Confucian air: examining the effects of East Asian culture on the quality of service provision in an airline context

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the traditional SERVQUAL scale and a newly developed scale called the Confucian Branded Service Quality (CBSQ) on customer loyalty, mediated by satisfaction and perceived competitiveness. The study distinguishes between a well established Western construction of service quality, and a newly proposed measure that is the CBSQ that captures the underlying cultural influences of East Asian values on service staff performance. The focus is on distinguishing the two service quality scales, and how these impact customer loyalty in a commercial airline context. Using original data collected from a survey of 476 respondents, service quality models in two categories (East Asian airlines and Western airlines) were tested. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied, resulting in models for the two airline categories, establishing notable differences in perceptions of service quality between Asian and Western airlines. Furthermore, the level of Confucian values of two distinct ethnic groups (East Asian and Caucasian) was measured to determine what effect this has on consumer evaluation and preference for either Asian or Western airlines. The results indicated that high Confucian values were not wholly unique to individuals of East Asian ethnicity, as previously thought, and that many of the same values are held by the Caucasian ethnic group. Ultimately, the study establishes key differences in customer loyalty between the two airline categories, as well as the mediating role of satisfaction and perceived competitiveness, providing a framework for future service quality research and East Asian studies.