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Does Price Matter? Price and Non-price Competition in the Airline Industry

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  • Philip G. Gayle

Abstract

This paper studies passengers' choice behavior in air travel. Products are defined as a unique combination of airline and flight itinerary while markets are defined as a directional round-trip air travel between an origin and a destination city. A structural econometric model is used to investigate the relative importance of price (airfare) and non-price product characteristics in explaining passengers' choice of these differentiated products. The results suggest that, on average, prices may not be as important as we think in explaining passengers' choice behavior among alternative products. Non-price characteristics which may include convenience of flight schedules, frequent flyer programs, the quality of in-flight service, among other things, seem to be much more important in explaining passengers' choice behavior. As such, the results have implications for the focus of antitrust policies in the airline industry when assessing the impact of mergers, alliances, or other business decisions of airlines

Suggested Citation

  • Philip G. Gayle, 2004. "Does Price Matter? Price and Non-price Competition in the Airline Industry," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 163, Econometric Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecm:nasm04:163
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Bachis & Claudio A. Piga, 2006. "Hub Premium, Airport Dominance and Market Power in the European Airline Industry," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 96(5), pages 11-54, September.
    2. Manuela Rozalia Gabor & Mihaela Kardos & Flavia Dana Oltean, 2022. "Yield Management—A Sustainable Tool for Airline E-Commerce: Dynamic Comparative Analysis of E-Ticket Prices for Romanian Full-Service Airline vs. Low-Cost Carriers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Manuela Jr., Wilfred S. & Rhoades, Dawna L. & Curtis, Tamilla, 2019. "Market power at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: The case of Alaska Airlines," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 90-99.
    4. Gang-Hoon Seo & Munehiko Itoh, 2020. "Perceptions of Customers as Sustained Competitive Advantages of Global Marketing Airline Alliances: A Hybrid Text Mining Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Steven Berry & Panle Jia, 2010. "Tracing the Woes: An Empirical Analysis of the Airline Industry," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-43, August.
    6. Button, Kenneth & Martini, Gianmaria & Scotti, Davide & Volta, Nicola, 2019. "Airline regulation and common markets in Sub-Saharan Africa," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 81-91.
    7. Morlotti, Chiara & Cattaneo, Mattia & Malighetti, Paolo & Redondi, Renato, 2017. "Multi-dimensional price elasticity for leisure and business destinations in the low-cost air transport market: Evidence from easyJet," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 23-34.
    8. Tonnerre, Antoine, 2017. "Merger Simulations in the American Airline Industry," MPRA Paper 84395, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrete Choice; Mixed Logit; Airlines; Hub and Spoke Network; Frequent Flyer Programs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables

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