An examination of the linkages among website characteristics, brand love, and word of mouth in the airline industry

Abstract

The prime purpose of this paper was to explore the association among website characteristics (information quality, system quality, perceived security, and visual appearance) and brand love in the airline industry. It also aimed to verify if brand love has a relationship with word of mouth. A questionnaire was utilized for collecting the data from several airline passengers in the UAE. All responses were quantitatively analyzed via PLS-SEM. The findings showed that information quality and system quality positively influence brand love. It was also found that perceived security and visual appearance are positively correlated with brand love. Finally, the analysis verified that brand love has a positive impact on word of mouth. This paper provides valuable implications to the management in the airline industry. Specifically, the results could be useful for marketing practitioners in the industry to devise strategies aimed at minimizing the risks in the online booking context, particularly security aspects to attain greater performance.