Attractive Flight Attendants Provide A Better Customer Experience For Travelers, According To A New Study

Yakobchuk Olena - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Yakobchuk Olena - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

In society, pretty privilege manifests itself in a number of different ways. If you’re perceived as beautiful, it can have a significant impact on your career, giving you an advantage in today’s fiercely competitive job market. Looks can open doors, and that’s the ugly truth.

Recently, researchers from Dicle University in Turkey discovered that attractive flight attendants seem to provide a better customer experience for airline passengers.

Flight attendants play one of the most important roles in providing customers with high-quality service. They are responsible for the comfort and safety of airline passengers.

They perform a variety of duties that start before boarding and end with deplaning, such as attending preflight briefings with the pilots, explaining safety procedures, stowing carry-on luggage, and serving snacks and beverages.

According to the study, competition among airline companies has been growing more intense, so service quality is one of the ways they can stand out from the rest and increase profits. The purpose of this research is to figure out what factors influence service quality.

For the study, data was collected from 19 men and 18 women who flew with airlines in Turkey over the past 12 months.

The participants ranged from 19 to 47-years-old. They were asked to watch videos and rate the cabin crew’s customer service.

The results showed that passengers were less likely to report bad service from attractive flight attendants, even if the service was mediocre.

Attractive crew members also received better ratings than their more average-looking counterparts.

Yakobchuk Olena – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

The researchers measured participants’ level of satisfaction with the customer service using a test called electroencephalography (EEG). They found that the verbal responses from their test subjects did not align with their EEG readings.

“Although participants expressed higher satisfaction with the services they received from flight attendants they deemed attractive, the EEG results did not reflect this level of satisfaction,” Sahap Akan, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of aviation management at Dicle University, said.

The authors concluded that airlines should hire crew members with “attractive attributes” to improve the customer experience on flights.

The study was published in the journal Marketing and Management of Innovations.

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Emily  Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a ... More about Emily Chan

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