Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of the Air Transport Research Society, cilt.5, 2025 (Scopus)
As social media platforms grow, their importance in airline marketing increases, making them essential for building credibility, reducing uncertainty, and ensuring business success. Grounded in Signaling Theory, this study explores the collective and individual impact of airline SMMAs—trendiness, infotainment, interaction, responsiveness, and remuneration—on brand credibility and also collective impact of SMMAs on purchase intention. Using partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on data from an online survey of 354 Turkish social media users, who follow airline brands, the study finds that brand credibility mediates the relationship between SMMAs and purchase intention. Results indicate that trendiness, infotainment, and interaction positively influence brand credibility, while the absence of remuneration, responsiveness, and infotainment can negatively impact it. Practically, airlines can enhance brand credibility and purchase intention by integrating current, engaging content and maintaining consistent customer interaction, while also ensuring timely responses and regular promotions to meet standard customer expectations.