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IJQRM
36,1
40
Received 1 February 2018
Revised 11 May 2018
Accepted 12 August 2018
International Journal of Quality &
Reliability Management
Vol. 36 No. 1, 2019
pp. 40-57
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0265-671X
DOI 10.1108/IJQRM-02-2018-0024
Thai Airways: key influencing
factors on customers’
word of mouth
Arash Ahmadi
Graduate School of Business, Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the influence of service convenience, service
quality and customer satisfaction on the formation of word of mouth in airline industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The sample included 400 passengers who had experienced THAI’S
international flights. To test the study hypotheses, a research model was examined applying structural
equation modeling.
Findings – The findings submit that, in addition to effects of service convenience, service quality and customer
satisfaction on word of mouth, decision convenience has the most positive significant influence on word of
mouth compared to service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications – The present research focuses on assessing the word of mouth level
only for THAI; therefore, its findings may not be generalized for the other airlines. In addition, the target market
of this study is the customers of THAI. Future researchers can select the markets of other airlines customers.
Practical implications – In airline companies, service convenience plays a central role on customer word of
mouth. Therefore, airlines should concentrate on travelers’ convenience in the service procedure. They should
plan the service to support the best convenience for travelers.
Originality/value – This investigation would help airlines to understand what makes customers more satisfied
before, during and after using an airline service and to understand how this is related to the word of mouth.
Keywords Customer satisfaction, Word of mouth, Service quality, Airline, Service convenience, THAI
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
These days, by presenting new services and using numerous promotional instruments,
airline companies attempt to attain a more share of the market and attract more and more
passengers to use their services. However, some of these instruments are not able to inspire
the consumers to use their services, principally in the final decision-making stages. People
receive information from their environment, mass media and also communication with other
people. Information resulting from communication with other people about the goods and
the services is the outcome of their personal experience or the information received from the
employees of the company or other customers (Silverman, 2001). In an environment where
the trust in the organizations and advertising announcements has decreased, word of mouth
is a way to get a competitive advantage.
Word of mouth is a form of informal communications about the features of an enterprise
or a service in the society. The effectiveness in the opinions of other people has significant
interests for organizations supplying the products or the services (Sweeny et al., 2007).
When it comes to the airline industry, a service industry, a suitable service to the customer
relies exactly to the quality of the industry. Even, there are bad services can influence with a
lot of troubles to the company. It means the company must prepare the best quality for the
customers so when they talk about the organization all story will be in a positive way.
This work would not have been possible without the author’s family contribution and support. The author
dedicates this paper to the author’s family and especially the author’s grandfather. The author would
especially like to thank Dr Sirion Chaipoopirutana. By her examples, she showed the author what a good
researcher should be. The author appreciates some of the author’s friends, whose assistance, guidance,
encouragement and friendship are invaluable. The author deeply thankful for their kindness.
Passengers basically require the information about an airline company and its services to Thai Airways
select it. They always gather information from the mass media such as television, satellite,
internet, etc. Although these resources provide valuable information, passengers desire to
receive a huge part of their information from informal sources such as their relatives,
friends, acquaintances and other people (Silverman, 2001). It must be stated that the
formation of positive words of mouth about a service corporation can be due to different
reasons and will also have remarkable outcomes. 41
Nowadays, the growing number of airlines in the world makes the competition more and
more intense in the market. In Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, several new airlines
companies are focusing on proposing cheap prices that is to say less comfort, a less advanced
service quality. This could directly rely on the customer satisfaction and on the judgment of
customers to use the identical service again as well as the positive or negative word of mouth
that they will communicate around themselves. In Thailand, airline companies such as Thai
Airways have also been put in front of the energetic competition. Thai Airways International
(THAI) is the largest airline in Thailand which manages domestic, regional and international
flights radiating from its headquarter centered in Bangkok to core destinations around the
world and within Thailand. In 1238, Thailand was released from the domination of other
countries and transformed its name from Siam to Thailand (Thai means freedom, and Thailand
raises for “Land of the freedom”). The name of the company involves the national carrier of the
Kingdom of Thailand in both Thai and English. THAI’s logotype is related to an orchid and of
high readability and graphic impact. It is a symbol conveying the spirit of Thailand; its soft,
curving lines merged with a speed line propose an effortless flight; the color scheme indicates
the culture of the country – gold (temple), magenta (silk) and purple (orchid). One of the most
successful strategies to sustain customers is to improve word of mouth to the company and the
brand. THAI is also a leader in other aspects of aviation activity. The airline’s massive flight
kitchens in Bangkok, among the largest and most advanced in Asia, produce up to
80,000 meals daily for THAI’s own flights and those of some 50 other customer airlines. In the
vital fields of safety and aircraft maintenance, THAI’s word of mouth is recognized worldwide,
with full technical and engineering services carried out for its own fleet, and aircraft of many
other international airlines. Today its route network extends to 32 countries and
63 destinations in international and domestic routes.
Therefore, this study according to these several attractive reasons specifies THAI as target
and evaluates the actual factors influencing the word of mouth of THAI. This research is
conducted to investigate about what makes customers more satisfied during, before and after
using an airline service and to understand how this is related to the word of mouth. Therefore,
a research model is created to test the effect of service convenience dimensions on service
quality and customer satisfaction and finding out their influences on word of mouth of THAI.
Following the introduction of the research, the continuation of this paper consists of the
following sections. The second section is dedicated to the literature review and hypothesis
development. This is followed by an explanation of the research method and findings of the
paper. Then, the discussions and managerial implications of the research are presented.
The final section comprises conclusions and research limitations.

2. Literature review
Service convenience
Brown (1990) defined service convenience as an opinion of as easy as everything that
enhances consumers’ comfort after buying and consuming a service. Berry et al. (2002)
explained service convenience as the consumers’ opinion of the degree of time and endeavor
associated with buying and consuming a service. Farquhar and Rowley (2009) explained that
service convenience (i.e. time and attempt) must be comprehended within the setting of the
activities that customers experience in the process of buying and consuming a service.
IJQRM According to the consumer purchasing stages, Berry et al. (2002) and Colwell et al. (2008)
36,1 recommended that service convenience is a multidimensional concept which is included of five
components, namely decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience,
benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience. In airlines service these five steps are
evidently diverse from one another and being conducted by numerous service agents in
airlines service. Therefore, based on Berry et al. (2002) and Colwell et al. (2008), this study
42 applied five components of service convenience, which are decision convenience, access
convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience.
Decision convenience. Decision convenience is defined as the consumers’ perceived time and
attempt expenditure to make service purchase or consume decisions (Berry et al., 2002). The
comprehension of decision convenience varies extremely in airlines service, and the obtainability
and accessibility of information for making decision, flights schedule, price, presented
alternatives and customers preceding flying experience are the samples of them (Thuy, 2011).
Access convenience. Access convenience is described as the consumers’ perceived time and
attempt expenditures to start service delivery (Berry et al., 2002). In an irresolvable service as
airlines, this factor plays a key role because airlines need the tourists to be physically
accessible at the airport relatively a time in advance, to organize the check-in (comprising
luggage handling) and to wait before boarding (Thuy, 2011). Numerous things have to be
prepared by the customers before being transferred from one place to a new place.
Transaction convenience. Transaction convenience includes consumers’ perceived
expenditures of time and attempt to effect a transaction (Berry et al., 2002). Transaction
convenience refers to those events that consumers require to accomplish to take the right to
consume the service. In airlines service, customers have to book or purchase a ticket and spend
money prior to experiment the service (Thuy, 2011). Even though these responsibilities can be
completed through either meeting or online purchasing, booking or purchasing air ticket refers
to a commitment that is provided quite a long period before the real service (Thuy, 2011).
Benefit convenience. Benefit convenience is consumers’ perceived time and attempt
expenditures to experiment the service’s main advantages, once the transaction step and
access step have been done (Berry et al., 2002). The significance of benefit convenience is
more obvious in effective services like air transport. For instance, there may be
inconvenience during the flying (compared to bus or train) such as telecommunications as
well as other security limitations or sightseeing for travelers (Thuy, 2011). Flight connection
may similarly affect inconvenience in terms of moving from one terminal to a new one,
nervousness about late entrance of the first plane or missing the second one.
Post-benefit convenience. Post-benefit convenience refers to consumers’ perceived time
and attempt expenditures when re-starting contact with a company after the benefit step of
the service (Berry et al., 2002). In airlines service, post-benefit convenience refers to time and
endeavor customers’ requirement to expend for collecting and handling luggage and going
from the arrival airport to the location they desire in their journey, or to handle the failures
of service such as losing luggage (Thuy, 2011).

Service quality
Parasuraman et al. (1985) defined service quality as the inconsistency between customers’
expectations for the service and their perceptions of service presentation, and this definition is
extensively accepted. In the service marketing literature, service quality is described as the
consumer’s judgment about the entity’s total excellence or advantage (Zeithaml, 1987). In the
airline industry, service quality is included of various interactions between customers and
airlines with employees pursuing to influence customers’ perceptions and the appearance of
the carriers (Gursoy et al., 2005). These airlines’ competitive benefit lies in their service quality
as perceived by customers (Chang and Yeh, 2002). Therefore, certifying quality service is the
key for survival of all businesses and industries dealing in service offerings airlines Thai Airways
comprehensive. Much of the literature recommended that airline passengers perceive service
quality as a multidimensional construct, which is consistent with the conception of service
quality proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) in their well-known service-quality-measuring
instrument called SERVQUAL. This instrument, which measures service quality in terms of
five dimensions (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) is based on
the impression that customers’ assessments of overall service quality. Cronin and Taylor 43
(1992) discussed on the framework of Parasuraman et al. (1985), with respect to
conceptualization and measurement of service quality and developed performance-only
measurement of service quality called SERVPERF by illustrating that service quality is a
form of consumer attitude and the performance-only measure of service quality is an
enhanced means of measuring service quality. Based on SERVPERF there are five dimensions
which were developed based on Cronin and Taylor (1992), and have been applied in this study.
They are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.
Tangibles. Tangibles is defined as the physical conveniences, equipment and personnel
appearance (Parasuraman et al., 1988). With tangibles, customers are prepared to meet a
physical presentation of the service, which can be used as an assessment of service quality
(Parasuraman et al., 1988). In the airlines, the dimensions such as the newness of the aircraft, air
conditioning, seats and service-delivery trainings are essential in this experience because airlines
are considered by restricted passenger communications and customization (Schmenner, 1986).
Reliability. Parasuraman et al. (1988) described reliability as the ability to achieve the
promised service reliably and accurately. In airline industry the dimensions such as efficiency
of the check-in process, transfer service and efficiency at the airports, on-time performance of
scheduled flights and remedial procedures for delayed or missing baggage are imperative in
order to satisfy the customers (Ling et al., 2005). It is deceptive that timely procedure of flights
schedule is serious for reaching customer satisfaction (Saha and Theingi, 2009).
Responsiveness. Parasuraman et al. (1988) described responsiveness as willingness to
help customers and provide prompt service. In the airlines, the dimensions such as capable
to response to emergency situations, prompt attention to passengers’ specific needs,
understanding the specific needs of passengers and capacity to respond to canceled or
delayed flights are crucial and considerable (Ling et al., 2005).
Assurance. Parasuraman et al. (1988) described assurance as the knowledge and courtesy
of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. It relates to how
understanding and courteous service employees are, as well as their skill to communicate
and, also relates to trust and certainty. In airline industry, the dimensions such as sincerity
and patience in resolving passengers’ problems, safety performance of airline,
knowledgeable and skillful provision of services and sincere and responsive attitude to
passenger complaints must be considered to satisfy the customers (Ling et al., 2005).
Empathy. Parasuraman et al. (1988) described empathy as the caring, personalized
attention the firms prepare for its clients. The principle of empathy is transporting, through
individualized or customer service, that customers are incomparable and superior and that
their requirements are understood. In the airlines, the dimensions such as numerous, easy to
use ticketing channels, ability of flight attendants to various dialects, convenient flight
scheduling, spontaneous care and concern for passengers’ needs and frequent cabin service
rounds by flight attendants are substantial and necessary (Ling et al., 2005).

Customer satisfaction
Oliver (1981) defined satisfaction as a person’s sense of pleasure or disappointment resulting
from comparing a product’s perceived performance (or consequence) in relation to his or her
expectations, while Hansemark and Albinson (2004) defined it as a total customer attitude
IJQRM toward a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the diversity between what customers
36,1 anticipate and what they receive based on the fulfillment of some requirements, goals or
desire. Customer satisfaction is the key factor determining how successful the organization
will be in customer relationships (Reichheld, 1996); therefore, it is very important to measure
it. If companies want to achieve customer satisfaction, they must measure it, because you
are not able to manage what you cannot measure (Ho, 1995). Attractively, satisfaction is
44 used as a common marketing benchmark of an organization’s performance, practically to
the exclusion of other issues (Bennet and Rundle, 2004).

Word of mouth
Westbrook (1987) described word of mouth as the informal communication which informs
other consumers about the possession, utilization or qualities of certain goods and services
and/or their sellers. Word of mouth can be negative, positive or neutral. For this study the
researcher focused on positive word of mouth. The examples of positive word of mouth
include relating vivid or novel experiences, pleasant and recommendations to others
(Anderson, 1998). Service marketers have long argued for the importance of positive word of
mouth as a factor influencing customer selection and use of services. This is mainly due to
the nature of services, which are characterized by a high degree of experience and credence
qualities (Datta et al., 2005). Word of mouth has been recognized as an important force in the
marketplace, influencing attitudes, preferences and purchase intentions and decision
making (Wangenheim, 2005). Scholars agree that word of mouth is especially critical for
success of service providers (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991).

3. Hypotheses development
The influence of service convenience on service quality
The influence of service convenience on perceived service quality has been stated by Berry
et al. (2002), who argued that in irresolvable services, the customer opinion of service
convenience is a significant basis of the perception of service quality. Hsu et al. (2010) also
highlighted that when purchasers experience convenient services in the preceding, they
would have certainty in company’s service quality. Zeithaml (1987) stated that the concept
of service quality as conceptualized in this investigation is perceived service quality which
is described as the consumers’ opinion about an entity’s total excellence or superiority.
Perceived service quality describes the customers’ judgment on how bad or good is the
supplier’s resources and value assistance process. The consumption of service has this
capacity to be considered as process consumption, a highly convenient service in this
process requires lower amount of customers’ expenses in terms of time and attempt.
Therefore, five hypotheses are developed, as follows:
H1. Tangibles is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience
dimensions (i.e., decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience,
benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience).
H2. Reliability is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience
dimensions (i.e., decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience,
benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience).
H3. Responsiveness is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience
dimensions (i.e., decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience,
benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience).
H4. Assurance is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience
dimensions (i.e., decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience,
benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience).
 H5. Empathy is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience dimensions Thai Airways
(i.e., decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit
convenience and post-benefit convenience).

The influence of service convenience on customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a kind of emotional response achieved after the customer has 45
consumed the service. Jih (2007) emphasized that the literature on the emphasis of
convenience consistently argues for the positive influence of product and service
convenience on customers’ satisfaction occasioned from the consumption experience. One
of the methods to comprehend the correlation between convenience and customer
satisfaction is through convenience orientation (Berry et al., 2002). When customers can
conveniently and effortlessly experience the advantages of the services, they are more
expected to be satisfied and use them again (Hsu et al., 2010). Effort (physical, emotional
and cognitive) is approved as a distinct type of non-monetary cost that is associated with
perceptions of convenience, and influences satisfaction (Farquhar and Rowley, 2009).
Consequently, the hypothesis constructed as follows:
H6. Customer satisfaction is positively and significantly influenced by service
convenience dimensions (i.e. decision convenience, access convenience, transaction
convenience, benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience).

The influence of service quality on customer satisfaction

To achieve a great level of customer satisfaction, most investigators propose that a high
level of service quality should be delivered by the service provider as service quality is
normally considered an antecedent of customer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992;
Anderson et al., 1994). However, the exact relationship between satisfaction and service
quality has been described as a complex issue, characterized by debate regarding the
distinction between the two constructs and the casual direction of their relationship (Brady
et al., 2002). Satisfaction to be related to a specific transaction as service quality had been
defined as an attitude (Parasuraman et al., 1988). This meant that perceived service quality
is a worldwide judgment, or attitude, relating to the advantage of the service. Cronin and
Taylor (1992) found empirical support for the idea that perceived service quality leads to
satisfaction and argued that service quality is actually an antecedent of consumer
satisfaction. Thus, the researcher developed one hypothesis, as follows:
H7. Customer satisfaction is positively and significantly influenced by service quality
dimensions (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness and assurance and empathy).

The influence of service quality on word of mouth

Bharadwaj et al. (1993) discussed that, when customers cannot effortlessly evaluate the
qualities of the service, word of mouth may serve as an important representation for more
detailed evaluation. Empirical investigations have also revealed that service quality is
recognized as one of the factors determining word of mouth (Bloemer et al., 1999).
Additionally, Arasli et al. (2005) proved, with their research, the effect of service quality
perceptions of Greek Cypriot bank customers, to total satisfaction from their bank and to
positive word of mouth. For measuring service quality, they applied SERVQUAL
dimensions as proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988), but the scale evidenced to be
of a three-dimensional structure (responsiveness, empathy and reliability). Reliability
items were the ones that had the highest influence on satisfaction, which in turn had a
IJQRM significant impact on the positive word of mouth. Subsequently, constructed one
36,1 hypothesis, as follows:
H8. Word of mouth is positively and significantly influenced by service quality
dimensions (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness and assurance and empathy).

46 The influence of customer satisfaction on word of mouth

Ennew et al. (2000) stated that the thought of consumers’ motives for engaging in word of
mouth has tended to highlight the significance of customer satisfaction as a determinant of
positive word of mouth. Macintosh (2007), who researched the relationships of business
travelers with their travel agents, recommended that relationship quality affects total
customers’ satisfaction with the company and positive word of mouth. Customer’s
satisfaction of a service or product provider affects meaningfully on the development of
word of mouth about a company (Wangenheim and Bayón, 2007; Brown et al., 2005). The
high positive levels of satisfaction result in better word of mouth than low levels of
satisfaction (Swan and Oliver, 1989; Holmes and Lett, 1977). The customers who are
satisfied generate the positive word of mouth (Bitner, 1990). Therefore, the investigator
developed one hypothesis, as follows:
H9. Word of mouth is positively and significantly influenced by customer satisfaction.
Based on the purposes and literature reviews of this study, a conceptual model for the
current research is designed (see Figure 1). The model presents a more detailed insight on
the constructs that influence word of mouth of the airline based on service convenience,
service quality and customer satisfaction.

4. Research methodology
Sample size
The appropriate sample size for this study was determined to be the passengers who had
used THAI’s international services on selected flights by choosing flights from the schedule
of THAI flights at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The researcher applied judgment
sampling to choose the sample according to some appropriate characteristics of the sample
member by his or her judgment. In this investigation, convenience sampling was applied to
distribute the questionnaire directly to THAI passengers willing to answer it in arrival
section of international terminal at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. The respondents were
included both Thai and international passengers of THAI who were able to speak, read and
write English. Therefore, the questionnaire was designed in English.

Service Quality

- Tangibles
H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 - Reliability
- Responsiveness
Service Convenience - Assurance H8
- Empathy
- Decision
- Access Word of Mouth
- Transaction H7
- Benefit
- Post-benefit H6
Figure 1. H9
Conceptual framework Customer Satisfaction
Instrumentation and measures Thai Airways
The instrument used in this study was a self-administered questionnaire, which was used to
gather the information from the respondents as the primary data over the period April 3 to
April 18, 2014. During distributing the questionnaires, the researcher explained the
questions whenever the respondents did not understand them or had any doubts. All of the
questions were close ended. The questionnaire used for the research was divided into four
parts. The first part included the screening question designed to obtain the population 47
targeted, who was qualified to answer the entire questionnaire. The second part asked about
the factors affecting word of mouth including service convenience, service quality and
customer satisfaction. In the third section, the respondents were provided with the
questions, exploring their attitudes toward the word of mouth and the fourth part was about
the demographic profile of respondents. The interval scale is used for the items and the five-
point Likert scale was applied that ranged from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree.
Overall, 400 completed questionnaires were collected and applied in the data analysis.
The researcher adopted scales for five components of service convenience based on
Berry et al. (2002), Colwell et al. (2008) and Thuy (2011). As the measurement for five
components of perceived service quality, SERVPERF was adopted based on Cronin and
Taylor’s (1992) and Ling et al.’s (2005) studies. The statements of customer satisfaction
(three items) and word of mouth (three items) were adopted from Babin et al. (2005).

Data analysis procedures

The study used a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis technique from the SPSS-
AMOS software to test the proposed model and hypotheses. Two testing stages of SEM are
conducted as suggested by Hair et al. (2006). First, a measurement model is applied prior to
the structural model to evaluate data reliability and validity. Second, the SEM is conducted
to test the proposed relationships among the study constructs.

5. Findings
Descriptive analysis
In this paper, the results of the demographic profile of the respondents showed that the
highest percentage of respondent’s gender was of female (57.5 percent). The most
percentage of respondent’s age was 20–29 years (29.5 percent). The greatest percentage of
respondent’s occupation was official employees (28.5 percent). The highest percentage of
respondent’s nationality was Thai (53.8 percent) and maximum percentage of respondent’s
monthly income was less than 45,000 baht (52 percent). In relation to descriptive analysis,
Table I shows the profile of the respondents.

Measurement model analysis

To test the measurement model, a confirmatory factor analysis was applied. By the common
model-fit indices, the model’s overall goodness of fit was measured: the ratio of χ2 to degree-
of-freedom ( χ2/df ), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), goodness of fit index
(GFI), normed fit index (NFI), non-normed fit index (NNFI), comparative fit index (CFI) and
incremental fit index (IFI). As shown in Table II, all model-fit indices surpassed the relevant
acceptance levels recommended by previous research studies (Hair et al., 1998, 2006; Hu and
Bentler, 1999; Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). It displays that the measurement model parades a
fairly good fit with the gathered data ( χ2/df ¼ 1.623, RMSEA ¼ 0.018, GFI ¼ 0.919,
NFI ¼ 0.914, NNFI ¼ 0.952, CFI ¼ 0.965, IFI ¼ 0.963). Therefore, this research could be
continued to evaluate the psychometric properties of the measurement model from the
aspects of factor loadings, reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity.
IJQRM Characteristic Frequency Percentage
36,1
Gender
Male 170 42.5
Female 230 57.5
Age
48 Less than 20 66 16.5
Between 20 and 29 118 29.5
Between 30 and 39 108 27
Between 40 and 49 65 16.2
More than 50 43 10.8
Occupation
Student 100 25
Official employee 114 28.5
Business owner 96 24
Government/state enterprise officer 49 12.2
Other 41 10.2
Nationality
Thai 215 53.8
Non-Thai 185 46.2
Monthly income
Less than 45,000 baht 208 52
Table I.
The analysis of Between 45,000 and 59,970 baht 122 30.5
demographic factors Between 60,000 and 89,970 baht 54 13.5
by using frequency More than 90,000 baht 16 4
and percentage Note: n ¼ 400

Fit indices Measured value Recommended values

χ /df
2
1.616 ⩽5.00 (Hair et al., 1998)
RMSEA 0.018 ⩽0.08 (Hair et al., 1998)
GFI 0.917 ⩾0.90 (Hu and Bentler, 1999)
NFI 0.912 ⩾0.90 (Hair et al., 1998)
Table II. NNFI 0.954 ⩾0.90 Bagozzi and Yi (1988)
Fit indices for the CFI 0.964 ⩾0.90 Bagozzi and Yi (1988), Hair et al. (2006)
measurement model IFI 0.965 ⩾0.90 Bagozzi and Yi (1988), Hair et al. (2006)

Convergent validity of the constructs was evaluated by the measurement of the factor
loading, reliability, average variance extracted (AVE) and discriminant validity. Factor
loadings greater than the recommended value of 0.5 are measured to be significant
verification of convergent validity of the constructs (Hair et al., 1998). Table III designates
the satisfactory convergent validity of the relevant constructs.
As shown in Table IV, the assessment of reliability, AVE and discriminant validity is
applied. Reliability was assessed by composite reliability which was measured with the ratio
of square of the aggregate of the factor loadings and the aggregate of error variables
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981). The recommended value of the composite reliability is above
0.70, which is similar to Cronbach’s coefficient (Hair et al., 1998). The composite reliabilities
for the constructs ranged from 0.73 to 0.85. Then, the constructs reliability was confirmed.
By checking the AVE, convergent validity was confirmed (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).
AVE higher than the recommended value of 0.5 indicates that convergent validity is
 Factor
Thai Airways
Constructs and items loadings

Decision convenience
I expended just a little time to gather information for creating decision to select this airline 0.72
It was simple for me to gather information for creating decision to select this airline 0.80
The information I received from the airline was incredibly clear 0.75
The information I received from the airline extremely impressed me to decide 0.68 49
Access convenience
I accessed the departure airport effortlessly 0.80
I transferred through the services at the departure airport with little effort 0.88
I did not wait a long time at the departure airport 0.89
It is easy to contact an employee of the airline at the departure airport if necessary 0.82
Transaction convenience
Airline’s personnel simplified it for me to conduct the transaction 0.58
I was able to complete the transaction quickly 0.86
I did not have any difficulty to make much effort to pay for the service 0.77
Benefit convenience
I was able to get the benefits of the in-flight services with little effort 0.82
The in-flight services were easy to use 0.69
The time required to receive the benefits of the in-flight service was appropriate 0.76
Post-benefit convenience
Airline’s employees quickly resolved any problems I had with the flight at the arrival airport 0.74
It was extremely easy for me to get services at the arrival airport 0.85
I did not wait a long time before leaving the arrival airport 0.82
Tangibles
Appearance, attitudes and uniforms of employees were qualified 0.68
Quality of in-flight environment and seating facilities was suitable 0.82
Variety and quality of in-flight meals was suitable 0.63
Variety and choices of in-flight entertainment facilities was sufficient 0.78
Reliability
Efficiency of the check-in process was qualified 0.73
Transfer service and efficiency of the airports were qualified 0.72
On-time performance of scheduled flights was proper 0.87
Remedial procedures for delayed or missing baggage were suitable 0.80
Responsiveness
Airline’s employees were capable to response to emergency situations 0.81
Airline’s employees had prompt attention to passengers’ specific needs 0.79
Airline’s employees understood the specific needs of passengers 0.62
Airline’s employees had sufficient capacity to respond to canceled or delayed flights 0.82
Assurance
Airline’s employees had sincerity and patience in resolving passengers’ problems 0.68
Airline’s employees did safety performance well 0.59
Airline’s employees had knowledgeable and skillful provision of services 0.87
Airline’s employees had sincere and responsive attitude to passenger complaints 0.86
Empathy
Ticketing channels were numerous and easy to use 0.84
Airline’s flight attendants were able to speak various dialects 0.82
Table III.
Constructs, items and
(continued ) factor loadings
IJQRM Factor
36,1 Constructs and items loadings

Airline had convenient flight scheduling 0.79

Spontaneous care and concern for passengers’ needs was qualified 0.81
Frequent cabin service rounds by flight attendants were suitable 0.84
50 Customer satisfaction
I am satisfied of my decision to use the services of this airline 0.80
I am satisfied of the services provided by this airline 0.63
I am totally satisfied with the airline 0.86
Word of mouth
I will say positive things about this airline to others 0.81
I will recommend this airline to people asking my opinion 0.78
Table III. I encourage my friends and my relatives to use the services of this airline 0.75

Factor Reliability 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Dec 0.80 0.74

2. Acc 0.85 0.24 0.55
3. Tra 0.74 0.58 0.22 0.62
4. Ben 0.76 0.18 0.11 0.25 0.68
5. Pben 0.80 0.02 0.01 0.13 0.23 0.73
6. Tan 0.73 0.32 0.31 0.47 0.42 0.19 0.71
7. Rel 0.78 0.22 0.16 0.45 0.43 0.22 0.61 0.58
8. Res 0.76 0.28 0.40 0.30 0.19 0.02 0.06 0.28 0.62
Table IV.
9. Ass 0.75 0.60 0.62 0.22 0.23 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.25 0.72
Assessment of
reliability, average 10. Emp 0.82 0.48 0.49 0.18 0.22 0.21 0.36 0.21 0.03 0.14 0.70
variance extracted 11. Cs 0.76 0.19 0.22 0.21 0.14 0.16 0.04 0.19 0.14 0.08 0.24 0.65
and discriminant 12. Wom 0.78 0.53 0.49 0.41 0.18 0.31 0.20 0.17 0.33 0.05 0.22 0.28 0.69
validity Note: Diagonal elements (in italic) are square roots of average variance extracted

supported (Hair et al., 1998). The AVE scores of the factors ranged from 0.55 to 0.74,
demonstrating the adequate convergent validity.
By comparing the shared variance among factors with the AVE of the individual factor,
discriminant validity was tested (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As represented in Table IV, the
AVEs of the respective constructs are greater than the shared variances among factors in all
cases verifying discriminant validity of the measurement model. Eventually, the
measurement model provides acceptable reliability, convergent validity and discriminant
validity. The research can therefore continue to an analysis of the structural model.

Structural model analysis

The fit-model indices with the measured values in structural model provided to show the
indication of a good model fit ( χ2/df ¼ 1.678, RMSEA ¼ 0.024, GFI ¼ 0.912, NFI ¼ 0.908,
NNFI ¼ 0.948, CFI ¼ 0.962, IFI ¼ 0.958). The casual paths comprising standardized path
coefficients are explained in the research model (see Figure 2).

Testing of hypotheses
The results of the study showed that all dimensions of service convenience, which include
decision convenience (on tangibles with β ¼ 0.89, on reliability with β ¼ 0.90, on
 H1 ( = 0.89, 0.64, 0.56, 0.79, 0.83)
H2 ( = 0.90, 0.65, 0.72, 0.78, 0.81)
Thai Airways
Decision H3 ( = 0.76, 0.49, 0.56, 0.60, 0.69) Tangibles
H4 ( = 0.99, 0.54, 0.74, 0.86, 0.91)
Access H5 ( = 0.87, 0.57, 0.68, 0.73, 0.85) Reliability

Transaction Service Service Responsiveness

convenience quality
Benefit Assurance 51
H6 ( = 0.85) H7 ( = 0.74) H8 ( = 0.59)
Post-benefit ( = 0.40) ( = 0.92) ( = –0.74) Empathy
( = 0.29) ( = –0.52) ( = 0.88)
( = 0.60) ( = 0.63) ( = 0.78)
( = 0.67) ( = 0.42) ( = 0.93)
Figure 2.
Customer H9 ( = 0.84) Word of The model of service
satisfaction mouth convenience, service
quality, customer
satisfaction and word
Notes: Model fit (2/df = 1.678, RMSEA = 0.024, GFI = 0.912, NFI = 0.908, NNFI = 0.948, of mouth
CFI = 0.962, IFI = 0.958); Significant at p <0.05

responsiveness with β ¼ 0.76, on assurance with β ¼ 0.99, on empathy with β ¼ 0.87), access
convenience (on tangibles with β ¼ 0.64, on reliability with β ¼ 0.65, on responsiveness
β ¼ 0.49, on assurance with β ¼ 0.54, on empathy with β ¼ 0.57), transaction convenience (on
tangibles with β ¼ 0.56, on reliability with β ¼ 0.72, on responsiveness with β ¼ 0.56, on
assurance with β ¼ 0.74, on empathy β ¼ 0.68), benefit convenience (on tangibles with
β ¼ 0.79, on reliability with β ¼ 0.78, on responsiveness with β ¼ 0.60, on assurance
with β ¼ 0.86, on empathy with β ¼ 0.73) and post-benefit convenience (on tangibles with
β ¼ 0.83, on reliability with β ¼ 0.82, on responsiveness with β ¼ 0.69, on assurance
with β ¼ 0.91, on empathy with β ¼ 0.85), have the positive significant influences on each
dimension of service quality. Therefore, H1–H5 are supported. The results indicate support
for H6 stating that service convenience dimensions including decision, access, transaction,
benefit and post-benefit have the significant positive effects on customer satisfaction
( β ¼ 0.85, 0.40, 0.29, 0.60, 0.67, respectively). There is support for H7, which submits that
service quality dimensions have the significant positive effects on customer satisfaction
( β ¼ 0.74, 0.92, −0.52, 0.63, 0.42). However, responsiveness is negatively related to customer
satisfaction. Service quality dimensions also have the significant positive effects on word of
mouth ( β ¼ 0.59, −0.74, 0.88, 0.78, 0.93), indicating support for H8. However, reliability is
negatively related to word of mouth.
In addition, it was hypothesized that customer satisfaction have a positive significant
influence on word of mouth ( β ¼ 0.84). Thus, H9 is supported.
Furthermore, the findings regarding indirect effects among the constructs demonstrate
that service convenience dimensions (decision, access, transaction, benefit and post-benefit)
have the significant indirect effect on word of mouth (mediated through service quality and
customer satisfaction). Besides the direct effect of service quality dimensions, the study
confirmed that all dimensions of service quality have the significant indirect influence of
word of mouth through customer satisfaction. Table V shows direct and indirect
standardized regression coefficients and significance (at p o0.05) of the hypotheses testing.

6. Discussion and implications

The result of the study provided some discussion and implication. The current research
examines effects of service convenience, service quality and customer satisfaction on the
creation of word of mouth in airline industry. According to hypothesis testing in this
IJQRM Path Effect Estimates p-value
36,1
Dec→Tan Direct 0.89 0.000
Dec→Rel Direct 0.90 0.011
Dec→Res Direct 0.76 0.001
Dec→Ass Direct 0.99 0.001
Dec→Emp Direct 0.87 0.000
52 Dec→Cs Direct 0.85 0.000
Indirect 0.81 0.002
Dec→Wom Indirect 0.88 0.005
Acc→Tan Direct 0.64 0.000
Acc→Rel Direct 0.65 0.000
Acc→Res Direct 0.49 0.000
Acc→Ass Direct 0.54 0.000
Acc→Emp Direct 0.57 0.000
Acc→Cs Direct 0.40 0.000
Indirect 0.36 0.001
Acc→Wom Indirect 0.62 0.008
Tra→Tan Direct 0.56 0.000
Tra→Rel Direct 0.72 0.000
Tra→Res Direct 0.56 0.000
Tra→Ass Direct 0.74 0.001
Tra→Emp Direct 0.68 0.003
Tra→Cs Direct 0.29 0.010
Indirect 0.26 0.023
Tra→Wom Indirect 0.52 0.002
Ben→Tan Direct 0.79 0.000
Ben→Rel Direct 0.78 0.001
Ben→Res Direct 0.60 0.001
Ben→Ass Direct 0.86 0.000
Ben→Emp Direct 0.73 0.000
Ben→Cs Direct 0.60 0.000
Indirect 0.48 0.009
Ben→Wom Indirect 0.64 0.002
Pben→Tan Direct 0.83 0.000
Pben→Rel Direct 0.81 0.001
Pben→Res Direct 0.69 0.000
Pben→Ass Direct 0.91 0.000
Pben→Emp Direct 0.85 0.007
Pben→Cs Direct 0.67 0.000
Indirect 0.41 0.005
Pben→Wom Indirect 0.79 0.010
Tan→Cs Direct 0.54 0.000
Tan→Wom Direct 0.49 0.016
Indirect 0.09 0.005
Rel→Cs Direct 0.72 0.000
Rel→Wom Direct −0.74 0.000
Indirect −0.16 0.001
Res→Cs Direct −0.81 0.000
Res→Wom Direct 0.63 0.000
Indirect 0.19 0.012
Ass→Cs Direct 0.43 0.000
Ass→Wom Direct 0.63 0.000
Indirect 0.16 0.002
Emp→Cs Direct 0.22 0.000
Table V. Emp→Wom Direct 0.65 0.000
Standardized direct Indirect 0.21 0.001
and indirect effects Cs→Wom Direct 0.64 0.000
research, word of mouth is positively and significantly influenced by service convenience Thai Airways
dimensions (i.e., decision, access, transaction, benefit and post-benefit), service quality
dimensions (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) and
customer satisfaction.
The results of the study confirm that that service convenience has the significant direct
and indirect influences on service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction. Based on
the results, service convenience dimensions positively and significantly influence service 53
quality dimensions and customer satisfaction. These findings support the inclusion of
service convenience as an antecedent of both service quality and satisfaction (Berry et al.,
2002). This study also indicates that decision convenience has the highest effect on two
mediating constructs (service quality and customer satisfaction). It influences tangibles
( β ¼ 0.89), reliability ( β ¼ 0.90), responsiveness ( β ¼ 0.76), assurance ( β ¼ 0.99), empathy
( β ¼ 0.87) and customer satisfaction ( β ¼ 0.85). The study demonstrates that decision
convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience and post-
benefit convenience have the indirect effects on customer satisfaction through service
quality ( β ¼ 0.81, β ¼ 0.36, β ¼ 0.26, β ¼ 0.48, β ¼ 0.41, respectively). Decision convenience
also has the most indirect effect on customer satisfaction. In addition, findings show that
service convenience dimensions have the indirect significant effect on word of mouth. The
results demonstrate that decision convenience once more has the most influence on word of
mouth ( β ¼ 0.88). Following the decision convenience, post-benefit convenience ( β ¼ 0.79),
benefit convenience ( β ¼ 0.64), access convenience ( β ¼ 0.62) and transaction convenience
( β ¼ 0.52), respectively, have the highest effect on word of mouth.
According to the study’s findings, service quality positively and significantly influences
customer satisfaction and word of mouth. Also, all dimensions of service quality have the
positive significant effect on customer satisfaction and word of mouth. This result supports
the point of views of previous studies indicating that perceived service quality is an
antecedent of customer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Parasuraman et al., 1988), and
promotes positive word of mouth (Lovelock et al., 1996). The study validates that reliability
has the most positive effect on customer satisfaction ( β ¼ 0.92). Additionally, empathy has
the highest positive influence on word of mouth ( β ¼ 0.93). Besides the direct effect of the
service quality on word of mouth, all dimensions of service quality have the significant
indirect effect on word of mouth (mediated through customer satisfaction). The two direct
and indirect paths altogether provide a fundamental value of total influence ( β ¼ 0.162) of
empathy on word of mouth.
The study illustrates the positive effect of customer satisfaction on word of mouth.
Therefore, satisfaction has been found to be positively and significantly correlated with
word of mouth (Gotlieb et al., 1994; Nyer, 1997).

7. Managerial implications
The findings of this study have several imperative implications for managers of airlines.
First, current research confirms that service convenience has the significant indirect
influence on word of mouth through the two crucial mediating factors (i.e., service quality
and customer satisfaction). Among the service convenience dimensions, decision has the
greatest impact on word of mouth. The study also proves that decision convenience has the
most positive significant effect on word of mouth compared to service quality dimensions
and customer satisfaction. Therefore, to continue a high level of positive word of mouth,
airline managers should consider better quality and attractiveness of information for
customers to impress them well. By creating and developing the plan in order to increase the
quickness of obtaining information, the customers can gather the favorable information
faster and by a little time. With more available information, customers are likely to devote
more cognitive effort to their decision processes because they can see the potential for
IJQRM realizing additional benefits (e.g. more informed or improved choices; lower prices) through
36,1 additional effort ( Johnson and Payne, 1985). The study implies that similar to decision
convenience, the higher access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience
and post-benefit convenience will result in more word of mouth. It can be accomplished in
the airlines services by proceedings, such as convenient transfer through the services at the
departure airport; completing transaction to be done rapidly; decreasing expecting time at
54 departure and arrival airports.
Second, this study indicates that service quality has the direct and indirect effect on word
of mouth of airline. Empathy directly and indirectly has the highest positive influence on
word of mouth. Thus, airlines employees are recommended to provide the good spontaneous
care and concern for passengers’ needs. Airlines customers are incomparable and superior
and expect to be paid attention to their requirements individually. Empathy is a strong
predictor of word of mouth (Chaniotakis and Lymperopoulos, 2009).
The study also demonstrates that three dimensions of service quality (i.e. tangibles, reliability,
responsiveness and assurance) have the significant direct and indirect effect on word of mouth.
The providers of service may think about developing the service quality to expand word of
mouth by doing procedures such as the worthy appearance, attitudes and uniforms of employees
with the qualified in-flight environment; providing better on-time performance of scheduled
flights; Having the sufficient knowledge to response passengers’ questions and providing the
space of sincerity and be patience in resolving passengers’ problems to impress them.

8. Conclusions
This study evaluated the factors influencing word of mouth in airline industry by
considering service convenience components, service quality dimensions and customer
satisfaction. The target population for this study was international flight passengers of
THAI. The following paragraphs show the conclusions for the research.
This study presents that all components of service convenience have the significant
indirect influence on word of mouth through two key mediating factors (service quality and
customer satisfaction). Service convenience dimensions also have the significant indirect
influence on customer satisfaction through service quality. Among the service convenience
dimensions, decision convenience has the most positive influence on word of mouth. It also
has the greatest effect on each dimension of service quality. Based on the findings, decision
convenience has the highest direct and indirect effect on customer satisfaction. The study
also confirms that decision convenience has the greatest positive significant influence on
word of mouth compared to service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction.
This research indicates that each dimension of service quality has the significant direct
and indirect (through customer satisfaction) effect on word of mouth, although the direct effect
of service quality dimensions on word of mouth is greater than their indirect effect. The study
confirms that empathy has highest significant direct and indirect influence on word of mouth.
By better understanding how airlines customers respect their flight experience, airlines
planners should be able to employ more effective marketing strategies of special and
improved services to meet customers’ actual needs. Once customers realize their flight
experiences are valuable, the higher satisfaction would occur and it increases and keeps
positive word of mouth for the company. The issues allows better understanding of
customers’ perception of service convenience and service quality and the role of them in
customers’ satisfaction and achieving the word of mouth about the airline organization
should be addressed and warrant future study.

Limitations and further research studies

There are several recommendations from researcher that would be highlighted so as to
provide a reference for the future study and those references could help other researchers to
make improvement in the future research. First, this research investigated about the Thai Airways
influence of service convenience, service quality and customer satisfaction on the word of
mouth of THAI in Bangkok, Thailand. There might be additional factors influencing with
THAI customers’ word of mouth. Moreover, in this research, service convenience influenced
word of mouth indirectly. It might directly influence on the customers’ word of mouth.
Second, in this study the data were collected from Thai and international passengers of
THAI only for international flights, and in arrival section of international terminal at the 55
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. For future study, other researchers should
research about the data from different target groups, geographic areas or other countries.
Finally, the target market of this study is the customers of who experienced the services of
this airline. As different target market, future researchers can select customers who have no
experience about the airline services, and study about the expectation and attitude that may
intend to use the airline.

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Corresponding author
Arash Ahmadi can be contacted at: aras_fakhim@yahoo.com

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