What Technology-Enabled Services Do Air Travelers Value? Investigating the Role of Technology Readiness

An increasing use of technology in service delivery presents challenges for businesses, in particular in relation to how customers perceive specific technology-enabled services (TESs) and which TESs they embrace. This study investigates the influence of technology readiness (TR) on travelers’ perceived importance of various airline TESs. Results reveal three categories of TESs: Established, Network Access, and New. Two dimensions of TR—Optimism and Innovativeness—were significantly associated with the perceived importance of TESs. Respondents who reported higher levels of Optimism rated Established TESs as particularly important. In contrast, respondents high on Innovativeness rated Network Access and New TESs as more important. The association between TR dimensions and perceived importance of TESs was more evident in customers of low-cost carriers than in customers of full-service airlines. This study contributes to the TES and TR literature by explaining why a TES may be more (or less) important to different customers through the association of the TR construct.