UK. Diageo Global Travel and Middle East has released findings from the first in a planned series of consumer studies using data derived from its own international traveller online community.
With about 1,500 invited members, the liquor giant’s online community comprises a representative sample of international airport passengers and is believed to be the only community of its kind built by a supplier in travel retail, the company says.
Launched in early 2009, the programme is an online venue where members post comments, share experiences and recommendations and also contribute to research studies. More than 50 focused studies have been undertaken using the community, including reports on gifting, use of technology at the airport and consumer travel plans.
The latest study, Best Airport Experiences, addresses perceptions of the traveller’s airport visit, examining the influence of the retail experience on consumer airport satisfaction ratings.
“The findings offer a fascinating journey through the mind of the airport traveller – particularly the latent motivators, as revealed in the apparent contradiction between what they say is important and the factors that actually drive their holistic perception of an airport,” Diageo said.
Key influencers of airport satisfaction
The travellers surveyed were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the last airport they visited, assessing a range of 18 attributes. A key element in the study was to identify the differences between “˜Stated Importance’ and “˜Derived Importance’ i.e. initial responses aren’t always a full reflection of mindset and further questioning and analysis is used to derive just how “˜true’ the initial stated importance actually was.
Grid 1 explains how the factors can be mapped:
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The responses were then correlated with overall airport satisfaction and this suggests that certain aspects of shopping are important latent motivators of airport satisfaction levels.
Diageo found that different attributes fell into one of three clusters:
• “˜Obviously important’: Things that passengers claim are important and link to airport satisfaction, such as “˜airport interior’, “˜bars/restaurants’, “˜range of shops’.
• “˜Red Herrings’: People claim these issues are important – eg “˜security’, “˜journey to airport’ “˜distance from terminal to plane’. But deeper analysis shows that they have a very low correlation with overall airport satisfaction. In reality, these factors are fairly standard across all airports.
•”˜Secret satisfiers’: Passengers initially claim these are not very important – but further analysis shows that they actually do have a very strong influence on overall airport satisfaction. So these are the factors on which airports can differentiate themselves. Examples include “˜ease of finding a gift’, “˜availability of exclusive products’ and “˜quality of the business lounge’.
Analysis of the latent motivators
A significant finding is that many airports perform poorly on the three “˜secret satisfiers’ mentioned above, with satisfaction levels ranging between 25% and 45%. This leads Diageo to believe that if airports take the opportunity to improve in these three areas, the impact will not only raise retail performance but also simultaneously drive overall airport satisfaction rankings, such as Skytrax and ASQ, which do not track detailed retail attributes such as these.
Quantitative data analysis reveals reinforcement of other industry studies that “˜process’ issues – such as travelling to the airport, security procedure, the airport interior, clarity of signage, etc – are the most important drivers of airport satisfaction.
Several “˜soft’ or “˜experiential’ issues were cited as apparently relatively unimportant in terms of driving overall satisfaction levels with airports, including “˜the airport interior’, “˜the overall shopping experience’, “˜exclusive products’ and “˜buying gifts’.
Deeper statistical analysis (see Grid 2 below) suggests that these experiential issues can actually have a much bigger impact on their overall satisfaction levels. These aspects of the shopping experience are important latent motivators of satisfaction with the overall airport experience.
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The analysis identified that “˜ease of finding a gift’ was actually the third most important issue – despite it being one of the least stated importance issues. Finding a gift is not a top-of-mind requirement, but when passengers do buy a gift, their memory of the airport is generally very positive. It is thought that this may be driven by the huge emotional benefits derived from presenting a gift to a loved one or business associate.
The performance of the airports rated on these retail-related issues was relatively low compared to the other (non-retail related) factors, which suggests that airports may be missing opportunities to improve their shopper experiences.
Explaining the strengths of the approach, Diageo GTME Head of Consumer & Shopper Planning Alistair Millar said: “This study reminds us that we should not take everything that passengers tell us at face value. Henry Ford once said that if he had asked his customers what they wanted they would have said “˜faster horses’. We need to lead the way for our passengers. Prompting the desire to give a gift and providing a relevant range of gifts is one way that we can do this.
“Almost everyone who is travelling through an airport is a potential gift buyer – whether for a business contact or host on the outbound journey; or for a loved one on the return journey. Shoppers also spend 34% more on a gift than they do on themselves so there is significant growth in this opportunity.
“Exclusive products have long been known to appeal to airport shoppers, but their importance on overall airport satisfaction came as a surprise to me. We need to make more of these by communicating their availability more broadly, so it is not just those who have entered the store who know about them. Other research that we have conducted tells us that shoppers appreciate the special feeling of having something that others at home do not have.
“The essential message that our passengers are giving to us is that it is the emotional benefits of an airport visit that truly sets it apart – finding a gift that will delight a recipient and reveal the giver’s generous nature; an exclusive product that allows a shopper to feel discerning; a visit to an exceptional lounge that leaves a traveller feeling privileged and special.
“The right quality of retail experience can make a significant impact on the traveller’s overall perception of the airport and we believe this impacts ratings such as Skytrax and ACI ASQ.
“Our insight programme results throughout 2010 have consistently highlighted the fact that the majority of non-shoppers are actually open to the idea of shopping; they simply need to see the relevant experience put in front of them, with gifting and exclusivity being key drivers. By sharing insight and the approach between brand owners, retailers and the airport, we can work together to improve our understanding of non-shoppers and to convert an audience that has so often appeared unreachable.”
Diageo intends to meet regularly with its online community so it can rapidly monitor shifts in their thinking, such as in response to new launches and promotions as well as external factors, such as the global economy and new security procedures.
Diageo GTME’s conclusions:
•The travel retail channel is dynamic and evolving;
•Gifting is an important, often overlooked, shopper mission;
•Diageo has identified 6 shopper typologies and 5 non-shopper typologies;
•Activity is being developed by Diageo to address each of these;
•Diageo’s online community allows to speak to difficult to reach travellers on a weekly basis;
•When exploring overall airport satisfaction, looking at derived importance, rather than stated importance shines a new light on ways of delighting airport passengers;
•Overall satisfaction appears to be about emotional benefits such as generosity in offering a gift, discernment and privilege.
