Transportation Planning and Technology

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A choice model of airline passengers’ spending

behaviour in the airport terminal

Wen-Chun Tseng & Cheng-Lung Wu

To cite this article: Wen-Chun Tseng & Cheng-Lung Wu (2019) A choice model of airline
passengers’ spending behaviour in the airport terminal, Transportation Planning and Technology,
42:4, 380-390, DOI: 10.1080/03081060.2019.1600243

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03081060.2019.1600243

Published online: 01 Apr 2019.

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TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY
2019, VOL. 42, NO. 4, 380–390
https://doi.org/10.1080/03081060.2019.1600243

A choice model of airline passengers’ spending behaviour in

the airport terminal
Wen-Chun Tsenga and Cheng-Lung Wub
a
School of Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia; bSchool of Aviation,
University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This study examines the influence of passengers’ travel-related Received 14 December 2017
factors, their intention to shop and the impact of socio-economic Accepted 31 January 2019
factors on their consumption behaviours while at the airport
KEYWORDS
terminal. Three categories of consumption model – shopping, Passenger retail spending;
dining and airport entertainment – are developed to analyse binary logit model; airport
different consumption behaviours. The results show that free time retail outlets; Sydney
is the main factor that influences passengers to choose International Airport
entertainment while waiting at the terminal, and the use of airline
lounges has a negative influence on the extent of engagement in
all three types of passenger consumption behaviour, especially
dining. Furthermore, passengers’ dining expenditure has a
positive effect on the extent of engagement in entertainment, but
a negative influence on the extent of engagement in airport
shopping. Passengers’ preferences of airport shopping area after
they have cleared security is positively associated with the extent
of engagement in both shopping and entertainment but
negatively associated with the extent of engagement in dining
activities.

1. Introduction
Although sources of non-aeronautical revenue may vary among airports, retail revenue is
usually the largest and most important revenue source for major airports and plays a
crucial role in their financial performance. For example, retail revenue accounted for
22% (AU$296 million (US$210 million)) of Sydney International Airport’s total
revenue in 2016 (Sydney Airport 2016). Retail revenue at Brisbane Airport accounted
for 11% (AU$73 million (US$52 million)) of total revenue in 2016 (Brisbane Airport
2016). Retail licences and advertising revenue at Hong Kong International Airport
accounted for 42% (HK$7803 million (US$994 million)) of total revenue in 2016
(Hong Kong International Airport 2016). Airport concessions and rental income of Sin-
gapore Changi Airport, one of the top three airports in the world for concession sales,
achieved 51% (S$1.1 billion (US$0.814 billion)) of total revenue in 2016 (Singapore
Changi Airport 2016). Graham (2009) indicated that in 2006, retail revenue accounted
for about 22% of commercial sources at airports worldwide. Airport outlets are viewed

CONTACT Wen-Chun Tseng chun.tseng@unisa.edu.au School of Engineering, University of South Australia,

Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY 381

as being a niche retail market. Omar and Kent (2001) argued that this market is substantial
and indicates growth unavailable in other domestic sectors. However, according to a study
by Crawford and Melewar (2003), around 50% of air travellers do not visit airport shops
during any given journey. This potentially limits the customer base of these retailers. Thus,
to access this lucrative market, airlines have begun to offer online duty-free shopping and
delivery on-board, both before departure and during flights.
In order to improve retail revenue, airport operators and retailers need to understand
passengers’ consumption behaviour inside their terminals. Few studies in the literature
have investigated this issue, and those that exist have focused on passengers’ impulse shop-
ping behaviour (cf. Omar and Kent 2001). Previous studies have found that there is a
relationship between passengers’ dwell time and airport‘s retail behaviour (Borwes
2002; Torres et al. 2005; Appold and Kasarda 2006) and examined the influence of passen-
gers‘ travel-related factors (i.e. trip purpose, travel group, free dwell time) on their airport
shopping behaviour (Crawford and Melewar 2003; Torres et al. 2005; Appold and Kasarda
2006; Bork 2007; Entwistle 2007; Lin and Chen 2013; Lu 2014). Previous studies have also
established the importance of the location of shops on consumer purchasing and indicate
that not only is more retail space becoming available within the terminal zones, but pas-
sengers are consuming more in those areas (Mintel 2000; Hsu and Chao 2005; Entwistle
2007; Graham 2009).
Airport retail activities are broadly classified into three categories: shopping, dining,
and entertainment activities. In the existing literature, few studies have investigated pas-
sengers’ consumption behaviour for different retail activities. There are even fewer
studies that have examined the activity preferences of passengers in the airport terminal.
The main objective of this study was to understand passengers’ consumption behaviour at
terminals by examining the influence of passengers’ travel-related factors, shopping inten-
tions, and socio-economic factors on the spending behaviour of three different consump-
tion activities: (1) shopping, (2) dining, and (3) entertainment (i.e. free internet kiosk,
massage chair, free Wi-Fi service). This study aims to provide insights into passengers’
consumption behaviour to assist in the development of effective marketing and oper-
ational strategies for airport retailing.

2. Methodology and experimental design

2.1. Binary logit model
The framework of the discrete choice model was adopted in this paper to describe the
choice behaviour of passengers. In particular, the binary logit model (BLM) was used.
The BLM is a special case of the basic multinomial logit model (MNL), where two alterna-
tives appear in the choice set. The choice set is Cn as {i, j}, and the probability of individual
n choosing alternative i is:
Pn (i) = P(Uin ≥ U jn ), (1)

Uin = Vin + 1in , (2)

where Uin represents the engagement level of alternative i chosen by individual n, Vin rep-
resents the systematic components, and 1in is the error term that represents the random
382 W.-C. TSENG AND C.-L. WU

part of the engagement. The probability of choosing is j:

Pn (j) = 1 − Pn (i). (3)
The BLM arises from the assumption that 1n = 1 jn − 1in is logistically distributed with the
cumulative density function F(1n ) in the following form:
1
F(1n ) = , m . 0, − 1 , 1n , 1, (4)
1 + e−m1n
me−m1n
f (1n ) = , (5)
(1 + e−m1n )2
where m is a positive scale parameter.
Under the assumption that 1n is logistically distributed, the probability of choosing
alternative i is given by:
Pn (i) = P(Uin ≥ U jn )
1
=
1+ e−m(Vin −V jn ) (6)
emVin
=
emVin + emV jn

3. Data collection and descriptive statistics

This study sought to understand passengers’ consumption behaviour while awaiting
departure in airport terminals, in particular, the extent of passengers’ engagement in shop-
ping, dining, and entertainment activities. An internet survey was designed to gather
detailed information about passengers’ consumption behaviour. The survey asked passen-
gers about their most recent overseas trips, their purchases at the airport, their travel
experiences, and their socio-economic information. Preference data were extracted to
analyse factors contributing to consumption behaviour at the airport.
Data were collected by Pureprofile, a survey website, via internet surveys in May 2011.
The target population comprised passengers who had transited through Sydney Inter-
national Airport during the previous three months, and potential participants were ran-
domly selected from the target population. Three hundred sixty-one completed surveys
were collected. Respondents were asked general questions about their most recent overseas
air travel, purchasing experience at Sydney International Airport, purchasing preferences,
and their socio-demographic information. Other questions related to the reason for travel,
size of the travel group, frequency of airport use, frequency of overseas trips, VIP lounge
use, and their free time preferences in the airport terminal. Details about consumption
experience included experience with each of the three specified categories (shopping,
dining, entertainment), and the amount of time and money spent on each. Questions
included purchasing preferences, preferred purchasing areas, unplanned purchases, and
experience in seeking shopping information.
Among the 361 survey respondents, 59% were travelling on holiday, 57% travelled with
one to three other people as a group, 70% had used Sydney International Airport one to
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY 383

three times within the year, 46% indicated flying abroad one to three times per year, 78%
did not use the VIP lounge, 91% preferred to shop after clearing security, and 27% made
unplanned purchases at the terminal. 24% sought shopping information pre-flight, with
an average free dwell time of 67 min. (Here, dwell time is defined as the length of stay
prior to boarding the aircraft and can be divided into ticket processing time, the time
needed to clear security, and free time available for shopping (Wu 2010).) 55% had
shopped at the airport terminal, with an average expenditure of AU$177 and an
average time of 33 min. In addition, 73% of respondents had dined at the airport terminal,
with an average expenditure of AU$21 and an average time of 21 min. Among the respon-
dents, 17% had engaged in entertainment at the terminal, spending an average of AU$9
and 20 min. Table 1 shows the composition of the sample.

Table 1. Profile of respondents.

Characteristic % Characteristic %
Gender Used airline VIP lounge
Male 50 Yes 22
Female 50 No 78
Age (years) Preferred shopping area at terminal
<26 20 Before security check 9
26–35 20 After security check 91
36–45 20
46–55 20 Experience with unplanned purchase
>56 20 Yes 27
No 73
Personal annual income (AU$)
<50,001 28 Seek shopping info before flight
50,001–75,000 24 Yes 24
75,001–100,000 23 No 76
100,001–125,000 12
>125,000 13 Experience of shopping at terminal
Yes 55
Trip purpose No 45
Business 17
Holiday 59 Experience of dining at terminal
Visiting friends and relatives 20 Yes 73
Other 4 No 27
Travel group Experience of entertainment service
Travel alone 33 Yes 17
1–3 people 57 No 83
4–6 people 7
7–9 people 1 Average free dwell time (min) 67
>10 people 2
Average time spend on activities (min)
Experience of using the airport Shopping 33
First time 11 Dining 21
1–3 times 70 Entertainment 19
4–6 times 13
7–9 times 3 Ave. amount spent on activities (AU$)
>10 times 3 Shopping 177
Dining 21
Frequency of flying abroad Entertainment 9
Less than once a year 46
1–3 times a year 46
4–6 times a year 6
7–9 times a year 1
10–12 times a year 1
Note: AU$100:US$71.
384 W.-C. TSENG AND C.-L. WU

4. Consumption behaviour of airline passengers

In this study, three airport purchasing models were developed, one for each of the three
different consumption activities: shopping, dining, and entertainment. The extent of
engagement in passengers’ airport consumption activities was estimated by the following
model using preference data extracted from the survey:
Ui (a) = aia + bia · Tia + lia · Iia + gia · Sia + mia · Eia + 1ia , (7)

where Ui (a) is the extent of engagement in airport spending for passenger i. Tia rep-
resents the set of travel-related factors of individual i who intends to shop at airport term-
inal; Iia represents the set of shopping intention variables of individual i who intends to
shop at airport terminal; Sia is a vector of socio-economic variables for passenger i who
intends to shop at the airport terminal. Eia represents the average amount of money indi-
vidual i spends on consumption activities per minute. α, β, λ, γ and μ are the factors to be
estimated, and 1ia is the error term representing the random part of the model.
Preference data were extracted from the survey and analysed using three different
models (i.e. shopping, dining, and entertainment models). The results of these binary
logit model estimations are summarised in Table 2. Based on the likelihood ratio criterion,
the three models fit the data appropriately. The values of the likelihood ratio index (r2 ) of
passengers’ shopping, dining, and entertainment behaviour were 0.336, 0.298, and 0.231,
respectively. All parameters had the expected signs (i.e. positive for longer free time, and
negative for use of airline VIP lounges). Some factors were significant at the 99%

Table 2. Results of the binary logit model for air passengers’ purchasing behaviour at the airport.
Air passengers’ purchasing behaviour at the airport
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Retail shopping Dining Entertainment
Constant 2.469 2.534 0.367
Travel-related factors
Free time 1.178** 1.004** 1.098*
Trip purpose (leisure) 0.705* 0.071** 0.538
Airport familiarity 1.339*** 1.637*** 0.023*
Airline business model (low-cost carrier) −0.319* 0.729* 0.302
Shopping intention
Usage of airline VIP lounge −1.356* −3.084** −2.780*
Preference of airport purchasing area 1.633** −1.834* 2.394*
Unplanned shopping 2.897* −1.563 −1.449
Shopping information seeking 0.389 −0.233* −0.248
Social economic factors
Gender (female) 1.398** 0.938 −1.367*
Age 1.001* 1.639* −1.109
Income 0.968** 1.392** −1.005
Expenditure
Shopping (AU$/min) 2.448*** −1.338** −1.085*
Dining (AU$/min) −2.366** −1.365** 1.174*
Entertainment (AU$/min) −1.201* 1.045* −1.348**
Log-likelihood function −583.254 −369.823 −354.598
Likelihood ratio index, r2 0.336 0.298 0.231
Note: the table includes three BLMs, the dependent variable of each BLM is 1 for purchasing, 0 otherwise. The independent
variables were divided into four groups: travel-related factors, shopping intention, social economic factors, and other
activities.
***Indicates 0.01 level of significance.
**Indicates 0.05 level of significance.
*Indicates 0.1 level of significance.
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY 385

confidence level, such as ‘airport familiarity’ for both shopping and dining. The results of
the three different models are discussed in the following sections.

4.1. Effects of travel-related factors

This analysis examines the effects of the travel-related factors on passengers’ consumption
behaviour within the airport terminal. The travel-related factors include: (1) available free
time at the terminal, (2) trip purpose, (3) experience using the airport (familiarity), and (4)
the business model of the airline (e.g. low-cost carrier).
In the behaviour model, the coefficients of some variables were not statistically signifi-
cant. This may be because more than 80% of passengers did not use any of the entertain-
ment provided by Sydney International Airport (Table 1). This low uptake may be because
few entertainment options are provided at the airport. In addition, some passengers may
bring their own entertainment (e.g. books, tablets, and/or smartphones) to fill their
waiting time.
Comparing the influences of individual travel-related factors in the three different
models (Table 2), free time showed the most significant effect on airport shopping
(1.178), followed by entertainment (1.098) and dining (1.004). This indicates that passen-
gers have a preference for airport consumption activities in the following order: shopping,
entertainment, and dining. However, respondents’ preferences may only come into play
when they have sufficient time in the terminal.
In contrast, similar to the retail shopping model, airport familiarity was also shown to
positively influence the extent of engagement in dining and entertainment in the terminal.
Compared to the extent of engagement in shopping (1.339) and entertainment (0.023), the
extent of engagement in dining (1.637) was increased to a greater extent by airport fam-
iliarity. This finding shows that although all consumption activities are potentially attrac-
tive to passengers, the likelihood of choosing dining activities is slightly higher than that of
choosing shopping and entertainment under the influence of airport familiarity. This may
be because the more frequently passengers use the airport, the less likely they are to be
interested in shopping in the terminal.
Unlike the retail shopping and dining models, airport familiarity (0.023) increased the
extent of engagement in airport entertainment to a lesser extent compared to free time
(1.098). This indicates that considering the influence of those travel-related factors, free
time is the main factor influencing passengers to choose entertainment during their
waiting time at the terminal. Conversely, airport familiarity is a key indicator of
whether passengers are more likely to choose shopping or dining to fill their waiting
time at the terminal.
Furthermore, unlike the negative influence of the airline business model factor on the
retail shopping model (−0.319), the low-cost carrier airline business model factor (0.729)
was found to be positively associated with the extent of engagement in the airport dining
model. This suggests that passengers deciding to fly with a low-cost carrier are less likely to
shop when waiting to board. This may be because airport retail outlets are not as attractive
to passengers who are more concerned about travel costs. In contrast, passengers are more
likely to choose dining at airport restaurants or bars before boarding if they fly with a low-
cost carrier. This may be because passengers who fly with a low-cost carrier need to pay for
on-board food service, or because on-board food choices are limited. The trade-off of
386 W.-C. TSENG AND C.-L. WU

dining at the airport is that it reduces the likelihood of spending time on other activities,
such as shopping. Therefore, relative to shopping activities, passengers of low-cost carriers
may choose dining rather than other activities while waiting for their flights.

4.2. Effects of intention to shop

This analysis examined the effects of the intention to shop on passengers’ consumption
behaviour within the airport terminal. The factors for intention to shop included (1)
usage of the airline VIP lounge, (2) preference of airport purchasing area, (3) unplanned
shopping, and (4) shopping information seeking.
The results show that the use of airline VIP lounges (−1.356) has a negative influence
on shopping. This is expected, given that passengers who have access and choose to go to
an airline’s VIP lounge are actively avoiding the main departure areas where shops are
located and are likely to have a stronger preference for peace and quiet compared to shop-
ping. In addition, many lounges provide complimentary beverages, snacks, and a variety of
entertainment (e.g. computers, newspapers, and magazines) which also result in reduced
engagement in dining and entertainment activities in the main terminal. This is consistent
with the results in the dining and entertainment models, where the coefficients for the
usage of VIP lounges (dining: −3.084; entertainment: −2.780) had a more negative
value and were statistically significant. This result shows that most airline VIP lounges
can easily satisfy passengers’ demand for dining and entertainment, but not their
demand for shopping.
In contrast, the relationship between passengers’ preferences of airport shopping areas
and the extent of engagement in dining is negative (−1.834). This implies that the extent of
engagement in dining would be decreased for passengers who prefer engaging in dining
activities after they clear airport security. This may be because there are more choices
of restaurants and bars after the security check at Sydney International Airport. Unlike
the airport dining model, the preference for airport shopping area is positively associated
with the extent of engagement in both airport entertainment activities and shopping. Fur-
thermore, the extent of engagement in entertainment (2.394) compared to shopping
(1.633) was increased more for passengers who prefer to shop after clearing airport secur-
ity. This may support the idea that providing air passengers with more entertainment
options may also lead to lower travel stress.
The positive coefficient for unplanned shopping (2.897) supports the idea that impul-
sive shopping behaviour stimulates airport shopping. That is, the more impulsive airport
shoppers are, the more likely they are to engage in shopping at terminal retail outlets. Fur-
thermore, the coefficient of unplanned shopping for the dining model was negative
(−1.563) but not statistically significant. This may be because the most impulsive con-
sumption behaviour would be shopping rather than dining, as dining activities meet pas-
sengers’ needs, whereas shopping activities satisfy their wants. In addition, the negative
coefficients for both unplanned shopping and shopping information seeking were not stat-
istically significant. This may be because these two intention factors do not have clear and
direct effects on the extent of engagement in airport entertainment.
The coefficient for shopping information seeking was not statistically significant. This
may be because current channels providing such information are insufficient to fulfil pas-
sengers’ needs or they need no further information (Chung, Wu, and Chiang 2013). In
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY 387

contrast to shopping, seeking information about retail outlets (−0.233) was negatively
associated with the extent of engagement in passengers’ dining. It is possible that passen-
gers choose shopping over dining, or that they may not have enough time to engage in
either shopping or dining when they spend more effort seeking information on airport
shops.

4.3. Effects of socio-economic factors

This analysis examined the effects of socio-economic factors on passengers’ consumption
behaviour within the airport terminal. Socio-economic factors considered in this study
include: (1) gender, (2) age, and (3) income.
Regarding passengers’ gender, being female had a positive (1.398) effect on the extent of
engagement in shopping activities but a negative (−1.376) effect on the extent of engage-
ment in entertainment activities. This result indicates that male passengers are more inter-
ested in airport entertainment compared to female travellers, whereas female passengers
are more interested in shopping. This finding shows that female travellers find airport
retail shopping more attractive compared to male travellers. This implies that female pas-
sengers should be the main target customers, and operators of airport retail outlets should
focus on addressing female travellers’ demands. However, it is not common to see airport
store operators organising special events, such as those held in conventional shopping
centres, to attract more female shoppers. This may be because terminal retail outlet oper-
ators have not recognised the important difference in airport shopping behaviour between
male and female passengers.
Passengers’ age was positively associated with the extent of engagement in both shop-
ping (1.001) and dining (1.639) activities, indicating that older passengers prefer to spend
their waiting time engaging in shopping and dining activities. Finally, passengers’ annual
income was positively associated with the extent of engagement in shopping (0.968) and
dining activities (1.392). That is, passengers with a higher annual income were more likely
to choose airport shopping and dining activities. This supports the idea that consumption
ability increases for passengers who have a higher income. On the other hand, the
influence of both age and income was greater on the extent of engagement in dining com-
pared to the extent of engagement in shopping. This may be because airport dining is con-
sidered to be more essential expenditure compared to shopping.

4.4. Effects of expenditure on airport consumption activities

To examine the effect of passengers’ last airport expenditure on the extent of engagement
in consumption activities, airport consumption expenditure per minute was calculated.
That is, the average amount of money passengers spent on consumption activities per
minute. Three different airport consumption activity expenditure – (1) shopping expen-
diture (SE), (2) dining expenditure (DE), and (3) entertainment expenditure (EE) –
were used to analyse the relationship.
Results showed that shopping expenditure per minute was negatively associated with
the extent of engagement in airport dining (−1.338) and the extent of engagement in
airport entertainment (−1.085) but positively (2.448) associated with the extent of engage-
ment in shopping. This finding indicates that the extent of engagement in both
388 W.-C. TSENG AND C.-L. WU

entertainment and dining behaviour may be reduced by increasing the value of passengers’
retail expenditure. Thus, competition exists between shopping, dining, and entertainment.
With respect to shopping expenditure, the extent of engagement in airport entertainment
decreased by a lesser extent (−1.085) compared to dining (−1.338). This may be because
dining within the terminal is more costly compared to entertainment activities.
In contrast, similar to airport shopping (−2.366), the relationship between dining
expenditure per minute and the extent of engagement in airport dining was negative
(−1.365). This suggests that the extent of engagement in shopping may be reduced by
increasing dining expenditure. This could be caused by the passengers’ budget limits for
all airport consumption activities. In addition, the more money that passengers spend
on shopping, the less they spend at airport restaurants or bars. This may be because pas-
sengers do not expect to spend too much on dining within the terminal. Passengers’ dining
expenditure also had a greater effect on the extent of engagement in shopping (−2.366)
than on the extent of engagement in dining (−1.365). This may be because the more
that is spent on dining, the less there is available to spend on shopping.
Unlike airport retail shopping and dining, airline passengers’ dining expenditure per
minute was positively correlated with the extent of engagement in airport entertainment
(1.174). This shows that increasing dining expenditure may influence passengers to choose
entertainment activities during their free time. This finding again supports the idea that
most passengers choose to engage in dining and entertainment activities simultaneously
by trading off the time and budget for shopping.
The extent of engagement in airport entertainment increased by dining expenditure
(1.174) was more than the extent of engagement in airport dining increased by airport
entertainment expenditure (1.045). This indicates that time spent on entertainment
does not increase passengers’ extent of engagement in dining as much as the extent of
engagement in entertainment increased by time spent on dining. This demonstrates
that passengers may choose to engage in an entertainment activity while they are
dining, but not vice versa. One explanation may be that if passengers are attracted to enter-
tainment activities, then they may not want to stop to eat; however, passengers may
become bored while eating and seek entertainment options. Unlike airport dining, expen-
diture on entertainment activities had a similar effect on the extent of engagement in both
passengers’ entertainment (−1.348) and shopping activities (−1.201) and had a greater
influence on the extent of engagement in entertainment. This may be because passengers
do not expect to spend too much on entertainment, since free Wi-Fi and internet kiosk
facilities are provided for passengers in most airport terminals around the world.

5. Conclusions
The purpose of this study has been to understand passengers’ airport consumption behav-
iour and the factors influencing this behaviour. Results obtained from data collected by an
internet survey showed that passengers’ travel-related factors, shopping intentions, and
socio-economic factors have different influences on the extent of engagement in airport
shopping, dining, and entertainment.
The results offer several important insights. Passengers had a preference for airport
consumption activities in the order of shopping, entertainment, and dining when they
have sufficient time in the terminal. Free time was the main factor influencing passengers
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND TECHNOLOGY 389

to choose entertainment during waiting time at the terminal. Conversely, airport famili-
arity was a key indicator of whether passengers were more likely to choose shopping or
dining while waiting in the terminal. Furthermore, relative to shopping activities, passen-
gers of low-cost carriers may choose dining over other activities while waiting at the
airport terminal.
Use of airline VIP lounges had a negative influence on the extent of engagement in all
passengers’ consumption behaviour – this effect was most pronounced for dining. Passen-
gers’ preferences of airport shopping area after they have cleared security was positively
associated with the extent of engagement in both shopping and entertainment, but nega-
tively associated with the extent of engagement in dining activities. Furthermore, all three
consumption activities had a significant effect on each other. The extent of engagement in
shopping was positively influenced by passengers’ airport shopping expenditure but nega-
tively influenced by passengers’ dining and entertainment expenditure. Passengers’ shop-
ping and dining expenditure negatively influenced the extent of engagement in their
dining behaviour, which was positively influenced by their airport entertainment expen-
diture. In contrast, passengers’ dining expenditure had a positive effect on the extent of
engagement in entertainment, but their airport shopping and entertainment expenditure
had a negative influence on the extent of engagement in entertainment.
The results imply that female passengers should be the main target customers. There-
fore, operators of airport retail outlets should focus more on addressing female travellers’
shopping demands. Both older passengers and higher income passengers preferred to
spend their waiting time engaged in shopping and dining activities. Based on the
findings of this study, both airport operators and retailers should gain a better understand-
ing about their target customers in order to develop effective marketing and operational
strategies to attract more passengers to shop while at the airport terminals.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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