Top purchase intention priorities of Vietnamese low cost carrier passengers: expectations and satisfaction

This study investigates whether service quality, customer expectation, perceived value, and customer satisfaction have significantly positive impacts on purchase intention in the Vietnam's low cost carrier (LCC) industry. The mediating role of customer satisfaction is also examined. Some of our findings are consistent with the literature, related to both LCCs and full service industries, to confirm that customer expectations directly affect satisfaction. However, different from the literature related to full service industry, our results conclude no significant influences of perceived value and service quality on customer satisfaction and purchase intention, inferring that budget air's passengers purchasing is not due to its good service quality or perceived value, but because their expectations are met. Our findings also suggest that customer satisfaction can fully mediate the positive relationship between customer expectation and purchase intention. Purchase intention of air passengers could thus be explained through the pathway in which customer satisfaction plays the role of a mediating variable in the relationship between customer expectation and purchase intention. This study not only enriches the existing literature, but also provides a valuable assistance and guidance to LCCs for their strategic marketing plans and business improvement.