Influential Factors on Word of Mouth in Service Industries (The case of Iran Airline Company)

Abstract

Word of mouth has become a strong promotional instrument and an important source of information effective in consumer's attitudes and behaviors, especially in the field of service where the consumer's believes play an important role in choosing it. Word of mouth is very important in service industries, because intangible products can't be evaluated before consumption. The present study examines the factors effective in the formation of word of mouth about the services of airline companies and their results. The population of the research is all of the passengers used the services of Iran Air Company in the period of conducting the research. The sample size was estimated 212 using Cochran's formula. The convenience sampling plan was used for data collection. Pearson's correlation test and the structural equation modeling were used for testing the hypotheses. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and AMOS software. Findings show that satisfaction, trust, service quality, the perceived value and loyalty are the factors effective in the formation of word of mouth about airline companies and can directly and indirectly affect on customers' decision about using the services of these companies.

Keywords: Word of mouth, Consumer's behavior, Airline company, Structural equation modeling