Integrating fuzzy integral with multinomial logit model to evaluate the effects of service quality on traveling airline choice

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of service quality on traveling airline choice by integrating the Multinomial Logit model and fuzzy integral. Linguistic variables which could deal with the ambiguity of service quality are used to measure the scores and weights of evaluating criterion. Four types of fuzzy membership functions are designed to reflect the heterogeneity of linguistic scales across individuals. Fuzzy integral and measure are employed to conduct with the dependencies of criteria in calculating the constructs of service quality. Then these quantitative constructs are specified into Multinomial Logit model to investigate their influences in choosing airlines. The empirical study is focused on the airline choice behavior of four domestic airlines in Taiwan. The results reveal that the proposed method can effectively process the fuzziness of the criteria and the non-additive of weights and even significantly enhance the explanatory and predictive powers of the discrete choice model. In addition, schedule and premium is the most critical factor among the three service quality constructs influencing airline choice behavior. In the marketing strategy, F-airline and U-airline should focus on the business travelers while T airline should adopt the discount strategy to those price-sensitivity travelers. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.