Evidently, there is no consensus as to
which strategy is better. In what could be perceived as a response to
this challenge, a new model of hybrid airlines that adopt certain
attributes of LCCs and FSCs to meet customer needs are emerging.
Though hybrid airlines are still in their early stages of inception, a
connection can be drawn to the challenge of airlines in nding a
sustainable way forward between cost and the provision of service
quality. Airlines which did not initially have a low-cost strategy
began adopting cost-cutting measures to survive (Martin et al.,
2008). Graham and Vowles (2006) found that FSCs adopted two
divergent responses. Some employed a carrier-within-a-carrier
strategy where they either set up or invested in a separate LCC to
compete with their competitors. On the other hand, others tried to
compete directly on cost through the mainline carrier. FSCs also
started unbundling and charging for service products which were
typically included as part of the ticket. For instance, charging for
checked baggage has become commonplace in the United States
245
and many airlines now require passengers to pay extra for specic
seat selection (Dorman, 2013). Today, consumers provide FSCs with
bigger amounts of ancillary revenue than LCCs as part of their total
income (Dieter, 2012).
Concurrently, LCCs started adapting parts of the traditional
business model to overcome limits in their growth potential. Some
LCCs offer frequent yer programs, implement codeshare agree-
ments and even join airline alliances (Dieter, 2012). O'Connell and
Williams (2005) contended that the ideal scenario for passengers
would be a combination of low fares and selected full service
products offered by FSCs. Given this new equilibrium, expectations
in service quality need to be known, wherein the new dynamics
present an opportunity for airlines to make suitable adjustments to
their product (see Fig. 1).
2.1.1. Airline service quality
Airlines are increasingly aiming to utilise customer centric
strategies such as focusing on service quality to target potential
passengers in the face of intense competition (Gursoy, Chen, & Kim,
2005; O'Connell & Williams, 2005). Whilst customers are likely to
be attracted by lower prices, service quality has consistently been
found to be a decisive factor affecting behavioural intentions in
recent times (e.g. Chiou & Chen, 2012; Jou, Lam, Hensher, Chen, &
Kuo, 2008). Consequently, airlines are committing to service qual-
ity in the long run and the providers which offer superior services
at an acceptable price are likely to be market leaders (Chang & Yeh,
2002; Prayag, 2007).
Service quality is a customer's assessment of the overall excel-
lence and superiority of the service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, &
Berry, 1985). Despite the frequent usage of this denition across
multiple service contexts, there is no correct way to measure this
construct. However, a number of studies have recently emerged to
better understand airline service quality. For the purpose of this
research, a comprehensive meta-analysis of 17 relevant studies is
provided and is outlined in Table 1. The meta-analysis identied a
total of 32 items, some of which were more commonly used than
others. The most commonly used items were: employee appear-
ance (15 studies), seating comfort (14 studies), meal service (14
studies), employee responsiveness (13 studies), in-ight enter-
tainment services (12 studies), baggage delivery (12 studies), and
convenient ight schedule (12 studies). Taiwan was used as the
country of focus in four studies, while South Korea was employed as
the study site twice. Other countries where studies were conducted
included Spain, Cyprus, South Africa, China, Australia, Iran, Hong
Kong and the United States. The type of respondents ranged from
passengers of designated airlines and travel classes to domestic and
international tourists and licensed tour guides.
The replication of airline service quality studies across different
contexts is warranted. Philip and Hazlett (1997) argued that no two
passengers are alike due to differing expectations stemming from
Fig. 1. Conceptual Framework.
246 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252
demographic factors, diverse cultures and travel purposes. Several
studies have demonstrated signicant differences between the
culture and service quality ratings of airline services. For example,
passengers from Europe gave signicantly lower service quality
ratings compared to those from the United States (Sultan &
Simpson, 2000). Conversely, Martin et al. (2008) identied differ-
ences in the trip motivations, age and source of funding amongst
Spanish passengers.
2.1.2. International airline student market
The international student market represents a growing market
for many countries (WYSE Travel Confederation., 2015; World
Tourism Organization, 2016). Although the international student
segment is beginning to draw attention from researchers (e.g.
Gallarza & Saura, 2006; Litvin, 2003), they have largely been a
neglected segment and are often grouped together with youth
travellers. However, several studies (e.g. Bodycott, 2009; Mazzarol
& Soutar, 2002) have been conducted to determine why students
choose to study internationally. Popular reasons include greater
employment prospects by studying abroad, lack of educational
offerings at home, and a better intercultural experience (World
Tourism Organization, 2016).
Despite the international student market being primarily in a
foreign country to study, this segment is particularly attractive for
destination stakeholders such as national tourism organisations
(NTOs), airlines, travel agencies and educational institutions. The
importance of the student market can be attested to the increasing
number of university students engaged in holiday breaks (Thrane,
2015; World Tourism Organization, 2016). Students are said to
have increasing mobility (Wit, Ferencz, & Rumbley, 2013), are time
rich (Thrane, 2016) and play a major role in attracting visits by
friends and relatives (Bischoff & Koenig-Lewis, 2007; World
Tourism Organization, 2016). Xiao, So, and Wang (2015) recently
determined in an Australian study that international and domestic
students have different motivations and preferences when travel-
ling. Lee and King (2016) examined international student travel in
Taiwan and concluded that Chinese and other Asian students
behave differently from respondents in prior studies conducted in
Western settings.
Despite the lack of research into measuring airline service ex-
pectations for international students, some connections can be
observed. Expectation of airline punctuality is a high priority for
young travellers. Further, these tourists are willing to stand on a
ight should the cost be considerably cheaper than a paid seat
(WYSE Travel Confederation., 2015). The provision of baggage
allowance is also an important issue given that students require
substantial baggage as they move over to reside in their host
country for an extended period of time (WYSE Travel
Confederation., 2015). Recognising this, certain airlines like Emir-
ates and Jet Airways have introduced targeted promotions which
include free excess baggage and discounted fares aimed at
attracting the international student market (The Times of India,
2010).
The literature exploring the international student experience
reveals a close connection between students and nances. Ac-
cording to Forbes-mewett, Marginson, Nyland, Ramia, and Sawir
(2009) and World Tourism Organization (2016), international stu-
dents draw on a variety of income sources such as family, a schol-
arship, or paid employment to study. Notably, international
students may experience some level of nancial difculty due to
factors that may include currency volatility, lack of access to
adequate resources and insufcient knowledge of the nancial
challenge entailed in living in a foreign country (Abu-Ein, 1995;
Forbes-mewett et al., 2009). Furthermore, it is estimated that
one-third of family income in countries such as China is likely to be
spent funding a student to study abroad to secure high quality
education at university in a foreign country (Mazzarol & Soutar,
2002). Consequently, the opportunity for part-time employment
to help source funding will provide the motivation for a student to
choose a particular country to further their education (Bodycott,
2009; WYSE Travel Confederation., 2015).
2.1.3. Student expectations
Owing to time orientated celebrations such as end of semester
holidays and cultural celebrations, there is a high potential that
international students will travel internationally outside of the
usual semester time period (Bicikova, 2014; Thrane, 2016). Expec-
tations play critical roles in a choice of a service (Anderson &
Sullivan, 1993; Hamer, 2006; Teas, 1993) such as what an interna-
tional student expects from an airline when travelling to an inter-
national destination to experience a holiday. Whilst an airline
service can be measured after an international student travels, this
can cause major limitations. These perceptions of the actual service
may differ from the actual service since it is essentially based on the
customers' reality rather than what they have experienced (Teas,
1993; Wirtz, 2003). Furthermore, whilst expectations may be
based on intentions to travel rather than actual behavior, research
points to the importance of people's perceptions and attitudes as
well as their previous behavior in terms of predicting future
behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, with rst the emer-
gence of LCCs and their apparent convergence with their full ser-
vice counterparts and second the increasing importance and
growth of the international student travel market, a complete un-
derstanding of the resulting importance of service quality expec-
tations in this growing market is required which provides the
impetus for this research. Armed with this knowledge, tourism
stakeholders such as NTOs, airlines, education institutions and
travel agencies can design strategies based on passenger expecta-
tions catering to this potential target market.
2.2. Theoretical framework
Service quality and price have traditionally formed the corner-
stones of airline strategy in the tourism industry. In addition to
competing on pricing levels, airlines can differentiate themselves
on specic attributes such as cabin features, employee service
levels, and convenience of airline arrival and departure procedures.
Due to the diversity of airline models available offering a variety of
service and/or price levels, airlines need to constantly evolve and
adapt to their customers' requirements whilst also remaining
competitive with their rivals. Whilst considerable research has
been conducted into measuring service quality importance in lei-
sure (Jou et al., 2008) and business travel (Kim, Kim, & Lee, 2011;
Martin et al., 2008), and how travellers are differentiated based
on specic characteristics such as age and origin (Gilbert & Wong,
2003; Sultan & Simpson 2000), one potential segment that needs
investigation is the international student market.
As it has been acknowledged that nancial considerations such
as employment and source of funding can inuence an interna-
tional student's choice of a country to study and their potential to
travel during vacation periods (Thrane, 2015, 2016), this market
segment may relate to service quality and what they expect
differently based on their nancial situation. International students
from different countries may also expect different levels of service
based on their cultural upbringing and family inuence (e.g.
Cunningham, Young, & Lee, 2002). A further analysis into these
different personal characteristics would further ascertain whether
the international student market is heterogeneous. This research
proposes four research hypotheses that will drive the remainder of
the paper.
 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252 247

Table 1
Airline service quality studies.

Author/s Country of Sample Convenience Promptness Check-in Cabin Seating Seat space and In-ight Meal Employee
collection check-in and accuracy service comfort leg-room entertainment service appearance

Aksoy et al. (2003) Turkey 1014 passengers

Chen and Chang Taiwan 470 domestics
(2005)
Chiou and Chen China 968 customers
(2012)
Cunningham et al. USA 105 business
(2004) travellers
Gilbert and Wong Hong Kong 328 passengers
(2003)
Jager et al. (2012) South Africa
436 tourists
Jiang (2013) Australia 200 internationals
Jou et al. (2008) Taiwan 702 Taiwanese
Kim et al. (2011) South Korea
231 domestics
Kozak et al. (2003) Cyprus 270 NAC
passengers
Liou and Tzeng Taiwan 408 economy
(2007) passengers
Martin et al. (2008) Spain 310 passengers
Nejati et al. (2009) Iran 231 students
Park et al. (2004) South Korea 592 domestics
Park et al. (2006) Australia 503 domestics
Tsaur et al. (2002) Taiwan 211 tour guides

Research Hypothesis 1 (RH1). There are service quality factors
that international students expect for international airline services.
Research Hypothesis 2 (RH2). Signicant differences exist be-
tween airline service quality expectations of international students
and their employment status.
Research Hypothesis 3 (RH3). Signicant differences exist be-
tween airline service quality expectations of international students
and their source of funding.
Research Hypothesis 4 (RH4). Signicant differences exist be-
tween airline service quality expectations of international students
and their country of origin.
3. Methodology
Australia ranks as one of the most popular choices in the world
as an overseas study destination. It is currently estimated that
approximately 22% of tertiary students studying in Australia are
international (OECD, 2011). For the year ending August 2013, which
was when this study was conducted, there were 462,411 enrol-
ments by full-fee paying international students in Australia on a
student visa which was a 0.8% increase from the previous year
ended August 2012 (Australian Education International, 2013). In
terms of the economy, students contributed AUD$6.5 billion in
spending alone during 2010-11 (Department of Resources, 2012).
The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, was the
chosen educational institution for where the data was collected.
This university is one of the largest tertiary education providers in
Australia with 11,389 international students from more than 142
countries were enrolled in this institution in 2012 (The University
of Queensland, 2012). This comprised of 24% of student enrol-
ments in the university.
An anonymous, self-administered survey was utilised to collect
data due to its high level of accuracy, limited cost and lack of
interviewer bias. An in-class capture survey was employed to
ensure a convenient, representative sample of international stu-
dents was targeted. Surveys were collected in a variety of different
classes (e.g. management, tourism, law) in lecture theatres at the
end of classes during August and September 2013. Only interna-
tional students were asked to complete the survey. English was
chosen as the language of the survey. As all international students
studying in an Australian university need to meet English language
prociency requirements (The University of Queensland, 2013), it
was assumed that they have adequate ability to understand the
survey.
To measure service quality expectations, a review of the litera-
ture (see Table 1) was conducted and 27 items were utilised.
Similarly to the literature on airline service quality, each item was
measured on a seven point Likert scale (1 Not Very Important to
7 Very Important). Information regarding the respondent's next
international trip was also solicited. These questions pertained to
the employment status of the student and how the air ticket would
be funded. Closed questions were chosen as response rates to these
questions are typically higher and, if designed, effectively, can be
easier to comprehend (Jennings, 2001). Respondents were also
asked to list their country of origin. The students' origin was classed
into categories once all were identied. Face validity was assessed a
priori with a review of question wording, content, structure and
order by a group of international university students and lecturers
within the Business Faculty of the University of Queensland. The
panel was mostly satised with minor modications suggested to
question formatting for a small number of questions. Furthermore,
certain airline items perceived as irrelevant to international stu-
dents were removed from the survey.
3.1. Data analysis
An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was rstly selected to
identify the service quality expectations of international students
(RH1). This study used principal axis factoring with oblique rotation
to determine meaningful constructs or the factors that best
represent international students' expectations of airline service
quality. This method was chosen as it is less biased to overestimate
the relationships amongst variables (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, &
Tatham, 2006). For the sake of convergent validity, items were
eliminated if they failed to meet a minimum criterion of having a
primary factor loading of 0.4 or above. As a further step to improve
248 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252
Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee
responsiveness courtesy professionalism sincere interest language skills' attention efciency performance record ight schedule treatment
discriminant validity, cross-loaded items that had a factor loading
greater than 0.3 were removed (Tabacknick & Fidell, 2007). After
the service quality expectation factors were identied, a t-test was
employed to decide whether respondents expected different levels
of airline service quality based on their employment status (RH2).
Finally, one-way between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA)
were measured to determine if there were signicant differences
between international students based on their source of funding
(RH3) and origin (RH4).
4. Results
A total of 563 valid responses were obtained. Fewer than 5% of
approached international students refused to complete the survey.
Approximately three-quarters (75.7%) of students were employed
and the next international ight of respondents would be funded
by family support (35.5%), personal savings (27.7%) or nancial
funding/savings (12.4%). Chinese students formed the largest group
of all respondents (44.2%), followed by Singaporeans (14.4%) and a
mix of other students of Asian origin. 23 of the 27 service quality
expectation items (see Table 2) had a mean score of higher than
ve, with the items rated with the highest importance being on-
time ight (m 6.40, SD 0.926) and baggage allowance (m 6.33,
SD 0.976). Conversely, in-ight duty free shopping (m 3.23,
SD 1.812) and extended travel services (m 4.12, SD 1.692) had
the lowest overall mean scores.
In Stage 1 of the factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)
value was 0.920, which was well above the required 0.6 level
considered to be desirable for interrelation amongst variables
(Tabacknick & Fidell, 2007). Bartlett's test of sphericity was also
statistically signicant (X2 6430.232, df 351, p < 0.001). The EFA
initially produced four factors. At this stage two variables, complaint
response and non-stop ight, did not achieve construct validity and
were removed. Two other items, employee language skills and
seating preference option, had slight cross-loadings on one item.
However, as this discriminant invalidity was minimal (<0.315) and
both these items had a factor loading of at least (0.440) on a factor,
these items were retained for the second phase of analysis. The EFA
Personal Baggage On-time Safety Convenient Frequent yer Complaint Other
response
process was repeated with the remaining 25 items. A KMO value of
0.917 was produced and a statistically signicant Bartlett's test of
sphericity (X2 6064.059, df 300, p < 0.001) was determined.
Four factors were produced which each displayed both construct
and discriminant validity (Table 3). Consequently, H1 was accepted.
The rst factor contained ve items and was labelled as core
service because all items within it related to delivering a basic and
reliable airline service such as an on-time ight and safety. The
second factor, ancillary service, was generally related to service
aspects which airlines use to enhance their basic offering such as
in-ight duty free shopping and airport lounges. Employee service
was named as the third factor as each item closely aligned to how
airline staff performed in their duties. Aspects which were associ-
ated with tangible service items such as seating and comfort were
represented by the fourth factor, cabin facility. Lastly, items in the
fth factor, service indicators, were notably associated to levels of
service performance before the ight. These include ticketing
convenience, check-in accuracy and check-in performance. For both
the third and fourth factors, all items were rated negatively which
indicate that they do not positively correlate with each other.
The t-test determined that respondents that were not employed
rated ancillary service as signicantly more important (t
[503] 2.632, p 0.009) than the international students that were
currently working. Here, RH2 was accepted. Conversely, core ser-
vice (t [503] 0.178, p 0.859), employee service (t [503] 0.48,
p 0.632), cabin facilities (t [503] 1.1, p 0.272) and service
indicators (t [503] 0.669, p 0.504) produced insignicant dif-
ferences for international students based on their employment
status and RH2 is rejected for these service quality expectation
factors.
One way ANOVA revealed that there was no signicant rela-
tionship [core service (F(8, 490) 0.672, p 0.716); ancillary ser-
vice (F(8, 490) 1.072, p 0.382); employee service (F(8,
490) 0.596, p 0.782); Cabin Facilities (F(9, 490) 1.361,
p 0.211); and service indicators (F(8, 490) 0.845, p 0.564)]
between a student's source of funding and any of the ve service
quality expectations factors. Consequently, RH3 is not accepted.
It was revealed that three factors: ancillary service (F(7,
 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252 249

Table 2 (Parasuraman et al., 1988). For example, core service related to the
Service quality expectation items. ability of an airline to perform its service dependently and accu-
Item N Mean Std. Dev. rately such as ight timeliness and baggage delivery; hence it is
mostly associated with technical (Gro nroos, 1984) and reliability
On-time Flight 562 6.40 0.926
Baggage Allowance 562 6.33 0.978 (Parasuraman et al., 1988) elements of service quality. Employee
Safety Record 561 6.31 1.140 service is an amalgamation of the assurance, empathy and
Baggage Delivery 563 6.29 1.006 responsiveness factors, and cabin facility is clearly linked to the
Seating Comfort 560 6.04 1.114
tangibles dimension in the initial SERVQUAL study. Notably, ancil-
Check-in Accuracy 563 6.03 1.163
Convenient Flight Schedule 558 5.95 1.195 lary service did not seem to align with any of the SERVQUAL or
Ticketing Convenience 558 5.94 1.171 Nordic model of service quality. Ancillary service is an aspect which
Cabin Condition 560 5.92 1.110 is unique and a substantial source of revenue to airlines (Dieter,
Employee Professionalism 561 5.90 1.097
2012; O'Connell & Williams, 2005). Since researchers contend
Check-in Promptness 555 5.81 1.141
Employee Courtesy 562 5.71 1.151
that performance dimensions require augmentation to increase
Employee Responsiveness 559 5.71 1.195 their relevance in their contexts (Carman, 1990), the ancillary ser-
Ample Legroom 556 5.67 1.278 vice factor produced in this study is a key theoretical contribution.
Ticket Flexibility 563 5.58 1.273 The nding that 23 of the 27 service quality expectations items
Food and Beverages 561 5.53 1.344
received a mean score over ve conrms the literature that cus-
Non-stop Flight 563 5.47 1.443
Complaint Response 563 5.41 1.429 tomers, in this case international students, expect a high level of
Employee Language Skills 562 5.39 1.320 service quality when choosing an airline (Chang & Yeh, 2002; Jou
Neat Employee Appearance 560 5.32 1.239 et al., 2008). Similarly to the literature (e.g. Gilbert & Wong,
Seating Preference Option 559 5.27 1.443 2003; Gursoy et al., 2005), on-time ight and safety were ranked
Amenities 561 5.09 1.423
In-ight Entertainment 556 5.07 1.475
extremely high. Interestingly, the items that rated lowest were the
Frequent Flyer Program 559 4.91 1.489 additional services such as extended travel services, airline lounges
Airport Lounges 560 4.56 1.620 and duty free shopping. As these students may be budget conscious
Extended Travel Services 562 4.12 1.692 when considering an airline for reasons such as lack of nances, it is
Duty Free Shopping 560 3.23 1.812
highly likely that these services may be unnecessary or less
important than actual travel to the destination. Rather, these
additional services that the airlines offer would be more attractive
477) 6.061, p 0.000); employee service (F(7, 477) 2.355, for business orientated travellers that want some comfort whilst
p 0.023); and service indicators (F(7,477) 0.2510, p 0.015) travelling to locations for work related purposes (Mason, 2000).
produced signicant differences between the country of origin and Core service had the highest variance amongst the factors which
the service quality expectations of international students. RH4 is corresponds with the literature on airline service quality (Liou &
accepted. Post-hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test indicated Tzeng, 2007; Martin et al., 2008). Additionally, the results vali-
that Chinese students rated ancillary service signicantly higher date Parasuraman et al.'s (1988) original claim that reliability is the
than the Singaporeans. Conversely, Europeans rated this factor more critical element of service quality regardless of the service
signicantly lower than the Chinese, Singaporean, Malaysian and being studied. However, the ndings of this study contrast Kim
Other Asian students. For employee service, there was a signicant et al. (2011) and Gilbert and Wong (2003) which assert that
difference between two groups of students, with Europeans assurance is most important in their studies on airline service
expecting higher levels of service quality than Malaysians. Lastly, quality. Regardless of the most important factor, this study suggests
the Chinese rated service indicators levels signicantly lower than that international students, above all, want a safe, on-time and
Malaysians. convenient ight which has provision for amble baggage before the
taking into account other aspects of service.
5. Discussions and conclusions This study supports the argument that service quality expecta-
tions of airline passengers vary based on their personal character-
This research has made considerable insight into the service istics (Cunningham et al., 2002; Gilbert & Wong, 2003). First,
quality airline expectations of international students. Essentially, signicant differences exist for the expectations of ancillary service
this study identied that the international student market is unique dependent on whether or not the student is employed in a part-
in its airline service quality expectations, and consequently, should time job or not. The employment status characteristics used in
not be treated as equivalent to other airline tourists such as busi- this study is unique due to international students' inability to
ness, elderly or youth travellers. Although source of funding was partake in full-time employment due to visa requirements. Inter-
irrelevant to this study, employment status and country of origin estingly, international students that do not have a personal sec-
matter when international students consider what to expect from ondary source of income (part-time employment) have higher
an airline and was a unique theoretical contribution of this study. levels of expectations for ancillary service(s). In other words, in-
This study conrms the literature (see Table 1) that the expec- ternational students who work expect less of the frills associated
tations of airline service quality are heterogeneous and in the case with travelling, such as duty free shopping and extended travel
of international students are represented by ve factors labelled as services. Although it is difcult to ascertain a reason for this eval-
core service, ancillary service, employee service, cabin facility and uation, a possible explanation could be that students who are
service indicators. This number conrms the literature that airline employed have a greater nancial awareness on the services they
service quality is multidimensional (e.g. Parasuraman et al., 1988) want.
and also mirrors the number of factors that have been identied in Second, signicant differences occurred for ancillary service,
other airline service quality studies albeit with a different cohort of employee service and service indicators based on student's country
passengers (e.g. Cunningham et al., 2002; Jager et al., 2012). of origin. It was concluded that Malaysians had a higher expecta-
It can also be concluded that this study conrms the literature in tion for service indicators than the Chinese. In terms of employee
the identied expectation service quality factors show comparisons services, Malaysians have signicantly lower expectation ratings
with the Nordic models (Gro nroos, 1984) and SERVQUAL than the Europeans. However, a notable nding was that students
250 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252

Table 3 whom rely on company resources to fund their ticket. In a study

Pattern matrix (nal phase). investigating travellers' willingness to pay for certain service
Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 quality factors, Martin et al. (2008) concluded that passengers who
Factor 1- Core Service
do not personally pay for their ights are willing to spend signi-
Baggage Efciency 0.773 cantly more for ample legroom. Conversely, young passengers who
Baggage Allowance 0.703 pay for their tickets have a lower willingness to pay for the same
On-time Flight 0.627 thing (Martin et al., 2008). The nding from this study is an original
Safety Record 0.494
theoretical contribution for a particular market segment, demon-
Convenience Flight Schedule 0.454
Factor 2- Ancillary Service strating that international students have equal expectations of
Airport Lounges 0.771 service quality regardless of where they obtain their nances.
Extended Travel Services 0.756
In-ight Duty Free 0.531
5.1. Practical implications
Frequent Flyer Program 0.513
Seating Preference Option 0.460
Ticket Flexibility 0.460 As research (Thrane, 2015; Wit et al., 2013; World Tourism
Factor 3- Employee Service Organization, 2016) suggests that an increasing number of uni-
Employee Courtesy 0.872 versity students are highly mobile and tend to engage in holidays,
Employee Responsiveness 0.749
the ndings could be used by universities and other educational
Employee Professionalism 0.737
Employee Language Skills 0.467 institutions to improve semester and holiday break time planning.
Neat Employee Appearance 0.431 NTOs and travel agencies such as STA Travel and CTrip could pro-
Factor 4- Cabin Facility mote and tailor customised deals targeting international students
Seating Comfort 0.732 going on holiday.
Ample Legroom 0.686
In-ight Entertainment 0.606
International students expect that the basic elements of an
Amenities 0.520 airline's core service (i.e. its reliability and technical quality) are
Cabin Condition 0.465 met. Therefore, airlines have to continue prioritising the punctu-
Food and Beverages 0.436 ality, safety, efciency and convenience of its service before
Factor 5- Service Indicators
developing other aspects such as employee service and cabin fa-
Check-in Accuracy 0.836
Check-in Promptness 0.727 cilities. Second, airlines should provide a substantial amount of
Ticketing Convenience 0.678 baggage allowance to meet the requirements of the market. As a
Eigenvalue 8.729 2.434 1.649 1.430 1.216 case in point, for a ight from Australia to Singapore, FSC Singapore
% of variance explained 34.915 9.736 6.597 5.720 4.866 Airlines charges a US$30 per kilogram for expect baggage breaching
Factor alpha 0.842 0.846 0.890 0.851 0.842
its 20 kg limitation; this is on top of its relatively expensive air
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. ticket (Singapore Airlines, 2013). In comparison, LCC Scoot Airlines
offers the option of additional baggage at a signicantly lower
bundle rate (Scoot, 2012).
from Europe have signicantly lower expectations for ancillary
The nding that students from Europe have lower expectations
service compared to almost all other groups in Asia (China,
for ancillary service compared to most students from Asia would
Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Other Asia). A possible
have implications on how airlines customise their offerings. Air-
explanation for this could be that the former are more accustomed
lines should enhance extended travel services, such as car rentals,
to the unpacking and separation of ancillary services given that
for Asians while reducing its provision to the European market.
LCCs and their associated practices have long been entrenched in
Last, airlines should not focus on discounting or price wars as a
Europe (Zhang, Hanaoka, Inamura, & Ishikura, 2008). On the con-
means to gain international students or customers in general.
trary, uptake of LCCs in Asia has only gained traction in the recent
Instead, airlines should focus on their core service offerings such as
decade. The results support Gilbert and Wong's (2003) study, in
improving ight schedules and ensuring that baggage allowance
that it was found that Chinese and Japanese have higher expecta-
adequately meets the expectations of travellers.
tions of in-ight entertainment facilities compared to their Euro-
pean and American counterparts. On the other hand, Sultan and
5.2. Limitations and opportunities for future research
Simpson (2000) indicated that Europeans and Americans rate the
reliability dimensions highly. The disparities in ndings are likely
This research is not without its limitations. First, as this research
due to the different country of origin samples obtained in the
was conducted at one Australian university, its generalisability to
various studies. Nevertheless, the research results provide further
other educational institutions is limited. There is an opportunity for
empirical evidence in the service literature that substantial differ-
research to be replicated within a different country across different
ences exist in expectations amongst people of different cultures
contexts to verify this study's ndings. Second, whilst this study
and nationalities (e.g. Gilbert & Wong, 2003; Sultan & Simpson,
identied ve valid service quality factors, information relating to
2000).
the formation of these expectations was not collected. An oppor-
An interesting study nding is that there was no signicant
tunity for future research is to identify how international students'
difference between source of funding and the service quality
airline service quality expectations are formed (e.g. past experience
expectation factors. Consequently, international students have
or word-of-mouth communication). Here, this could identify how
equal expectations of service quality regardless of who pays for the
expectations are formed and it they predict potential or actual
ticket. This is interesting considering that family support was the
travel behavior (Anderson & Sullivan, 1993; Teas, 1993).
highest funding source (35.5%). The high number of respondents
A third major limitation of this research is that the sample
not paying for their own ticket is perhaps unique to the interna-
students were not categorised into different groups based on de-
tional student market since many would not have the means to do
mographic information such as part-time employment or the
so due to their inability to be employed in a full-edged job or may
nancial support amount from families. An opportunity for future
be unable to work in a foreign country due to visa restrictions. In
research is to classify sampled students into different groups based
this case, a parallel can be drawn to business travellers, many of
on these socio-demographics as well as past experience, distance
 S.S. Lim, A. Tkaczynski / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 31 (2017) 244e252
from country or origin, age or gender to control the effect of -
nances on their service quality expectations and preferences. Here,
specic variables that yield relevant information to explain inter-
national students' airline service quality expectations may
manifest.
Whilst this study has classed international students as one
particular segment and has not aimed to class them differently
from non-student tourists (e.g. youth), the convergence of airline
business models and the competition for the same customer (e.g.
international student) will signicantly impact how airlines design
their fare products and manage their revenue. Hence, there is
greater pressure to maintain protability will force airlines to re-
emphasise on price discrimination and yield management (Dieter,
2012). Market segmentation will therefore become even more
critical moving forward in that certain groups may relate more
specically to service quality expectations based on considerations
such as their age, past travel experience, or ticket expenditure.
Fifth, this study was limited to analysing the expectations of
airline services of the airline industry as a whole without consid-
ering whether a student had a preference for a FSC or a LCC.
However, it was difcult for this to be comparable with certain
airline routes only available to one airline provider (e.g. Cyprus
Airways) offering only one packaged option. Furthermore, several
students were unsure on which destination they were likely to
travel to for their next international trip which could have impacted
on the price they are willing to pay. Importantly, Kim et al.'s (2011)
attempt to evaluate the discrepancy in service quality perceptions
between FSCs and LCCs found signicant differences were found
between the two. As such, respondents may potentially give
different ratings depending on the type of airline they are evalu-
ating. Hence, the lack of segregation in the type of airline for
evaluation is an area that should be addressed in future studies.
Therefore, it is recommended that certain countries be targeted for
international students to identify if the service quality expectation
factors identied within this study are replicated.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2017.03.001.
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