Customer Satisfaction in Airport Baggage Reclaim: Conceptualising a Moderated-Mediated Model of Service Quality and Risk Management

Abstract : This study conceptualises a moderated-mediation framework to explain customer satisfaction in airport baggage reclaim operations. Customer satisfaction is positioned as the dependent variable, with baggage reclaim handling process serving as the independent variable. Drawing on process improvement and service quality perspectives, the framework proposes service quality as a mediator through which baggage reclaim handling influences customer satisfaction. Efficient, reliable, and transparent baggage reclaim processes are expected to enhance perceptions of service quality, which in turn drive satisfaction. The framework further introduces risk management as a moderator, acknowledging the inherently uncertain and disruption-prone nature of airport operations. Operational risks such as system failures, congestion, and human error can weaken service consistency and undermine customer satisfaction, even when baggage processes are well designed. Effective risk management is therefore a contingency factor that strengthens the effect of the baggage reclaim handling process on customer satisfaction by stabilising service quality under varying operational conditions. Grounded in Process Improvement Theory, SERVQUAL, Expectation–Confirmation Theory, and Contingency Theory, the proposed model explains how operational efficiency translates into customer satisfaction through perceptual evaluations of service quality, while accounting for contextual risk conditions. The study integrates operational, perceptual, and contextual dimensions into a single explanatory framework and offers insights for highlighting the importance of aligning process optimisation with service quality management and robust risk mitigation strategies. The study concludes by encouraging future empirical research to test the proposed moderated-mediation relationships using multivariate statistical techniques and to support data-driven improvements in airport baggage operations and passenger experience.