Passengers' service perceptions emerging from user-generated content during the pandemic: the case of leading low-cost carriers

Abstract

PurposeAlthough a vast amount of research has been started to gauge customer satisfaction using surveys, the influence of COVID-19 on passengers' satisfaction has not received enough attention. Hence, the primary purpose of this research is to determine the dominant themes that emerged from airline travelers' online reviews and to determine attributes that are pertinent to the satisfaction of passengers flying with low-cost carriers (LCC) during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, this study investigates whether the salient themes of passengers' overall experiences vary by traveler origin, which may give more insight into airline sector market segmentation.Design/methodology/approachLeximancer software was used to construct concepts from words, followed by themes in the data analysis.FindingsThe analyses revealed eight themes in descriptions of “travel experiences” for airline passengers. These are “flights,” “staff,” “service,” “hygiene,” “cancellations,” “legroom,” “COVID-19” and “test”. Negative reviews associated with “cancellations,” “refund,” “waiting” and “baggage” (handling) concepts.Originality/valueThe findings provide important information about airline passengers' overall experiences. Limited studies have comprehensively considered various satisfaction categories of airline travelers using online reviews.

Customer experience management in capsule hotels: a content analysis of guest online review

“…The theme of staff is mainly used in positive tones in the reviews shared by tourists accommodating in capsule hotels. This conclusion is in line with the findings of Sulu et al (2021) and Saydam et al (2022a, b, c). Brochado et al .…”

“…Due to the rising prevalence of the Internet and social media, customers increasingly rely on user-generated content to collect information and make their decisions (Abdullah et al , 2022; Saydam et al , 2022a, b, c). As a result of the lack of user-generated content in capsule hotels, the purposive sample approach was used, and the top 10 capsule hotels in the globe based on booking.com reviews were analyzed.…”

“…The top ten capsule hotels were chosen based on their popularity index and the number of reviews per hotel. Thereafter, Leximancer 4.5 was used for analysis due to its exploratory and predictive capabilities (Saydam et al , 2022a, b, c). The locations of the hotels are shown in Table 1.…”

“…This program uses a two-organized analytical approach for dealing with extricating co-event data to conduct theoretical and social research (Dambo et al , 2020). Hence, Leximancer determines the similarity of reformulated ideas and forms where these ideas are linguistically interconnected to create a graphic representation of the results (Saydam et al , 2022a, b, c). In addition, Figure 2 illustrates the research’s visual portrayal in greater detail.…”

An analysis of British Michelin-starred restaurants: guests' online reviews

“…, 2020; Olorunsola et al ., 2022a; Saydam et al. , 2022a, b, c). This behavior is particularly prominent among customers seeking intangible and experience-based services, such as restaurant dining, where UGC holds more credibility than information provided by brands.…”