Service Quality Influence on Customer Satisfaction & Purchase Intention: A Study from the Indian Airline Industry

Abstract

This research paper aims to investigate the interrelationship of service quality experience with customer satisfaction, purchase intention and also test the mediating role of customer satisfaction. Specifically, it intends to examines the direct relationship of service quality with customer satisfaction & purchase intention. The purpose of this study is to test this relationship in context of the domestic civil aviation market in India. The SERVPERF scale was adapted, and modified using scale development procedures for simultaneously measuring customer satisfaction & purchase intention. This modified self-reporting questionnaire was distributed to flyers of various domestic airlines, waiting inside the domestic terminals using convenience random sampling technique. Thus, a total of 864 samples were collected from various airports geographically dispersed across the country.

The data collected was computed for analyzing the factor structure using exploratory factor analysis and, the measurement model was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Similarly, the hypothesized relationships, were tested using a structural equation model (SEM). The findings supported all the hypotheses, confirming the interrelationship of service quality experience with customer satisfaction & purchase intention along the mediating role of customer satisfaction. Finally, it provides theoretical and practical implications of the findings on the business sustainability of the domestic scheduled commercial airlines.