Upload
others
View
3
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 45
TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS:
the International Journal
ISSN 2406-1069
Article history:
Received 18th
December 2020
Accepted 27th
January 2021
Available online 30th
January 2021
Article citation info: Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö., Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors and satisfaction at
duty free shops: impact of demographic and travel related factors. Transport & Logistics: the International
Journal, 2020; Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020, ISSN 2406-1069
INVESTIGATING AIRPORT SHOPPERS’ BUYING BEHAVIORS AND
SATISFACTION AT DUTY FREE SHOPS: IMPACT OF
DEMOGRAPHIC AND TRAVEL RELATED FACTORS1
Ümran Ünder1, Özlem Atalık
2
1 Eskişehir Technical University, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskişehir, Turkey,
e-mail: [email protected]
2 Eskişehir Technical University, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskişehir, Turkey,
e-mail: [email protected]
1 This study is based on the Master's thesis of Ümran Ünder under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Özlem Atalık.
Abstract:
The commercialization brought about by deregulation and liberalization has led
airports to look for new ways to increase non-aeronautical revenue. With the increase in
commercial activities at airports, the customer portfolio of airports, limited to airline
passengers in the past, has expanded and diversified considerably. In such an environment,
the investigation of airport shoppers' buying behaviours has become significant. In this
study, it is aimed to examine the factors affecting the buying behaviour and satisfaction of
customers at duty free stores. For this purpose, 725 questionnaires collected through face-
to-face interviews at gates of Istanbul Atatürk Airport International Terminal were
analysed. According to the results of the study, gender and nationality from demographic
factors, waiting time, annual flight frequency and first / re-arrival to the country from travel
related factors, and satisfaction with the products and shopping environment in the duty-
free shops affect whether passengers make a purchase or not. In addition, nationality,
educational level and waiting time affect the satisfaction of customers in duty free shops.
Key words:
Airport shoppers, buying behaviour, situational factors, duty free shops, satisfaction
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 46
INTRODUCTION
With the liberalization and deregulation of the aviation industry, the pressure
exerted by low-cost airlines on airports to reduce prices [1, 2], the privatization of the
airports [1, 3, 4] and the intense competition among airports [5] have led to the
commercialization of airports. There are strong fluctuations in demand as airports
operate in a highly cyclical business environment. The most important measure that
airports can take against these demand shocks and avoid complete dependence on
aviation activities is to focus on non-aeronautical revenue [2]. Due to non-aeronautical
revenues, airports can charge less for airlines. Therefore, they can establish new
destinations and attract especially new low-cost airlines, which are sensitive to airport
charges [6]. In addition, commercial activities can be addressed to different consumer
groups, such as aviation employees, visitors, local people, other than passengers. On the
other hand, non-aeronautical revenues require low operational costs compared to
aeronautical revenues [2].
According to the ACI (2020) report, 39.2% of the $178.2 billion revenue
generated by airports in 2020 have been derived from non-aeronautical sources. Non-
aeronautical revenue per passenger is $7.03. 28.9% of non-aeronautical revenues are
derived from retail concessions, 20.4% from car parking, 14.9% from property and real
estate, and 35.8% from others including car rentals, food and beverage, advertising and
more. Aeronautical revenue per passenger is around $10; non-aeronautical revenue is
approximately $7, almost at a level that competes with aeronautical revenue [7].
Airport administration that seek ways of increasing non-aeronautical revenues to
protect their financial sustainability, on the one hand, try to enlarge the area devoted to
commercial activities [4], on the other hand, to understand buying behaviour of
passengers and interaction of them with terminal [8], and to try actively to boost
spending of passengers at airport and retain them [9]. This paradigm shift in the air
transport industry has undoubtedly changed the atmosphere of the airport and, along
with a number of psychological effects, has also led to a change in the buying behaviour
of customer [10]. In such an environment, understanding the passenger experience has
become important [11].
Studies in the literature have focused on issues such as satisfaction with
shopping at the airport [12, 13, 14, 15, 11], determining a customer typology [16, 17],
time pressure and impulse purchasing [18, 19, 20], factors affecting the probability of
purchase. The number of studies examining the effect of socio-demographic factors on
buying behaviour is quite limited [21, 22]. In the context of Turkey, there is no study
that examines the effect of travel-related factors on buying and satisfaction by handling
both demographic and travel-related factors. On the other hand, data about airport
customer behaviour in duty-free shops is very limited [23].
For this reason, in this research, it is aimed to examine factors affecting the level
of passengers’ satisfaction and buying decision. The focus of the study is on duty-free
shops which account for most of retail revenue at airports.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 47
1 LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Importance of Airport Retail Revenue
There are two main sources of income: aeronautical income from fees that
airport operators or authorities receive from airlines due to their use of airport facilities,
and non-aeronautical income from sources that are not directly related to operations of
aircraft [24, 4, 1, 25]. Non-aeronautical revenues include retailing, catering, rent a car,
advertising, fees such as parking, gas, water electricity; consultancy, services for
visitors and businessmen; and concessions [5].
Among non-aeronautical revenues, the largest share comes from the concessions
for retail sale [7]. Opportunities such as the increase of spending at airports [26], and
passengers spending only 36% of the total time on ticket processing, check-in and
security controls have attracted retailers to airport [27]. Airports, which take advantage
of remaining 64% of the total time, have developed strategies to convince passengers to
shop, keep them busy and entertain [28]. In this way, airports began to compete with
shopping malls at city centres [10] and each other [29].
Types of airport retailing include traditional airport retailers such as clothing
boutique, jewellers, newsstand, car rental and money changer; complementary services
such as catering, hairdresser, gym, religious services, ATMs and hotel; and advertising
services [30].
Although airport retailing is similar to other types of retailing, there are
important differences between them that cannot be ignored [1]. The first of these
differences is that the main purpose of people at the mall is to shop, while the main
purpose of a passenger shopping at the airport is to travel [31]. The second important
difference is the characteristics of the market. The target group of airport retailing
market consists of customers who are in above average socio-economic position. On the
other hand, this market also carries the risk of exposure to a number of external factors
(risks and crises). For example, passengers’ concerns about aviation security [1], natural
disasters and diseases that may occur, factors such as exchange rates may cause
significant fluctuations in demand by creating shock effects [17]. In a sector that is
under the influence of such uncontrollable variables, it is necessary to address the
factors affecting the behaviour of the consumer.
1.2 Shopping Behaviour in the Airport
There are numerous and various situational factors at airports. These factors
affect consumers’ buying behaviour [32, 49]. Under and Atalık [33], based on this
determination, classified airport atmosphere variables affecting consumers purchasing
decision process at airport in the context of situational factors [33]. Figure 1 gives six
situational factors affecting airport shoppers purchasing decision process in this
framework.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 48
Fig.1 Situational Factors Affecting Airport Purchasing
Source: Ünder ve Atalık (2016)
Due to these situational factors affecting airport purchasing, most of the
purchases are impulse purchases that were not previously planned [34, 19, 28, 35, 31].
Airport atmosphere to make passengers feel special [36], the appearance of products
and employees at an unfamiliar airport different from the passengers’ home country,
store atmosphere [37] are among physical surroundings affecting purchasing at airport.
Individuals with whom they travel, alone, with children or a group of friends is among
social surroundings affecting both the time spent for shopping and in the commercial
area [38, 17, 39, 34]. For example, those who travel in groups may see shopping as a
means of socialization [17].
The temporal perspective is examined by dividing it into two groups [33]. The
first of these are time pressure and waiting time. Passengers are required to arrive at
airport at a certain time, depending on domestic or international flights, before the flight
in order to complete their check-in and security controls. In addition, some passengers
may arrive at the airport early due to the stress of missing the flight or worry about
waiting on a line [10, 18]. Passengers who come to airport early or transit passengers
have a considerable waiting-period after the flight-related procedures are completed.
The waiting time affects the probability of purchase and the amount of expenditure [40,
24, 35]. The second time dimension is the timelessness caused by loss of the concept of
time due to being in an isolated environment, having numerous flights or being in
different time zones [10].
The other and relatively most important situational factor that causes impulse
purchasing is antecedent state [33]. Three basic emotions influencing the passengers
during their flights are excitement, stress [20, 10, 36] and boredom [41]. According to
the travel stress curve developed by Scholvink [42], passengers face different levels of
stress until they board the plane. The level of stress peaks in security control and then
decreases through boarding. Thomas [43] describes this period as happy hour when
boredom is in its highest level and passenger can be encouraged to buy [10, 18, 44].
There is also task definitions such as, the tradition of receiving gifts on return in
some cultures [25], the desire to buy country-specific products or products that remind
the country, and family or friends' orders are purposes of purchasing specific to the
airport environment and the last point of the journey to buy [33]. Finally, the enabling
factors affecting purchasing at the airport include the availability of credit card payment
Physical Surroundings
• Different atmosphere
• Advertising in store
Social Surroundings
• Socialising
• Travelling companions (Children, colleagues,
friends)
Temporal perspective
• Time Pressure
• Timelessness
• Waiting time
Task Definition
• Gift
• Order of friends/ family
• Souvenir
• Local products
Antecedent State
• Stress
• Excitement/ Concern
• Boredom
Enabling Factors
• Credit card
• Ability to pay in
different currencies
• Ease of carrying
• Multilingual staff
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 49
options, the ability to pay in different currencies, the ease of carrying products
purchased at the airport, and ease of communication [12, 45].
2 METHOD
2.1 Purpose
The aim of this research is to identify the factors that affect buying behaviour
and satisfaction level of customers at duty-free shops. In this context, it is aimed to
examine the effects of demographic factors, travel-related factors and buying motives
on purchasing and satisfaction. The reason picking duty-free shops among airport
retailers in the study is that the revenues of the duty-free shops is equal to the total
revenues obtained by the other retailers at the airport [46, 7].
In this context, the hypotheses of the research were established as shown in
Table 1.
Tab. 1 Research Hypothesis Research Hypothesis Sub-Hypothesis
H1: There is a relationship
between passengers' buying
behaviour and demographic
factors.
There is a relationship between passengers' buying behaviour and;
Gender (H1a)
Age (H1b)
Nationality (H1c)
Income (H1d)
Education level (H1e)
Occupation (H1f)
H2: There is a relationship
between passengers’ buying
behaviour and their travel-related
factors.
There is a relationship between passengers' buying behaviour and
Purpose of visit (H2a),
Travel companion (H2b)
Annual flight frequency (H2c)
First visit/revisit to country (H2d)
Waiting time before security (H2e)
Waiting time after security(H2f)
H3: There is a relationship
between passengers' buying
behaviour and their satisfaction
with duty-free shops.
There is a difference in the level of satisfaction with;
Products (H3a)
Staff service (H3b)
Shopping environment (H3c)
between purchasers and non-purchasers.
H4: There is a relationship
between passengers' buying
behaviour and their thoughts
about shopping at the airport.
There is a relationship between buyin behaviour and the level of
agreement to the statements about:
Shopping being a part of the journey (H4a)
Products and prices being attractive (H4b)
The sole mission of airport not being transportation (H4c)
Traveling by plane being relaxing (H4d)
Traveling by plane making people nervous (H4e)
Shopping because of boredom (H4f)
Purchases being impulsive (H4g)
Purchases being preplanned (H4h)
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 50
H5: There is a relationship
between passengers’ buying
behaviour and their buying
motives.
There is a difference between purchasers and non-purchasers in
terms of the effect of;
More reasonable prices (H5a)
After sale services (H5b)
Multilingual staff (H5c)
Spatial comfort (H5d)
Product display (H5e)
Checkout speed (H5f)
Staff professionalism (H5g)
High number of promotional sales (H5h)
Warranty of quality (H5i)
Range of products (H5j)
Offering local goods/specialities (H5k)
Tle last point to purchase the products of the country,
(H5l)
Possibility to pay with different currencies (H5m)
Ease of carriage (H5n)
on the decision to shop at duty free stores.
H6: There is a relationship
between passengers' satisfaction
with duty-free shops and
demographic factors.
There is a relationship between passengers' satisfaction with duty-
free shops and;
Gender (H6a)
Age (H6b)
Nationality (H6c)
Income (H6d)
Educational level (H6e)
Occupation (H6f).
H7: There is a relationship
between passengers' satisfaction
with duty-free shops and their
travel-related factors.
There is a relationship between passengers' satisfaction with duty-
free shops and;
Purpose of visit (H7a)
Travel companion (H7b)
Annual flight frequency (H7c)
Waiting time before security (H7d)
Waiting time after security (H7e)
2.2 Measures and Questionnaire Development
The questionnaire is designed to consist of 5 sections using the literature and
testing the validity of the scope with expert opinions. The first section of the
questionnaire is related to demographics of participants. The second section covers
information about travel and comments related to shops and airport commercial model
adapted from Guens et.al. [16]. The third section includes questions about the purpose
of buying from Crawford and Melewar [10]. In the fourth section, the scale of W-T. Lin
and C-Y. Chen [12] is used to measure satisfaction with duty-free shops. In the last
section, buying motives of duty-free shoppers were adapted from Chung et.al. [38].
The questionnaire form was created in four languages: Turkish, English, Russian
and German, with parallel translations made by three different translators for each
language.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 51
2.3. Data Collection and Sample Characteristics
The surveys were conducted to the passengers waiting for their flight at the
Istanbul Ataturk Airport International Terminal gate area. In this way, 800 surveys were
collected, but 725 surveys were analysed.
51.4% of the participants were women and 49% of them were men. 27.4% of
respondents were Turkish, 27% German, 21% British and 24.7% Russian. Most of the
participants with 38% were in 25-34 age group. This was followed by 22% of
respondents aged 24 and under and 19.5% of respondents aged 35-44. Approximately
half of the participants (49.1%) worked in a paid job. This was followed by self-
employed/employer with 20.8% and students with 19%. It was observed that more than
half of the participants (54.2%) were faculty/college graduates and 152 participants are
earning 3001 euros and more.
3 RESULTS
Cronbach alpha reliability analysis was used to test the reliability of the scale in
the study. Accordingly, the Cronbach alpha value for the satisfaction scale, consisting of
22 items was .946. The suitability of the scale for factor analysis was then measured by
the KMO and Bartlett test in order to perform exploratory factor analysis. The KMO
value of above .90, it is .93 in the study, shows that sample size is excellent and the
significant Bartlett test (Sig. = 0.00 < α = 0.05) shows that there are high correlations
between the factors. As a result of EFA, a structure with three factors was obtained as in
the original of the scale: products, staff service and shopping environment. Related
factors explained 63.417% of the total variance. Then hypotheses were tested in
accordance with the purpose of the study.
3.1 Factors Affecting Buying
As a result of the analysis conducted to test H1, it was concluded that two
demographic factors had a significant impact on the purchasing decision (H1a, H1c). Chi-
square analyses were performed to test the relationship of nationality, gender, age,
occupation, income and education with buying behaviour. According to the results of
chi-square analysis, a statistically significant relationship was found between buying
behaviour and gender (2
(1)= 4. 145, p = 0.042, r=0.15). Women were more likely to
buy (62.3%), while the purchase rate was lower for men (54.6%). A statistically
significant relationship was also found between buying behaviour and nationality (2
(3)=
53. 027, p = 0.001, r=1.97). Accordingly, Turkish (69.2%) and Russian (69.7%)
passengers made more purchases, while the majority of German passengers (62.2%) did
not make any purchase.
Chi-square analysis were again used to test H2. According to the results of the
analysis, three significant relationships affecting buying behavior were identified (H2c,
H2d, H2f). The first of these was the relationship between buying behaviour and annual
flight frequency (2
(3)= 17.421, p = 0.001, r=0.65). As the annual frequency of flights
increased, so did purchases. While 48% of those who flied once a year made a purchase,
%52.5 flying 2-4 times a year and 68.5% flying 5-7 times a year made a purchase. But
those who flied 8 times a year and above made fewer purchases (65.3%). The second
significant relationship was found between buying behaviour and first/revisit to the
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 52
country (2
(1)= 7.739, p = 0.001, r=0.29). Participants visiting Turkey before are more
likely to buy. While 48% of those who visited Turkey for the first time made a
purchase, 60,9% of those who visited Turkey before made a purchase. Thirdly, a
statistically significant relationship was found between buying behaviour and waiting
time after security (2
(5)= 19.372, p = 0.002, r=0.76). Passengers are also more likely to
make purchases as flight waiting time increases after security checks at the airport.
However, waiting time lasting more than 60 minutes leads to a reduction in purchases.
But this decrease is not important. Here, as can be seen in Table 2, purchases fall
rapidly after 120 minutes.
Tab. 2 The Relationship Between Waiting Time after Security and Purchasing
Purchasing
Yes No
Fli
gh
t w
aiti
ng
tim
e af
ter
secu
rity
ch
eck
Less than 30 minutes 54.4% 45,6%
30-45 minutes 61.9% 38,1%
46-60 minutes 67.8% 32,2%
61-90 minutes 63.6% 36,4%
91-120 minutes 65.2% 34,8%
Over 120 minutes 43.1% 56,9%
To test H3, the Mann-Whitney U test, which is the equivalent of the independent
sample t test in non-parametric analyzes, was used due to the groups not being
distributed normally according to satisfaction levels2. According to the test results in
Table 3, a significant relationship was found between purchasers and non-purchasers in
terms of average satisfaction with the product attributes (U = 36034, p=0.001, z=-2.46,
r=-0.09). In terms of average satisfaction with the product attributes, the average of
purchasers was 3.16, on the other hand, the average of non-purchasers was 2.79. In
other words, the average of buyers was higher, and the difference was statistically
significant (z=-2.46, p=0.001). The Z value indicated that the average satisfaction of
purchasers was 2 standard points higher than non-purchasers. The probability that this
difference occurs by chance is less than 1%, that is, very low. Similarly, there was a
difference between purchasers and non-purchasers in term of the level of satisfaction
with shopping environment (U = 33242, p=0.001, z=-3.66, r=-0.14). In terms of average
satisfaction with shopping environment, the average of purchasers was 3.21, on the
other hand, the average of non-purchasers was 2.66. In other words, the average of
buyers was higher, and the difference was statistically significant (z=-3.66, p=0.01).
The Z value showed that the average satisfaction of buyers was 3 standard points higher
than those who did not. The probability that this difference occurs by chance is less than
1%, that is, very low.
2 In the study, only the results with a significant relationship were included due to the page constraint and
the number of hypotheses.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 53
Tab. 3 Mann-Whitney U Test Results of Relationship Between Satisfaction and
Buying Behaviour
Hypothesis Mann-
Whitney U Z ist. P value
Decision
(H0)
H3a: There is a difference in the level of satisfaction
with product between purchasers and non-
purchasers.
36034,5 -2,46 0,014 Rejected
H3c: There is a difference in the level of satisfaction with
shopping environment between purchasers and non-
purchasers. 33242 -3,66 0,000 Rejected
According to the results of the chi-square analysis performed to test H4, as seen
in Table 4, there was a relationship between five statements and buying behaviour (H4a,
H4b, H4c, H4d, and H4f). According to the results of the analysis, there was a significant
relationship between buying behaviour and the level of agreement to the statement
about shopping being a part of the journey (2
(4)= 69.876, p = 0.001 r=2.62). As the
level of agreement on shopping being a part of travel increases, passengers were more
likely to make purchases. While 36% of those who totally disagreed with this view
made purchases, 82% of those who totally agree made purchases. According to another
chi-square analysis, there was a relationship between buying behaviour and the level of
agreement on products and prices being attractive (2
(4)= 26.85, p = 0.001, r=1.00). A
large proportion (72.5%) of those finding prices attractive at the airport were buying.
Besides, there was a significant relationship between buying behaviour and the level of
agreement on the sole mission of airport not being transportation (2
(4)= 14.942, p =
0.005, r=0.56). As the level of agreement with this idea increased, the number of people
who bought also increased. In addition, there was a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement on flight being relaxing (2
(4)= 15.939, p = 0.003,
r=0.59). Around 62% of those who agreed with this idea and 68% of those who totally
agreed made a purchase. Finally, there was a relationship between buying behaviour
and the level of agreement on boredom being the reason for shopping at the airport
(2
(4)= 9.962, p = 0.041, r=0.37).
Tab. 4 Chi-square Analysis for Relationship Between Buying Behaviour and
Thoughts about Airport Shopping
Hypothesis Pearson Chi-
square Value Df Two-Tailed
Decision
(H0)
H4a: There is a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement to the
statement about shopping being a part of the
journey.
69.876 4 0.000 Rejected
H4b: There is a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement to the
statement about products and prices being
attractive.
26.85 4 0.000 Rejected
H4c: There is a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement to the
statement about the sole mission of airport not
being transportation.
14.942 4 0.005 Rejected
H4d: There is a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement to the 15.939 4 0.003 Rejected
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 54
statement about traveling by plane being
relaxing.
H4f: There is a relationship between buying
behaviour and the level of agreement to the
statement about boredom being the reason for
shopping at the airport.
9.962 4 0.041 Rejected
According to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test conducted before H5 was tested, the
data were not normally distributed. For this reason, the Mann-Whitney U test was
performed again. According to the results of the Mann-Whitney U test, it was concluded
that there was a significant difference between purchasers and non-purchasers in terms
of more reasonable prices (U = 44787, p=0.004, z=-2.89, r=-0.011), product display (U
= 38647.5, p=0.001, z=-3.97 r=-0.015), checkout speed (U = 40548, p=0.001, z=-3.80),
staff professionalism (U = 41634, p=0.002, z=-3.09), high number of promotional sales
(U = 35895, p=0.001, z=-5.04), warranty of quality (U = 41771, p=0.003, z=-2.96),
range of products (U = 39495, p=0.001, z=-4.23), offering local goods/specialities (U =
42826, p=0.001, z=-2.56), the ability to pay in different currencies (U = 41943,
p=0.004, z=-2.87) and airport being the last point to purchase the products of the
country (U = 38340, p=0.001, z=-3.60). The average level of effect of these factors on
purchasers was higher than non-purchasers.
3.1 Factors Affecting Satisfaction
In order to test H6, Kruskal-Wallis analysis, which is the nonparametric
equivalent of one-way ANOVA analysis, were performed. According to test results,
only nationality and educational level had an effect on satisfaction (H6c, H6e). There was
a significant difference in the satisfaction level of the passengers with products
according to their nationality (H = 11.7-529, SD=3, p=0.009). With the Bonferroni
adaptation, it was taken to p=0.008 and 6 different Mann-Whitney U tests were
performed. According to test results, this difference was due to Germans and Russians
(U = 9753.5, p=0.001, z=-3.302 r=-0.018). Russians’ satisfaction average (3.55) was
higher than Germans’ satisfaction average (3.29). A statistically significant difference
was found in the satisfaction level of the staff service according to the nationality of the
passengers (H = 19.327, SD=3, p=0.000). According to six different Mann-Whitney U
tests, the difference was due to Germans and Russians (U = 9514.5, p=0.001, z=-3.494
r=-0.19) and British and Russians (U = 7484.5, p=0.001, z=-4.007 r=-0.23). Finally,
there was a significant difference in the satisfaction level of the passengers with
shopping environment according to their nationality (H = 19.725, SD=3, p=0.001). With
the Bonferroni adaptation, it was taken to p=0.008 and 6 different Mann-Whitney U
tests were performed. According to test results, this difference was due to Turkish and
Russians (U= 10927, p=0.004, z=-2.874, r=-0.15) and Germans and Russians (U =
8709.5, p=0.001, z=-4.361, r=-0.24).
According to another Kruskal-Wallis test, there was a difference in the level of
satisfaction with staff service among passengers with different education levels (H=
11.748, SD=3, p=0.008). This difference was due to primary/ secondary school
graduates and master/PhD graduates (U= 1967.5, p=0.006, z=-2.757, r=-0.21). Primary /
secondary school graduates had lower satisfaction level with staff service. On the other
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 55
hand, there was a difference in the level of satisfaction with shopping environment
among passengers with different educational levels (H= 8.047, SD=3, p=0.045). This
difference was due to primary/secondary graduates and master/PhD graduates (U=
10927, p=0.004, z=-2.874, r=-0.15) and high-school graduates and master/PhD
graduates (U= 8709.5, p=0.001, z=-4.361, r=-0.24). Participants with a master's or
higher education level had a lower level of satisfaction with shopping environment.
In order to test H7, The Kruskal-Wallis test was used. As can be seen in Table 5,
waiting time after security control differed in the level of satisfaction with staff service
(H = 14.939, SD=5, p=0.011) and shopping environment (H = 13.257, SD=5, p=0.021)
among different groups (H7e). This difference in the satisfaction with staff service was
due to those who waited less than 30 minutes and those who waited 61-90 minutes (U =
3499.5, p=0.002, z=-3.11, r=-0.22) and those who waited less than 30 minutes and those
who waited more than 120 minutes (U = 4080, p=0.002, z=-3.062, r=-0.21). The
difference in the satisfaction with shopping environment was due to participants who
waited 30 -45 minutes and those who waited 61-90 minutes
Tab. 5 Difference between Waiting Time and Satisfaction: Kruskal-Wallis Test
Results
Hypothesis
Kruskal-
Wallis Test Decision (H0)
X2 P
H7e2: The waiting time after security control differs in the level of
satisfaction with staff service among different groups3 . 14.939 0.011
Rejected
(i-iv, i-vi)
H7e3: The waiting time after security control differs in the level of
satisfaction with shopping environment among different groups. 13.257 0.021 Rejected
(ii-iv)
4 DISCUSSION and CONCLUSION
With the commercialization at airports, the importance of non-aeronautical
revenues has increased, and airport administrations have focused on developing
strategies to increase these revenues. With the increase of spaces devoted to commercial
activities at the airport, retailers began to enter this niche area and provide airport
customers with different products and services, and airports resembling shopping
centres managed to attract consumer groups other than passengers. The vast majority of
retail revenue, which generates the largest share of non-aeronautical revenue, is
generated from duty-free shops. In this context, it is clear that the price advantage is not
the only factor determining the status and satisfaction of consumers buying from duty-
free shops. While airlines can obtain information about their customers through
reservations and frequent flyer programs, airports do not have such opportunities. In this
context, it is necessary to try to understand the behaviour of consumers at the airport
with empirical research.
3 (i) Less than 30 minutes, (ii)30-45 minutes, (iii)46-60 minutes, (iv)61-90 minutes, (v)91-120 minutes,
(vi) More than 120 minutes
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 56
Accordingly, the study aimed to determine the factors affecting purchasing and
satisfaction. According to the results of the study, considering the relationship between
purchasing and demographic factors, it was found that the participants’ purchasing
decisions were affected by their nationality and gender (H1a, H1c). Accordingly, women
were more likely to purchase than men [13, 17, 12, 19]. Similarly, purchasing differed
according to the customer’s nationality [10, 47, 12]. This means that airports can offer
special products based on the nationality and gender of the customer groups they target.
For example, the number of stores or products for women and the variety of products
that attract the attention of Russian and Turkish passengers can be increased. In
addition, since the flight schedule is already known, promotions may be offered
according to the nationality of passengers on upcoming flights.
Examining the travel related factors, it was concluded that the annual flight
frequency, first or second time at the airport and waiting time after security [24]
affected buying behaviour (H2c, H2d, and H2f). As the annual frequency of flights
increased, the purchase rate increased. However, for those who flied 8 times a year and
above, the rate began to fall. Frequent flyers spent less at the airport [17, 24]. Those
visiting Turkey before made more purchases than those coming to Turkey for the first
time. For this reason, passengers can be encouraged to come back to our country and the
duty-free stores and marketing strategies can be applied to achieve this. Passengers
make more purchases in parallel with waiting time [40, 24]. According to researches,
the primary reason enabling passengers to make purchases at the airport is to kill time
[17]. As the passengers find dwell time boring, they focus more on killing time and
passengers in good shape make purchases [44]. Nevertheless, after 120 minutes, there is
a decrease in purchasing. Passengers must be given the necessary time to make
purchases at the airport. In order to give this period, security controls and check-in must
be completed in a short time. In this way, passengers can spend more time shopping by
moving to the sterile area earlier. Shortening the time required for check-in and passport
control at the airport will also help reduce stress of passengers and enjoy this period
[48].
Satisfaction was studied as another factor affecting purchasing. The level of
satisfaction with the attributes of the products and the shopping environment affected
the buying behaviour (H3a, H3c). Those satisfied with products and shopping
environment were more likely to make purchases [19]. For this reason, duty-free shops
can increase customer satisfaction by focusing on the attributes of products and
shopping environment rather than staff service. The lighting, decoration and design,
product display, flow of shopping, spatial comfort, cleanliness and hygiene, service
counter are all important shopping environment attributes. Variety, brand, quality, price
and promotion of products (advertising, free samples, price discounts etc.) should be
enhanced. Store managers could follow the schedules to better match the right mix of
product to right customers at the right time.
Travellers’ decisions about commercial activities of airports affect their buying
decisions. According to the results of this study, there was a significant relationship
between buying behaviour and the level of agreement to the statement about shopping
being a part of the journey (H4a), products and prices being attractive (H4b), the sole
mission of airport not being transportation (H4c), flight being relaxing (H4d) and boredom
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 57
being the reason for shopping at the airport (H4f). Because non-purchasers can also
become a target group, airport retailers should focus on communicating their
commercial roles and motives to shop at airports, creating a pleasing and exciting
shopping environment [16].
Considering the relationship between buying motives and the buying behaviour,
it was found a significant difference between purchasers and non-purchasers in terms of
more reasonable prices (H5a), product display (H5e), checkout speed (H5f), staff
professionalism (H5g), high number of promotional sales (H5h), warranty of quality
(H5i), range of products (H5j), offering local goods/specialities (H5k), airport being the
last point to purchase the products of the country (H5l), the ability to pay in different
currencies (H5m). In this case, it can be said that buyers make purchases with functional
motives [38]. Those who did not buy saw reasonable prices as a more influential factor.
In this case, it can be said that the purchase was not made by these passengers because
the prices were not affordable enough. For this reason, stores where low-priced products
are sold can be increased and sales can be supported by promotional activities.
Passengers making purchases saw display of the products as a more influential factor. In
other words, display of products is an important factor that drives people to buy. Factors
such as checkout speed, staff professionalism, number of promotional sales, warranty of
quality, variety of products, local products, the opportunity to pay in different
currencies, and being the last point to purchase the products of the country were all
stated as more effective by purchasers.
Demographic factors affecting satisfaction were found to be nationality and
education (H6c, H6e). Differences were found among different nationalities in terms of
satisfaction with product, staff service and shopping environment [12]. Education was
also found to be a factor affecting satisfaction with the shopping environment.
Depending on the waiting time of passengers, the satisfaction with staff service and
shopping environment also differed (H7e).
References
[1] A. Graham, 2009, “How important are commercial revenues to today's airports? ”,
Journal of Air Transport Management, 15, pp. 106-111.
[2] F. Fuerst and S. Gross, 2018, “The commercial performance of global airports”,
Transport Policy, 61, pp. 123-131.
[3] F. Fuerst, S. Gross and U. Klose, 2011, “The sky is the limit? The determinants and
constraints of European airports,” Journal of Air Transport Management, 17, pp.
278-283.
[4] P. Freathy and F. O'Connell, 1999, “Planning for Profit: the Commercialization of
European Airports,” Long Range Planning, 32 (6), pp. 587-597.
[5] A. Graham, 2014, “Managing Airports- An international perspective”, 4. ed., New
York: Routledge.
[6] J. I. Castillo-Manzano, L. López-Valpuesta and A. Sánchez-Braza, 2018, “When
the mall is in the airport: Measuring the effect of the airport mall
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 58
onpassengers’consumer behavior,” Journal of Air Transport Management,72, pp.
32-38.
[7] Airports Council International, 2020, “Airport Economics at a Glance,”, Available
at: aci.aero/20KPI-P.
[8] Y. Chen, C. L. Wu, T. T. Koo and I. Douglas, 2020, “Determinants of airport retail
revenue: a review of literature,” Transport Reviews, pp. 1-27.
[9] H. Han, J. Yu and W. Kim, 2018, “Airport shopping – an emerging non-aviation
business: triggers of traveler loyalty,” Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing,
35(7), pp. 835-845.
[10] G. Crawford and T. C. Melewar, 2003, “The importance of impulse purchasing
behaviour in the international airport environment,” Journal of Consumer
Behaviour, 3(1), pp. 85-98.
[11] G. C. Bezerra and C. F. Gomes, 2020, “Antecedents and consequences of
passenger satisfaction with the airport,” Journal of Air Transport Management,83,
pp. 1-12.
[12] W.-T. Lin and C.-Y. Chen, 2013, “Shopping Satisfaction At Airport Duty-Free
Stores: A Cross- Cultural Comparison,” Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
Management, 22(1), pp. 47-66.
[13] S.-W. Perng, C.-C. Chow and W.-C. Liao, 2010, “Analysis of shopping
preference and satisfaction with airport retailing products,” Journal of Air
Transport Management,16, pp. 279-283.
[14] J.-W. Park, Y.-J. Choi and W.-C. Moon, 2013, “Investigating the effects of sales
promotions on customer behavioral intentions at duty-free shops: An Incheon
International Airport case study,” Journal of Airline and Airport Management ,
3(1), pp. 18-30.
[15] J. C. Martín, L. Martín-Domingo, G. Lohmann and B. Spasojevic, 2019, “The role
of travel patterns in airport duty-free shopping satisfaction: A case study from an
Australian regional airport,” Journal of Air Transport Management, 80, p. 101691.
[16] M. Geuens, D. Vantomme and M. Brengman, 2004, “Developing a typology of
airport shoppers,” Tourism Management, 25, pp. 615-622.
[17] P. Freathy and F. O'Connell, 2012, “Spending time, spending money: passenger
segmentation in an international airport,” The International Review of Retail,
Distribution and Consumer Research, 22 (4), no. 4, pp. 397-416.
[18] Y.-H. Lin and C.-F. Chen, 2013, “Passengers’ shopping motivations and
commercial activities at airports - The moderating effects of time pressure and
impulse buying tendency,” Tourism Management, 36, pp. 426-434.
[19] J.-L. Lu, 2014, “Investigating factors that influence passengers' shopping
intentiones at airports- Evidence from Taiwan,” Journal of Air Transport
Management, 35, pp. 72-77.
[20] A. Sharma and A. Nanda, 2012, “Impulse buying at airport terminals: A case of
Indian consumers,” Asian Journal of Management Research, 3(1), pp. 68-82.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 59
[21] B. Tuncer and D. A. Isık, 2014, “Havalimanı Yolcularının Satın Alma
Davranışlarını İncelemeye Yönelik Bir Araştırma,” Akademik Sosyal
Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2(8), pp. 261-280.
[22] H. Jiang, 2015, “Investigating Air Passengers’ Spending Behaviour – a Survey at
Hong Kong International Airport,” Journal of Contemporary Management, pp. 21-
32.
[23] H. Han and S. S. Hyun, 2018, “Investigating customers’ shopping behaviors at
airport duty-free shops: impact of shopping flow and alternative shopping malls’
attractiveness,” Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(7), pp. 627-638.
[24] E. Torres, J. Domingueza, L. Valdes and R. Aza, 2005, “Passenger waiting time
in an airport and expenditure carried out in the commercial area,” Journal of Air
Transport Management, 11, pp. 363-367.
[25] R. Doganis, 1992, “The Airport Business”, New York: Routledge.
[26] B. Thompson, 2007, “Airport retailing in the UK,” Journal of Retail & Leisure
Property,6(3), pp. 203-211.
[27] P. J. Kirk, 2013, “Passenger Experience at Airports: An Activity-Centred
Approach,” Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
[28] J. Rowley and F. Slack, 1999 “The retail experience in airport departure lounges:
reaching for timelessness and placelessness,” International Marketing Review, 16
(4/5), pp. 363-375.
[29] J. S. P. Hobson, 2000, “Tourist Shopping in Transit: The Case of BAA plc,”
Journal of Vacation Marketing, 6(2), pp. 170-183.
[30] D. Jarach, 2016, “Airport Marketing: Strategies to Cope with the New Millennium
Environment”, New York: Routlegde, 2016.
[31] Y. S. Chung, 2015, “Hedonic and utilitarian shopping values in airport shopping
behavior,” Journal of Air Transport Management, 49, pp. 28-34.
[32] Y. Odabaşı and G. Barış, 2011, “Tüketici Davranışı”, 11 ed., İstanbul: MediaCat.
[33] Ü. Ünder and Ö. Atalık, 2016, “Havaalanı Alışverişçileri ve Havaalanında Satın
Almayı Etkileyen Durumsal Faktörler,” Çukurova Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari
Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 20(1), pp. 163-185.
[34] O. Omar and A. Kent, 2001, “International airport influences on impulsive
shopping: trait and normative approach,” International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, 29(5), pp. 226-235.
[35] H. K. Sohn and T. J. Lee, 2017, “Tourists’ impulse buying behavior at duty-free
shops: The moderating effects of time pressure and shopping involvement,”
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 34(3), pp. 341-356.
[36] P. Bohl, 2014, “The impact of airport shopping environments and dwell time on
consumer spending,” Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review, 11, pp.
11-24.
Ünder, U., Atalık, Ö. – Investigating airport shoppers’ buying behaviors… T&L
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Volume 20, Issue 49, December 2020 60
[37] H. Han, W. Kim and S. S. Hyun, 2014, “Overseas Travelers' Decision Formation
for Airport-Shopping Behavior,” Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 31, pp.
985-1003.
[38] Y.-S. Chung, C.-L. Wu and W.-E. Chiang, 2013, “Air passengers’ shopping
motivation and information seeking behaviour,” Journal of Air Transport
Management, 27 , pp. 25-28.
[39] A. Livingstone, V. Popovic, B. Kraal and P. Kirk, 2012, “Understanding the
Airport Passenger Landside Retail Experience,” DRS 2012 Bangkok–Research:
Uncertainty, Contradiction and Value, Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University.
[40] J. I. Castillo-Manzano, 2010, “Determinants of commercial revenues at airports:
Lessons learned from Spanish regional airports,” Tourism Management, 31, pp.
788-796.
[41] S. Baron and K. Wass, 1996, “Towards an understanding of airport shopping
behaviour,” The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer
Research, 6(3), pp. 301-322.
[42] J. Scholvinck, 2000, “The Travel Stress Curve,” Market Square Consulting,
Amsterdam.
[43] D. Thomas, 1997, “Retail and leisure developments at London Gatwick,”
Commercial Airport, pp. 38-41.
[44] B. S. Blichfeldt, A. Pumputis and K. Ebba, 2017, “Using, spending, wasting and
killing time in airports,” International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality
Research, 11(3), pp. 392-405.
[45] B. Tuncer and E. Gavcar, 2014, “Havalimanı Terminal Hizmet Kalitesini
Etkileyen Faktörlerin Belirlenmesi,” The Journal of Academic Social Science,
2(6), pp. 183-211.
[46] Transportation Research Board, 2011, “Resource Manual for Airport In-Terminal
Concessions,” Airport Cooperatiand Research Program, Washington.
[47] P. Freathy and F. O'Connell, 2000, “Market segmentation in the European airport
sector,” Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 18 (3), pp. 102-111.
[48] W. Wattanacharoensil, M. Schuckert, A. Graham and A. Dean, 2017, “An
analysis of the airport experience from an air traveler perspective,” Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management, 32, pp. 124-135.
[49] R. W. Belk, 1975, “Situational Variables and Consumer Behavior”, Journal of
Consumer Research, 2 (3), pp. 157-164.