Customer Satisfaction Measurement on the Internet

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:

Based on the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model as the underlying construct, methods to measure customer satisfaction with products and the steps to be undertaken in the research process are investigated. The measurement of Derived Satisfaction using (dis)confirmation was found to be the appropriate approach to 'CS' measurement. The Critical Incidents Technique can be used to assess the influence of exceptional experiences and the customers' evaluation of value-added services. The method of Focus Group interviewing is most appropriate for the exploration of important product attributes with customers while In-Depth Interviews structure salespeople- and executive interviews. It was also shown that during the research process, several points specific to 'CS' measurements need to be accounted for.

The Internet services currently used by marketing and social researchers include E-mail, mailinglists, newsgroups, Internet Chat, the World Wide Web (WWW) and Virtual Worlds. Virtual Worlds, being most advantageous for observational studies, are not useful for customer satisfaction research. Virtual Communities, in turn, have some promising characteristics for future use. Internet research methods based on these services include E-mail surveys, WWW-surveys and online Focus Groups. Common advantages of E-mail- and WWW-surveys include administrative and response speed, cost savings and global reach of respondents. Their greatest common disadvantage is the non-representativeness of the respondents for the larger population as well as their self-selection. Unless access is restricted to a known population, probability sampling is impossible when using the World Wide Web. Because of its serious disadvantages, the use of online Focus Groups is not (yet) advisable.

Based on these insights, the Internet was found to be an advantageous medium for customer satisfaction studies only if specific conditions are met. Companies need to investigate on a case-by-case basis if the online measurement of customer satisfaction is possible in their specific situation. The recommendations that were made are summarized in the online research process and the decision-making framework.

The results of a survey among market research agencies show that practitioners are to a large extent aware of the limitations within which the Internet can be used for customer satisfaction surveys. However, especially WWW-surveys sometimes are conducted in a way that does [¿]