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convenience and increasing affective commitment. Decision convenience can be considered a new mediator of a causal relationship between brand credibility and purchase
intention. Finally, corporate image, service quality, and pricing strategy are three main paradigms that influencing individual’s intention of taking LCCs. Additionally, online word-of-mouth, basic ticket price, additional fee, promotion strategy, passenger occupancy rates, and brand design are six key indicators when individuals choose to take LCCs (Lu, 2017).
2.4 Reliability and Image
As seen from 2.3, reliability and image of the LCC has a positive relationship on the purchase intention of the consumers. One of the main antecedents of affective loyalty of LCC is trust, a key factor for guaranteeing the success of relationships between the airline and its users, and also for understanding long term purchasing behavior (Forgas et al., 2010). On the contrast, however, O’Connell & Williams (2005) discovered that passengers travelling on FSCs place strong emphasis on reliability, quality, flight schedules, connections, frequent flyer programs and comfort, while travelers taking LCCs focus almost exclusively on fare.
Although the low fare seems to be the sole reason for LCC consumers’ purchase intention, Kim & Lee (2011) points out that customer satisfaction is still key for LCCs, tangibles and responsiveness being the most important factors. The significant consequences of customer satisfaction including word-of-mouth communication, purchase intentions, and complaining behavior.
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Chapter Three: Research Methodology 3.1 Research Framework
This study aims at examining the relationships between LCC’s Facebook content, and online consumers’ purchase intention. Engagement with the content is fundamental in
measuring whether the content is effective in provoking content marketing efforts and
purchase intention. In addition, as adapted from the study of Lin & Huang (2015), “reliability and image” is one of the variables as it is a key factor that affects the intentions to purchase LCCs for consumers. Taking into consideration the variables previously stated, this study proposes a research framework as follows:
Figure 6: Research Framework for the Study
3.2 Research Variables
In this proposed research framework, there is one focal independent variable: LCC’s Facebook content, since we are exploring how the content influences the rest of the variables.
The mediator variable is consumers’ engagement, as this can contribute to the independent variable. The moderator variable is the reliability and image of LCCs, as this can increase or decrease online consumers’ purchase intention. The dependent variable is purchase intention.
3.3 Research Method
The methodology of this paper is quantitative, using data from Facebook Business Manager as pilot study for the questionnaire, and survey in understand online consumers’
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overall impressions. Quantitative research focuses on the quantity and structured collection of data, and is suitable for comprehending data like consumer behavior, market size, identifying reasons for repurchasing a product, based on a large number of samples; therefore, this method is excellent in capturing the purchase intention of online consumers of LCCs. Based on the nature of social media, the survey was designed and distributed online, targeting Taiwanese online consumers.
3.4 Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are derived based on the research framework:
H1: The relationship between engagement with LCC’s Facebook content and purchase intention is positively related.
H2: The reliability and image of LCCs will moderate the relationship between LCC’s Facebook content, the engagement, and purchase intention.
H3: The engagement will mediate the relationship between LCC’s Facebook content and purchase intention.
3.4 Pilot Study
Based on the researcher’s proximity as the community manager for Scoot Airlines in Taiwan, a pilot study of the questionnaire was done based on the data of Facebook Business Manager, with the approval from the marketing team of Scoot Airlines in Singapore. By analyzing the data, we may get a better outlook of the fans demographic structure, and the type of content that are popular among fans.
Scoot is a Singaporean LCC owned by Singapore Airlines through its
subsidiary Budget Aviation Holdings. The first-ever flight took off in June 2012, on medium and long-haul routes from Singapore to nearly 70 destinations in Asia, Australia, America,
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and Europe. The slogan of Scoot is “escape the ordinary,” signifying Scoot as an airline for the young, the young-at-heart and the value-seeking. people who remember that travel is all about spontaneous discovery, connections and fresh experiences.
For the demographic structure on Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page, the most active fans who highly engage with the Page are female aged between 25-34. Therefore, for this
research, we should distribute the questionnaire through the channels that they frequently visit to target the right demographics.
Figure 7: Demographic Structure of Fans of Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page
In terms of the time when the most of Scoot’s fans are online, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday appears to be the days in the week when fans are most active in
viewing the Facebook Page. As for the popular time in a day, 12pm (255,605 fans) and 10pm (280,796) are the peak hours when most fans are online. This is because a large part of the fans are working during the day; while 12pm is lunch break, 10pm is the time when workers the tasks of the day and have some leisure time to check Facebook. For community managers who wish to engage more with fans, they can engage more easily during these hours.
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Figure 8: Active Times of Fans on Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page
For the popular post types, video format shows the highest reach and engagement, while shared video on Facebook receives the lowest reach and engagement. This implies that LCC brands should generate more video content to attract more fans and upkeep the fanbase.
Figure 9: Popular Post Types on Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page
In terms of the total views of Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page, since there is a weekly sale happening every Tuesday, we can see the page view rises in the beginning of the week, and remains rather smooth during the week. The highest peak in March to May occurs on March 10, when a White Day’s promo content went viral (see Table 2).
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Figure 10: Total Views on Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page
For the total post reach, i.e., people who have seen or interacted with the post, “Paid”
means the post implements Facebook Ads to reach out to more consumers, while “Organic”
posts are without Facebook Ads. However, this cannot be a total indicator of the actual post engagement performance, as engagement concerns fans’ reactions as well; therefore, engagement rate = total reactions (likes, comments, shares) / total reach x 100.
Figure 11: Total Post Reach on Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Page
In terms of the content, since Facebook only consolidates the data for a Facebook post after 28 days, Facebook posts between March to May 2018 over the course of 3 months were analyzed in terms of its type of content, and engagement rate, which is the metric for
understanding the popularity of a Facebook post. The posting frequencies were daily,
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sometimes twice a day. From the analysis of the most popular content of the month, we can understand that the airfare promotion is one of the key factors to attract audience and engage with them.
Table 2: Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Content (March 2018)
March 2018 Total posts: 33 Most Popular
Posts
https://www.facebook.com/FlyScootTW/
videos/884712481653233/
https://www.facebook.com/FlyScootTW/
posts/900750330049448
Description Type of content: airfare promotion + flight ticket giveaways.
The popularity of the post came from the funny video of being single but not alone on White Day. The video format easily caught consumers’ attention.
Type of content: airfare promotion + practical travel information.
The post was popular due to the attractive picture and practical information of Berlin.
Statistics Total reach: 162,309 Engagement rate: 2.14 Paid or organic? Paid
Total reach: 104,378 Engagement rate: 1.36 Paid or organic? Paid
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Table 3: Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Content (April 2018)
April 2018 Total posts: 30 Most
Popular Posts
https://www.facebook.com/FlyScootTW/
photos/a.164959170295238.13393.
135126653278490/914564622001352/?type=3
https://www.facebook.com/FlyScootTW/photos/
a.164959170295238.13393.135126653278490/
919884591469355/?type=3 Description Type of content: airfare promotion + practical
travel information.
The popularity of the post came from calling the collective memories of fans in the 2000s.
Type of content: airfare promotion + practical travel information.
The post was popular due to call-to-action language, e.g. “tag your friends!” to foster engagement.
Statistics Total reach: 102,660 Engagement rate: 1.22 Paid or organic? Paid
Total reach: 89,911 Engagement rate: 1.48 Paid or organic? Paid
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Table 4: Scoot Taiwan’s Facebook Content (May 2018)
May 2018 Total posts: 32 Description Type of content: practical travel information.
The post went viral because the cute koala video was posted on the weekends, when people finished a week of hard work and just wanted to relax.
Type of content: free flight tickets + brand-related content.
The post was popular because it was calling fans to participate in a contest to win the grand prize.
Statistics Total reach: 19,279 Engagement rate: 8.09 Paid or organic? Organic
Total reach: 71,143 Engagement rate: 3.32 Paid or organic? Paid
3.5 Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire was created using the Traditional Chinese language via Google Form, using close-ended questions. The mode of distribution was online. The sample size for this study was N=331. The link was created and distributed between 4-8 July 2018, among the Facebook Groups of Taiwanese students, as well as Taiwanese who are fond of traveling and backpacking. It was also published as comments on LCCs’ Facebook Pages mentioned before to target the demographics who are more likely to travel with LCCs. The Groups were:
1)! NTU Student Group (NTU ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NTU.Head/
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2)! NCCU Student Group (NCCU ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NCCUSTUDENT/
3)! Exchange Students in Europe ( ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154868661566195/
4)! Taiwanese Students in Paris ( ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/279746385504501/
5)! Okinawa Travel Information ( - 」 ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Okinawa.trip/
6)! Kansai Japan Travel Information ( 」 ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kansai.travel/
7)! Traveling is Amazing! ( 」 ):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1091589394319316/
8)! Backpacking in Thailand ( 」 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1480314878945811/
The questionnaire (see Appendix 1 for Traditional Chinese and Appendix 2 for English) began with a brief introduction that explains the purpose of the survey, and that respondents’ information will be kept confidential. Participation of respondents was
voluntary, but prizes of 200 TWD for 20 random respondents were offered as lottery based.
Respondents who wished to participate in the lucky draw would leave their e-mail address at the end of the questionnaire. This incentive has proved itself to be quite effective, as there were over 300 respondents in the course of 4 days.
The questionnaire was divided into 3 sections: LCCs’ consumer behavior, impressions towards LCCs, which included the four variables, i.e., (1) impression towards the content of LCCs’ Facebook Pages; (2) engagement with LCCs’ Facebook Pages; (3) reliability and image of LCCs; and (4) purchase intention of LCCs, and lastly, respondents’ personal
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information. In the very beginning of the questionnaire, the definition of LCCs as well as the research scope of the top 7 LCCs in Taiwan were presented to provide respondents with the context of the questionnaire.
In the first part of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked about their consumer behavior with LCCs. They were first asked if they have taken LCCs before, and if they are a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages. These two questions are nominal questions which are used to categorize the respondents in different categories (Christensen et al., 2010). They were also surveyed about the content they prefer to see on LCCs’ Facebook Pages, using the 5 content pillars mentioned before: (1) airfare promotion; (2) free flight tickets/giveaways; (3) celebrity endorsements; (4) practical travel information; and (5) LCC brand-related content. This was a multiple choice question, as respondents can find more than one type of content interesting.
Then, the respondents’ frequencies of viewing and engaging with LCCs’ Facebook Pages were surveyed. This was done in order to create knowledge regarding the respondents’ usage of LCCs.
In the second part of the questionnaire, the four variables were presented with lists of questions as measurements. The questionnaire was designed to gather data that can explain the respondents’ relationship between Facebook content, online engagement, reliability and image, and purchase intention. A Likert scale was used to answer these questions. The respondents were given to think through and answer to what extent they disagree/agree with the stated questions in a Likert scale (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The response options ranged from 1-5 on a Likert scale, where 1 stands for “strongly disagree” and 5 stands for “strongly agree.”
The questions were created based on the pilot study of the data from Facebook Business Manager. They can be found in the table below:
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Table 5: List of Survey Measures (N=331)
Measures Mean SD
Impressions towards the content of LCCs’ Facebook Pages 1.The pages are lively, with distinctive brand characteristics.
2. The information shared is fun and interesting.
3. The content of LCCs’ social media marketing is diversified.
4. The pages offer the travel information I need.
5. The marketing campaigns on the pages are impressive to me.
6. The notion of LCCs’ branded content matches my personal beliefs.
7. I understand better the benefits of LCCs by the content on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
8. My doubts about LCCs are mitigated by the content on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89
Engagement with LCCs’ Facebook Pages 1. LCCs’ Facebook Pages are attractive to me.
2. I would become a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages with the recommendation from my family and friends.
3. I would become a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages with the recommendation from celebrities and influencers.
4. I would interact with other fans on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
5. My questions can often get immediate answers from LCCs’
Facebook Pages.
6. The community managers of LCCs’ Facebook Pages have good interactions with the fans.
7. There’s a sense of unity for the people who love traveling on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
8. I often hit “like” to the content on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
9. I comment to exchange ideas with the community managers and other fans on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
10. When I see interesting content on LCCs’ Facebook Pages, I would tag my friend.
11. I would share the interesting content on LCCs’ Facebook Pages with my friends.
12. My impression towards LCCs changes based on the sharing from fans on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
13. When I have experienced flying with LCCs, I would share with the community on LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
14. I would participate in online or offline events by LCCs after becoming a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92
The reliability and image of LCCs
1. The boarding procedures of LCCs are efficient.
2. The booking systems of LCCs are convenient.
3. The fare of LCCs is reasonable.
29.17 5.01
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4. LCCs operate with new aircrafts.
5. The in-flight seats of LCCs are cozy.
6. The add-on services of LCCs, e.g., in-flight meals, duty-free products, are fair.
7. The flight security of LCCs is good.
8. The flights of LCCs are on time.
9. The manners and etiquettes of LCCs’ flight attendants are good.
10. The customer service of LCCs’ is swift and proper.
11. The LCCs pay attention to their reputation and ethics.
12. The LCCs actively take part in social and charitable events.
Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91
The purchase intention of LCCs
1. I would like to purchase flight tickets of LCCs based on the content of LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
2. Purchasing LCCs’ flight tickets is worthwhile.
3. When I purchase flight tickets, LCCs would be my priority.
4. I would recommend others to purchase LCCs’ flight tickets after becoming a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
5. I find it economical to purchase LCCs’ flight tickets after becoming a fan of LCCs’ Facebook Pages.
6. I would fly with LCCs again in the future.
Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90
In the last part of the questionnaire, the demographics of the respondents were surveyed, which are (1) gender; (2) age; (3) education level; (4) profession; (5) monthly income; (6) monthly disposable income; (7) frequencies of traveling abroad each year; (8) frequencies of traveling abroad with LCCs each year. These served as control variables for this study, to see if these demographic features influence their impression towards content, engagement, reliability and image of LCCs, and purchase intention.
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Chapter Four: Research Findings 4.1 Demographic Features of Respondents
The demographic characteristics of the respondents that were made out of Taiwanese online customers are tabled as below. All of the respondents (N=331) answered the questions through online survey; therefore, we can expect a younger demographic – respondents under 40 years old take up to 77% of the total respondents. As the questionnaire was mainly
distributed among the Facebook Groups related to traveling and backpacking, 75% of the total respondents have taken LCCs, and 72% of the total respondents are fans of LCCs’
Facebook Pages.
In terms of respondents’ profession, as the questionnaire was also distributed among Facebook Groups of several Taiwanese universities, a high percentage of 26.9% out of total respondents are students, leading to monthly income of 10,000 TWD and below to 23% and monthly disposable income under 10,000 TWD to 39.2%.
Table 6: Sample Structure
Questions Groups No. of
Respondents (N=331)
Percentage ( )
Have you taken LCCs (budget airlines)? Education Level 1. High school and below
2. Associate degree
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Profession 1. Student
2. Government employees 3. Service industry 4. Finance industry 5. Information/technology
6. Communication/advertising/design 7. Arts and literature
8. Freelancer 9. Medical industry 10. Manufacturing
11. Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery and Husbandry
with LCCs each year?
1. Never
4.2 Analysis of Variables
The survey implemented a Likert 5-point scale as means of data collection. In a nutshell, the respondents react positively towards the four variables: impressions towards the content LCCs’ Facebook Pages (showed as “Content” in the table), Engagement with LCCs’
Facebook Pages (“Engagement”), the reliability and image of LCCs (“Image”), the purchase
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intention of LCCs (“Purchase Intention”). The mean between 3.20 to 3.67 shows the positive sentiment of the respondents.
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics between Variables
Variables Likert Mean Likert SD Mean SD
Content 29.17 5.01 3.64 .62
Engagement 44.88 9.51 3.20 .67
Image 39.33 7.31 3.27 .60
Purchase Intention 22.03 4.42 3.67 .73
4.2.1 Gender Differences
There are no significant differences among the gender of the respondents in relation to Content, Engagement, Image, and Purchase Intention of LCCs.
Table 8: T-Test of Gender Differences
Variables Group Respondents (N=331)
Mean SD df t
Content Male 92 29.17 5.96 329 .09
Female 239 29.15 4.60
Engagement Male 92 43.65 10.08 329 -1.46
Female 239 45.36 9.26
Image Male 92 39.29 7.90 329 -.06
Female 239 39.34 7.09
Purchase Intention
Male 92 21.95 12.17 329 -.20
Female 239 22.06 12.12
4.2.2 Age Differences
Since there are fewer respondents aged over 50 years old, the two age groups of “51-60 years old” and “Over 61 years old” are combined for statistical purposes to better show the significance. There are no significant differences among the age of the respondents in relation to Content, Engagement, and Image. However, respondents aged 21-30 have higher purchase intention of LCCs than respondents under 20 and above 51 years old. This result provides answer to RQ2 (What are the differences in the demographics in terms of their purchase
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intention of LCCs?), showing that consumers aged 21-30 are more willing to purchase flight tickets of LCCs than other age groups.
Table 9: One-way ANOVA of Age Differences
Variables Age
Respond-ents (N=331)
Mean SD
One-way ANOVA Scheffe´
Source of
4.2.3 Differences in Education Levels
There are no significant differences among the education levels of the respondents in relation to Content, Engagement, Image, and Purchase Intention.
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Table 10: One-way ANOVA of Differences in Education Levels
4.2.4 Profession Differences
Since there are 14 options in this questionnaire in terms of profession, some
professions are combined for statistical purposes to better show their significance. There are 6
professions are combined for statistical purposes to better show their significance. There are 6