The Impact Of Reference Source Of Air Ticket Price On Passenger Price Fairness Perception

With the rapid development of air transport industry,aircraft has become the mode of transportation that more and more people choose when they travel.Because of the influence of market competition,time and route,air fares are often complex and changeable.When passengers find that the ticket price is higher than their expected price or the ticket price of other passengers on the same flight,many passengers will have a sense of injustice and negative emotions.The price reference source of passengers is very wide,which easily makes passengers compare with them and cause a sense of injustice.The unfairness of passengers will lead to very adverse results for both passengers and airlines: including the reduction of perceived value of consumers,the generation of negative emotions,the decline of satisfaction and loyalty,and the reduction of the willingness to buy again.Firstly,this study establishes a price equity perception model on the basis of relevant theories,classifies the price reference sources for different reasons,and makes corresponding assumptions about the content of the study.Then,through the experimental design and empirical research,the impacts of different price references on passengers’ perception of fairness and negative emotions,satisfaction and loyalty are studied.Finally,based on the experimental results and conclusions,this study puts forward some suggestions on airline pricing strategy.The main conclusions of this study are as follows.Firstly,compared with different reasons and different types of price reference sources,passengers have different perceptions of price fairness.Secondly,perceptions of price fairness have a positive impact on passengers’ satisfaction and loyalty to airlines.Thirdly,when there is a negative price comparison for passengers,passengers will have certain negative emotions no matter what reasons.Moreover,negative emotions will have a negative impact on passengers’ satisfaction and loyalty to airlines.