Kano model: A dynamic approach for classifying and prioritising requirements of airline travellers with three case studies on international airlines

The present study contributes to the knowledge of how the Kano model and questionnaire are used for classifying and prioritising customer requirements in service industries, such as the international airlines. After the literature review, the application of the Kano model in three case studies is investigated. In one of the investigations, the Kano questionnaire has been used, considering 80 customers, 15 service providers and the airline managers. The results imply that the demographic characteristics of travellers could strongly affect the Kano quality categorisation. Also, in cases where almost all of the requirements are basically ‘must-be’, such as customer complaints, the regular approach of Kano categorisation seems not to be as effective as expected, hence some initial actions seem necessary prior to the analysis. They might include further classification of major Kano categories into sub-categories. Although the use of the Kano questionnaire provides great advantages, the analysis might become complicated and time consuming in case of multiple groups of customers with a wide range of requirements. The results encourage airline managers to use the Kano analysis as an advanced approach for measurement of satisfaction/dissatisfaction even before developing and launching new services/products, comparing with the traditional questionnaires they regularly use after customers experience of services/products. The study has provided considerable evidence to suggest that the Kano methodology could fulfil the promise of providing service designers with a method to establish the requirements most critical to customers, and to cope with the dynamic nature of the highly competitive service market environment with emphasis on the non-linear relationship between customer satisfaction and customers' requirements fulfilment.