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Perceived Justice and the Sharing of Brand Experience in Virtual Travel Communities: A Study of Airline Passengers

Abeer Abdelrahman Mahrous

DOI: https://doi.org/....................

Abstract

This study examines the causal relationship between perceived justice, emotions, and the sharing of brand experiences by airline passengers on virtual travel communities. Additionally, it investigates how passengers’ meta-perception and social media usage characteristics moderate the association between perceived justice and the sharing of brand experiences. The study utilizes a mixed methods approach, employing both a critical incident approach and a factorial design experiment to explore the proposed relationships. The critical incident approach involves conducting interviews with a convenient sample of 16 travelers, comprising both genders. These interviews aim to identify issues that arise from the travelers’ perspective when receiving services, as well as to understand the dimensions of perceived justice and the associated emotions during service recovery. By analyzing the anecdotes gathered through the critical incident approach and synthesizing the existing literature, hypotheses are formulated and subsequently tested using a factorial design experiment. Data for the experiment are collected through a convenient sample using the mall intercept technique, resulting in a total of 171 randomly assigned scenarios. The findings reveal that perceived justice and emotions play a crucial role in explaining the sharing of brand experiences within social media-based travel communities. These findings offer valuable insights for the airline industry and online travel communities, particularly in managing service recovery and enhancing brand experiences.

Key Words

Sharing brand experience, Airline industry, Online travel communities, Emotions, Meta-perceptions

Author Biography

Abeer Abdelrahman Mahrous
Professor of Marketing, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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