Contributing Factors of Online Brand Trust in Airline Industry

The advancement of online channel has point out the importance of online brand trust in order to ensure sustainability of airline business. Online trust plays an important role in creating satisfied and expected outcomes between online buyers and airline companies, and the companies need to address factors contributing to the online brand trust. The increase in international students’ intake in Malaysia provides huge opportunity for online airline tickets service providers because they are flying to and from Malaysia on a continuous basis. However, studies on online brand trust are still limited in airline industry especially among international students pursuing their study in Malaysia. A conceptual model of online brand trust featuring six factors—word of mouth, security/privacy, perceived risk, good online experience, brand reputation and perceived quality of information— was developed based on studies of brand trust to determine factors contributing to the online brand trust of a Malaysian-based airline company. Analysis of data was performed based on the 276 respondents, which were collected using a convenience sampling method from international students in a public university of Malaysia. The result indicated that there are five factors contributing to the online brand trust in the airline industry— word of mouth, security/privacy, perceived risk, good online experience/brand reputation and perceived quality of information. Good online experience/brand reputation appeared to have stronger effect on online brand trust. Theoretical and practical implications of this study were discussed in understanding online brand trust involving international students and ways to enhance their trust towards the airline companies.