Customer Responses to Airline Service Failure: Perspectives from Expectation Disconfirmation Theory

Air service failures and negative customer reactions have been the subjects of increasing media attention in recent years. Drawing upon the expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT), this study investigates the impact of airline service failures on various negative emotions and negative behaviors of customers based on prior expectations and actual experiences after a service failure. The collected data was from 561 customers who experienced an air service failure within the past 6 months. The results show that, consistent with the EDT theory, prior expectations and actual experiences when an airline service failure occurs lead to disconfirmation, and this determines the negative emotions of customers. The results also show that, worry and frustration only lead to negative word-of-mouth intentions. Meanwhile, anger over an airline service failure will affect both complaints, negative word-of-mouth, and intention to switch to another airline. This study contributes by expanding and showcasing the applicability of the EDT theory to the domain of airline service failures. Plain Language Summary Customer Responses to Airline Service Failure Air service failures and negative customer reactions are topics of increasing interest in recent times, both practice and academic. Although there are few previous studies on this topic, this study is based on the expectation disconfirmation theory to examine the effect of airline service failures on negative emotions and negative behavior of customers. The collected data was from 561 customers who experienced an air service failure within the past 6 months. The results show that, consistent with the expectation disconfirmation theory, prior expectations and actual experiences when an airline service failure occurs lead to disconfirmation, and this determines the negative emotions of customers. The results also show that, worry and frustration only lead to negative word-of-mouth intentions. Meanwhile, anger over an airline service failure will affect both complaints, negative word-of-mouth, and intention to switch to another airline. The contribution of this study is extending and demonstrating the relevance of EDT theory to the context of airline service failures. Implications and recommendations for future research are also provided.