Airfares with codeshares: (why) are consumers willing to pay more for products of foreign firms with a domestic partner?

Gerben de Jong, Christiaan Behrens, Hester van Herk and Erik Verhoef

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2022, vol. 193, issue C, 1-18

Abstract: This paper analyzes partnerships between foreign and domestic firms as a source of signaling advantages, considering the case of virtual codesharing in aviation. Virtual codesharing is an important type of cooperative agreement between airlines that does not change any real product attributes and hence provides the opportunity to identify this signaling effect. Roughly 75% of the flights in trans-Atlantic and Pacific markets involves codesharing. Typically, the consumer buys the ticket with the domestic airline, while a foreign airline operates the flight. Analyzing individual-level choice data from a representative sample of Australian air travelers, we find that the average consumer is willing to pay a premium between 4 and 5.5% of the ticket price when a flight by a foreign carrier is codeshared with the national carrier Qantas. When flying to a less familiar destination, risk averse consumers are willing to pay a premium about two times higher than non-risk averse consumers, suggesting that partnerships have a strong impact on consumer valuation through reducing perceived risks and uncertainties associated with alien carriers. By this mechanism, home country bias may spillover to foreign partners of domestic firms.

Keywords: Airline codesharing; Marketing partnerships; Consumer choice behavior; Quality signaling; Home country bias; Aviation industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L15 L93 M31 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:193:y:2022:i:c:p:1-18

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.10.027

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