A Study of Passengers’ Real-Time Emotional Responses and Comfort Experience During the Flight Using an Experience Sampling Method

Abstract

The majority of research on passengers’ subjective and holistic comfort relies on the retrospective recall of their experiences. Moreover, studies on the emotional responses of passengers to the aircraft interior are infrequent. This paper addresses the above issues by investigating the real-time comfort and emotional responses of passengers during the flight using an Experience Sampling Method (ESM). The results showed that the real time comfort remains constant during the flight, suggesting that passengers’ first impressions of the cabin could potentially determine their overall comfort. The results of emotional assessment highlighted two emotion groups as significant to passengers’ overall comfort in long haul flights. Those are wellbeing (e.g. joy/feeling good) and prospect-based (e.g. frustration/disappointment) emotions, evoked by passengers’ evaluation of several cabin features based on their concerns for a sense of security, peace and relaxation, and accomplishment. Enhancing passenger comfort should involve improving their experience with those features though fulfilling their concerns, offering higher degrees of joy and lowering frustration.

Keywords: Comfort, Emotion, Aircraft, Experience Sampling Method

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100566