Exploring the nature and processes of experiential marketing as delivered in context of the luxury airline service
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Abstract
Abstract
The constant demand of the luxury air travel market has remained the growth and lead to the strong competition. Moreover, due to the high profitability of the market, the premium cabin travelers have been considered as the major source of providing a high proportion of the company’s revenue. Therefore, in order to stay competitive in this market and to attract or remain the key customer segment, it is essential to have a deeper understanding of the consumption experiences of luxury air travelers.
The aim of the study is to explore the nature and processes of experiential marketing as delivered in context of the luxury airline service. The study involved a comprehensive theoretical review on the four standpoints, including the concept of experiential marketing, customer experience, the nature of luxury, and the valued-based luxury consumption segmentation.
This study adopts the perspectives of experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) and the experiential marketing (Schmitt, 1999) to understand the nature of experiential marketing. And the study reviews the customer experience management (Schmitt, 2003) to highlight the important of the customer experience. Furthermore, based on the conceptual model of Wiedmann et al. (2009), the study evaluates the role and nature of luxury value, and identifies the motives of the luxury consumption behavior.
Through conducting the in-depth qualitative research, the findings revealed that anticipating customers’ demands individually and offering beyond their expectations are viewed as the critical elements to influence customers’ intention of luxury consumption. Moreover, airlines considered the customization and flexibility of service as the keys of offering luxury value and personalized experiences to their target passengers. However, airlines should be aware of the sufficient manpower of service providers could lead to an issue and affecting the confidence of cabin crew while providing the service to passengers.
The research questions of the study are as follows:
(1) From the services providers’ perspective, what is the role and the nature of value creation through the mechanism of experience marketing delivered in the context of the luxury airline service industry?
(2) From the services receivers’ perspective, what is the role and the nature of value creation through the mechanism of experience marketing delivered in the context of the luxury airline service industry