TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of Fear of Flying on Travelers' Flight Choice
T2 - Choice Model with Latent Variables
AU - Fleischer, Aliza
AU - Tchetchik, Anat
AU - Toledo, Tomer
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - Flying is an important part of the tourist experience and a substantial component of its cost. While travelers' decision making regarding air travel has been studied, the role of fear of flying (FOF), a very common phenomenon among air passengers, in the process has not been explicitly addressed. Since airline safety levels are difficult to assess, passengers who have FOF employ other attributes of the itinerary as a means of alleviating their fear. Based on a stated preference experiment and accounting specifically for FOF as a latent variable, we established that the individuals' level of FOF affects the value they place on attributes of flight itineraries. We show that home carriers, scheduled carriers, and nonstop flights are fear-alleviating attributes. We also show that the price elasticities of demand for flights are smaller in absolute terms among people with a high level of FOF compared to their counterparts with low FOF.
AB - Flying is an important part of the tourist experience and a substantial component of its cost. While travelers' decision making regarding air travel has been studied, the role of fear of flying (FOF), a very common phenomenon among air passengers, in the process has not been explicitly addressed. Since airline safety levels are difficult to assess, passengers who have FOF employ other attributes of the itinerary as a means of alleviating their fear. Based on a stated preference experiment and accounting specifically for FOF as a latent variable, we established that the individuals' level of FOF affects the value they place on attributes of flight itineraries. We show that home carriers, scheduled carriers, and nonstop flights are fear-alleviating attributes. We also show that the price elasticities of demand for flights are smaller in absolute terms among people with a high level of FOF compared to their counterparts with low FOF.
KW - choice model
KW - fear of flying
KW - flight itinerary attribute
KW - latent variable
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865056617&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0047287512437856
DO - 10.1177/0047287512437856
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AN - SCOPUS:84865056617
SN - 0047-2875
VL - 51
SP - 653
EP - 663
JO - Journal of Travel Research
JF - Journal of Travel Research
IS - 5
ER -