The Mediating Role of Corporate Reputation in the Impact of Digital Communication Applications on Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality in Airline Companies: A Case Study At Turkish Airlines Incorporation

Corporate communication practices, which have diversified due to the development of technology, also change how institutions and organizations communicate with their target audience. The emergence of the Internet and its rapid development in the last thirty years has made the use of digital platforms mandatory in almost every aspect of life. Effective use of digital applications has taken its place among the factors that directly affect customer satisfaction and corporate reputation. Digital applications have made it possible to respond to customer demands instantly, find quick solutions to problems and offer personalized experiences. Digital channels such as social media, mobile applications, websites, cloud systems and e-mail make communication with the target audience uninterrupted and strengthen brand image. Thanks to easy access and fast solution processes, customers feel more valued, their satisfaction and loyalty increase, and this leads to a strengthening of corporate reputation. Digital communication tools provide a significant advantage in responding to the needs of airline passengers instantly, solving their problems quickly and offering personalized experiences. For example, mobile apps and social media platforms offer convenience in many areas such as flight information, baggage status, delay notifications and interaction with customer service. Such practices create powerful opportunities for airlines to respond quickly to customer feedback, resolve complaints and create positive experiences. This thesis aims to examine whether the digital communication efforts of airline companies directed toward their passengers have an impact on customer satisfaction and service quality, as well as to reveal the potential mediating role of corporate reputation in this relationship. In this context, the first chapter focuses on the concept of corporate reputation, its theoretical foundations, and methods for its measurement. The second chapter addresses corporate communication practices in detail, with particular emphasis on digital communication applications, whose importance has been increasing steadily. The third chapter explains the concepts of the customer and customer satisfaction, and analyzes the factors affecting customer satisfaction. The fourth chapter examines the concept of service quality. The fifth chapter provides information on Turkish Airlines Inc., which constitutes the field of application for the study, and discusses the aviation system, airline management, and the development of civil aviation in Türkiye. The sixth chapter presents details regarding the research design, the research model, the hypotheses developed in line with this model, the population and sample, the data collection procedure, and the measurement tools used. In the seventh chapter, the findings are presented, including the participants' demographic information, the validity and reliability analyses of the variables, the results of the common method variance test, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing results, and the outcomes related to mediating effects. In the final chapter, the findings are interpreted and the conclusions and recommendations are set forth. The research findings reveal that digital communication applications have a significant and positive impact on both customer satisfaction and service quality. Furthermore, it was found that corporate reputation plays a mediating role in these effects. This indicates that, for airline companies, strategic digital communication practices not only create direct impacts but also generate indirect effects through enhanced corporate reputation. Therefore, adopting an integrated communication strategy that places corporate reputation at its core is of critical importance.