Z세대 소비자들의 항공사 ESG경영 활동이 공정성 인식 및 브랜드 충성도에 미치는 영향

Abstract: This study empirically analyzed the effects of airlines’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management activities on Generation Z consumers’ perceptions of fairness and brand loyalty. The airline industry faces multifaceted challenges, including environmental burdens, social responsibility, and transparent governance. In this context, ESG management has emerged as a key strategic factor for ensuring corporate sustainability and competitiveness. The analysis revealed that environmental initiatives significantly influenced procedural and informational fairness, while social initiatives had significant effects on all types of fairness perceptions. Governance activities influenced distributive and relational fairness. Among the ESG dimensions, only social responsibility activities directly affected brand loyalty, whereas procedural, relational, and informational fairness had positive effects on brand loyalty. The mediation analysis further showed that environmental and social ESG activities indirectly affected brand loyalty through fairness perception. These findings suggest that Generation Z places greater importance on transparency in process and information than on distributive outcomes. Therefore, airlines can enhance brand trust and loyalty by strengthening social responsibility initiatives and communicating them in a fair and transparent manner. By identifying the structural mechanism through which ESG activities are transmitted to brand loyalty via consumers’ fairness perceptions, this study provides theoretical and practical implications for designing Generation Z–oriented ESG strategies.