Determinants of travellers’ expenditures at airports

Abstract

This study applies a Double-Hurdle Model to a sample of 2,723 passengers to analyse whether socio-demographics (i.e. gender, age, level of education, income and place of residence), travel-related variables (i.e. type of accommodation and travel party) and flight-related determinants (i.e. check-in mode, wait time) and the pre- intention to buy significantly influence passengers’ shopping behaviours (i.e. to buy or not to buy and the amount of money to be spent). Findings reveal that the ‘decision to buy’ is significantly influenced by travel-related (i.e. type of accommodation and travel party) and flight-related (i.e. wait time) variables only. On the contrary, the level of expenditure is significantly influenced by socio-demographics (i.e. age and income), travel-related variables (i.e. type of accommodation and travel party), flight-related variables (i.e. type of check-in) and pre-intention to buy. Overall, findings show that the determinants of ‘decision to buy’ and of ‘how much to spend’ are not the same. Furthermore, a key highlight is that the check-in modality exerts a significant influence on the level of expenditure, with passengers making their check-in in a traditional modality spending more than their counterparts who check- in online. Contributions to theory and managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.