Consumer Decision Making and Airlines

...

However, after a friend told him about easyJet, and after visiting the easyJet website a couple of years ago and hearing good things about the company, he decided to book a flight. The airline was so much cheaper on the route that he needed to fly than British Airways or other full-service carriers like Air France, that it seemed a ‘no brainer’ to try it. The experience was good, with an easy Internet booking, an on-time departure, a modern aircraft, cabin announcements in both English and the language of the destination being flown to, reasonable prices for the food and beverages available in-flight, a smooth takeoff and landing, and (aside from having to pay) no problems with the baggage. He has used easyJet ever since, and it was in fact convenient to be able to visit the airline’s website and do all his own bookings at home in Australia. This might be possible with the European national carriers, but Mariano really is not too sure.

As noted earlier, the other brand in his European consideration set is Ryanair, which (though he has never flown the airline) Mariano perceives as a direct competitor to easyJet, with really reasonable prices and an extensive route network within Europe. He had heard that the chief executive (Michel O’Leary) was very entrepreneurial, and that (like easyJet) the airline fleet is pretty new (one of Mariano’s ‘tests’ for how safe airlines are likely to be). On the downside, he read a news story that made international headlines, claiming that Michael O’Leary had been considering charging Ryanair passengers to use the toilets in-flight. While Mariano is prepared to pay for items like baggage, food and beverages, he really thinks that this is going too far! In his mind, what will be next – seatbelts? Most recently he has heard that passengers booking tickets on this airline have had to pay to print out their own tickets, and that this is a necessary precondition in order to be able to check in, and that they might also have to pay to check in. This too seems to Mariano to be going too far. Accordingly, he has resolved to only really consider easyJet for his flights within Europe in the future, and to use Ryanair as a ‘back up’.

Long-Haul Decision Making

In terms of actually getting to Europe for his new product-development meetings, Mariano normally chooses Qantas or Air New Zealand. The prices on both of these are reasonable, he can collect airline points with both (having both One World and Star Alliance memberships), he perceives both as safe airlines (notwithstanding some recent media stories about Qantas incidents), and the in-flight service in terms of cabin staff, food, beverages and entertainment is reasonable. Importantly, Mariano feels psychologically and socially comfortable. He recognises the interiors of the aircraft, the cabin crew and pilots ‘speak the same language’, there are generally some ‘local’ entertainment options in the entertainment system, the food choices are generally known, and the airlines are long established, employing typically experienced staff, in his opinion. Importantly, too, as he is a Qantas Club member, Mariano can use the lounge facilities before the long flights to Europe. While he flies economy, being able to use the lounges makes him feel kind of special!

There are, however, a number of other airlines that Mariano may like to fly on (some of which he has already flown on) when he goes overseas. These include Singapore Airlines, JAL (Japan Airlines) and Emirates. He has flown on Singapore Airlines a number of times. He likes the fact that it claims to have the youngest aircraft fleet in the world (this makes him feel safer); he also likes the KRIS World entertainment system, which gives him lots of entertainment options on the very long flights between Australia and Europe; the polite in-cabin service; and the classy Singapore Girl advertising! While never having flown JAL, Mariano imagines that the planes are well serviced, that the cabin staff are highly attentive, and that the food is good. Emirates is, however, the one he really wants to fly with next time he goes to Europe (Assuming the airfare is competitive with Qantas, and carriers like Air New Zealand). Mariano just sees this airline as setting a high standard across a whole range of fronts, and believes that even economy class passengers like himself are treated really well on Emirates. Dubai, too, would be an interesting stopover on the long haul to or from Europe.

In contrast to this, however, he also has a ‘mental list’ of airlines that he would definitely not want to fly with, either for short-haul (domestic or international) or long-haul travel. These include Aeroflot, Garuda and, while he would in any case be highly unlikely to ever need to fly with them, Air Comoros (after seeing a recent news story about this airline’s maintenance of its planes and a recent crash it had!). This makes it very difficult for these airlines to acquire customers like Mariano, since apart from their route networks) they are simply not in his consideration set, even though they are in his evoked (known) set. In order to move from the former to the latter, they need to enhance their reputations, and they can only do this by working on both their brand images and their service offerings. Both require a substantial investment of financial, technical and human resources.

Mariano also would take some convincing and might need to do some personal research before he would book and fly on a number of airlines that he simply does not know much about. These include Philippine Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Eva Air, even though the airfares offered by these airlines are often more-competitively priced than those of Qantas or Air NZ. It is hard to evaluate these airlines when you have not personally experienced their services, and you don’t know anyone else who has either. Travel agents were one source of information, and Mariano trusts the corporate travel agent, but at the same time is finding that as travel services like airlines, hotel and rental car companies move their business online, he is dealing less and less with corporate travel agent, and is instead researching and dooing all the bookings himself. Typically, therefore, he sticks with what he knows and has experienced.

Questions:

- Service marketing is different from the marketing of tangible products in a number of ways. Using the example of the airline industry (both domestic and international), illustrate some of the difficulties involved in marketing services to a potential passenger like Mariano.

- Outline some of the challenges facing Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways in getting Mariano to develop a preference for flying with them. What two or