Title: Investigating the impact of airport architecture on image, experience and satisfaction

Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Foroudi; Pantea Foroudi; Maria Teresa Cuomo

Addresses: Foroudi Consultancy, London, England, UK ' Brunel Business School London, London, England, UK ' University of Salerno, Fisciano, Baronissi, Italy

Abstract: This research employs place-identity and attribution theories to understand the effect of architecture and its components on image, experience and satisfaction. This study focuses on a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context. Conceptualised relationships were evaluated using data collected by means of a survey of a convenience sample of 489 online and offline London-based airport passengers. The results from structural-equation-modelling and fuzzy-set-qualitative-comparative-analysis identified multiple configurations of architecture dimensions leading to travellers' satisfaction and contribute to academic literature on tourism and travel management. The study also delivers guidelines for tourism industry managers to create consumer value by organising physical-stimuli, spatial-layout and functionality and symbolic-artifacts together in an international environment.

Keywords: airport architecture; travellers' experience; travellers' satisfaction; complexity theory; SEM; fsQCA.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.155276

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.29 No.4, pp.663 - 704

Received: 07 Sep 2020
Accepted: 26 Jul 2021
Published online: 30 Jul 2026 *

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