How Safety Perceptions of Airline Customer Affect Airline Brands?

International Congress on Aviation Management, İstanbul, Turkey, 13 - 14 October 2022, pp.34

Safety is one of the fundamental prerequisites affecting airline passengers’ decision-making or

choice. Safety concerns about an airline may considerably affect passenger demand,

particularly those resulting in fatalities may have a substantial negative impact. Safety incidents

have extensive media coverage and they are generally shared in detail on social media platforms

which in turn is likely to affect passenger safety perceptions both for the airline and its country

of origin. These unfavorable safety perceptions may degrade airline brands and potentially

harm the equity of airline brands particularly if they are not managed effectively. However,

brands should have a role that reduces perceptions of risk and increase quality perceptions of

customers. Impact of safety perceptions on airline passengers' brand perceptions has been given

little attention in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between

the safety perceptions of airline passengers and brand equity. The aim will be realised by using

quantitative data collected through an airline passenger survey. The data will be analysed by

using structural equation modelling techniques. The study is expected to contribute to both

academia and the industry. Theoretically, the study may enable a better understanding of airline

customer brand equity formation. Practically, airline managers may understand the extent of

the impact of perceptions of safety on their brand thus they may make decisions about how to

allocate their resources to manage customers' safety perceptions.