Price Fairness of Airline Ancillary Fees

Abstract

Charging airline fees has recently been a controversial issue in terms of price fairness. Nonetheless, few researchers have studied price fairness in the tourism literature. This study aimed to examine the antecedents and consequences of tourists’ perceived price fairness of ancillary revenues. From an attributional perspective, a conceptual model was expected to complement shortcomings of the traditional dual entitlement principle. Data were collected from U.S. domestic airline passengers through an online survey (n = 524) and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results suggest that price comparison and cognitive attribution influence price fairness, which, in turn, leads to emotional response and behavioral intentions. Results provide potentially important directions for the development of a theoretical framework of price fairness in a tourism context. It is further expected that the findings of this study provide managerial guidance for the utilization of marketing strategy for airline management.