CRM in the Context of Airline Industry: A Case Study of Mexican Airline

The airline industry is known as high-tech industry that leads other business sectors, serving as a technological role-model. This paper proposes a conceptual model for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementation in the airline industry, using a case study of a Mexican airline. The authors provide new theoretical grounds for studying the CRM. This study is an empirical assessment of the CRM model and also assesses the basic phases of the CRM implementation which are 1) Information Phase, 2) Trust Phase and 3) Objectives Phase. DOI: 10.4018/jcrmm.2010040103 36 International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, 1(2), 35-42, April-June 2010 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. tain and satisfy needs to maximise relations for long run. Last decade, business activities were totally affected by new concepts of marketing; as rules of today business’s game have changed since the birth of innovative customer services systems. Modern and quality service operations have taken place to act as front role-play to maximize business development. Customers now consider the basics of service and increasingly want a company to treat and help them in a personal caring way. As information is easily available on Internet and this provide strong support to make decision after careful judgement, keeping in mind the return of money and maximum satisfaction. In such situation, Airlines have numerous things other then price to offer to customers. For this reason, many quality services including personal care, loyalty programs, airport clubs, friendly and relaxed atmosphere and other extra benefits are offered to consumer to add value that ultimately result in customers relationship and company competitiveness and sustainability. However, although the positive impact of CRM on organizations has been addressed in many studies (Avlonitis & Panagopoulos, 2005; Eid, 2007; Hart et al., 2004; Kennedy & King, 2004; Tellefsen & Thomas, 2005; Xu et al., 2002) and there have been a number of attempts to identify the important factors for CRM implementation (Abdullah et al., 2000; Eid, 2007; Fjermestad et al., 2003; Jutla et al., 2001; Ocker & Mudambi, 2003) few of them can provide strong theoretical or statistical support to show how airlines companies could utilize the CRM approach to meet day-to-day customers’ expectation and using to achieve competitive advantages. Hence, Full-scale research conducted in a highly scientific manner must be undertaken. To fill this gap various articles and empirical research on marketing and IT were studied. The findings of these studies identified three stages for the effective implementation of the CRM. Definitions, techniques and discussion on these phases and how could they affect the relationship effectiveness and marketing objectives are described in the following sections. objeCtives of the paper The present paper pursues the following objectives: • To examine and analyse the effects of CRM and its contribution towards airline industry, • To develop and clarify a conceptual framework integrating CRM constructs, and its consequences on airline customers’ satisfaction and, • To specify and test hypothesised relationships derived from the conceptual framework after discussing and analyzing the case study of Mexicana Airlines. In the following sections, first the development of the conceptual model of the study is presented. Next, the methodology of the study is discussed followed by the analysis and results. More specifically, the conceptual model is tested using the data that has been collected based on the case study. Finally, the conclusions and their implications are discussed. literature revieW and ConCeptual Model The conceptual model of this study is drawn from two streams of research: IT literature, and current relationship marketing theory. Figure 1 shows the conceptual model with the linkages between the constructs. These linkages cover three stages: 1. The effect of the information stage as expressed by the database and interaction, on trust stage, as expressed by add value and loyalty. 2. The relationships between the trust stage and the objective stage expressed by Commitment & Promises and Benefits 6 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/crm-context-airlineindustry/43548? camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Business, Administration, and Management, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Digital Marketing, EBusiness, and E-Services eJournal Collection, InfoSciSelect. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/? id=2