Browsing by Author "Gillingwater, David"

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    Eco-positioning of airlines: perception versus actual performance
    (Elsevier, 2015-03-16) Mayer, Robert; Ryley, Tim; Gillingwater, David
    To date there has been little research in air transport into the eco-positioning of airlines, that is, their environmental image relative to other airlines and how actual environmental performance relates to this eco-positioning. This paper identifies the environmental perceptions that passengers hold of twelve airlines and relates these perceptions to airlines' actual environmental performance, using load factors, aircraft age and the atmosfair Airline index as proxies for environmental performance. Based on a survey of over 600 passengers at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the research analyses air travellers' perception of airlines from an environmental perspective. The results show that while there are significant differences in people's environmental perception of airlines, the eco-positioning of the airlines is not correlated to their actual environmental performance. The results support previous research findings in other industries that in many cases actual performance is less important than communicating environmental messages to the public in creating a superior eco-positioning.
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    The role of green marketing: insights from three airline case studies
    (Greenleaf, 2014-11-01) Mayer, Robert; Ryley, Tim; Gillingwater, David
    The purpose of this paper is to show how airlines incorporate green elements in their marketing mix and how these changes are communicated to the public. Based on an examination of airlines' websites and publications as well as a review of academic and industry literature, three airline case studies on Virgin Atlantic Airways, easyJet and Flybe are developed. A multiple case design is applied that provides an in-depth review of the airlines' environmental activities and enables differences between their green marketing activities to be identified. All three airlines have adapted their marketing mix to address the environmental impacts of air transport. While there are some commonalities between the airlines (e.g. market communications addressing green credentials), there are also some differences in how the airlines approach the issue. Services are often seen as low-impact industries when it comes to environmental impacts, yet there are certain service sectors that have recognisable environmental impacts. The airline sector has received considerable attention regarding their emissions and they have responded to negative coverage of their environmental impacts. The paper presents an original multiple case study of the green marketing of three airlines. It provides a comparison between three airlines and highlights commonalities as well as differences in green marketing of the three airlines.