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Consumer satisfaction and

complaining

Week 8 – 28 February 2003

Consumer Behaviour and Food 1


Marketing – AEB 41
The post-purchase phase
of consumption
• Customer satisfaction and
dissatisfaction (CSD)
– Quality of goods (services)
• Actual or perceived?
• High quality product: more profits
– Better margins
– Easy sale and brand extension
– Higher loyalty
• Customer complaining behaviour

Consumer Behaviour and Food 2


Marketing – AEB 41
Research on quality and
satisfaction
• High quality leads to higher profits
(Buzzel and Gale, 1987)
• It costs less to retain existing customers
than to gain new ones
– Satisfied consumers do not look for
alternatives
• Total quality management (ISO 9000)
• Product improvement driven by customer
comments

Consumer Behaviour and Food 3


Marketing – AEB 41
Is it only the good?
• Service components
– Service environment
• Store layout, etc.
– Service product
• How many tills (at the exit)?
– Service delivery
• Is the cashier smiling, kind, etc.?
• Service happens in real time
Consumer Behaviour and Food 4
Marketing – AEB 41
Two models of consumer
satisfaction
• Confirmation model (CM)
– Familiarity/habit with unsatisfactory product
– Confirmed negative expectation
– Low arousal
• Disconfirmation model (DM)
– High arousal
– Disconfirmed expectation
• Exceeding expectation (satisfaction)
• Not fulfilling expectation (dissatisfaction)
• Simple confirmation
Consumer Behaviour and Food 5
Marketing – AEB 41
The confirmation model
Consumption

Expected negative outcome

Discontent

Little complaint or product


avoidance

Consumer Behaviour and Food 6


Marketing – AEB 41
What is consumer
(dis)satisfaction?
• The buyer’s cognitive state of being
adequately or inadequately rewarded for
the sacrifice he has undergone (1969)
• Oliver (1981) definition
(disconfirmation)
– Summary psychological state
– Disconfirmed expectations (prior feelings)
– Short duration of surprise/excitement
– Change of attitudes
Consumer Behaviour and Food 7
Marketing – AEB 41
Consumer satisfaction
• It is a post-consumption evaluation
that a chosen alternative at least
meets or exceeds expectations
Engel et al., 1995

Consumer Behaviour and Food 8


Marketing – AEB 41
Expectations
• Equitable performance
– Normative judgement reflecting the
performance that should be provided
by the product, given costs and efforts
devoted to purchase and use
• Ideal performance
• Expected performance
– What the performance probably will be
Consumer Behaviour and Food 9
Marketing – AEB 41
Factors affecting
(dis)satisfaction in the DM
• Size of discrepancy between
expectation and experience
• Importance or value of the product
• Perception of the product
performance (CM satisfaction effect)
– High performance when HP is expected
is better than low performance when
LP is expected
Consumer Behaviour and Food 10
Marketing – AEB 41
Disconfirmation model
(unsatisfactory case)
Consumption

Perception of actual Expectation about


attributes attributes

Disconfirmation
(perception-expectation)

Dissatisfaction (modified by explanations such as Expectation,


bad luck, responsibility, etc.) attitude, loyalty
and
RESPONSE consumption
(word of mouth, complaint, switch, nothing) are affected
Consumer Behaviour and Food 11
Marketing – AEB 41
Satisfaction
• It is also strongly influenced by
disconfirmation
• Satisfaction is additive (retail
satisfaction)
• Measuring satisfaction and
dissatisfaction in questionnaires:
– Negative emotion
– Positive satisfaction
• Surprise
• Interest

Consumer Behaviour and Food 12


Marketing – AEB 41
Satisfaction and loyalty
???????????????????
Surprise ????
Increased
Satisfaction Loyalty
Interest

Recommend Try line


product to extensions
others

Consumer Behaviour and Food 13


Marketing – AEB 41
Satisfaction, perceived
quality and attitudes
• Disconfirmation is based on
episodes
• Over time, satisfaction is reflected
by attitudes
• By measuring attitude, we can
measure perceived quality

Consumer Behaviour and Food 14


Marketing – AEB 41
Response to consumer
satisfaction and dissatisfaction
• About 15-25% of products are
unsatisfactory
• Response to perceived product failure
– Exit (switching, boycotting…)
– Voice (complaining)
• Negative word of mouth
• Complain to supplier (e.g. substitution)
• Legal complaints
– Vandalism?

Consumer Behaviour and Food 15


Marketing – AEB 41
Attribution of performance to
supplier and dissatisfaction
• Availability of explanations
– Ease of recall
– Distinctiveness of a product failure
– Worse-than-expected outcomes have a larger impact
than Better-than-expected ones (endowment effect,
prospect theory)
• Causal inferences
– Stability (is the problem clearly due to
someone/something and not exceptional?)
– Locus of causality (who is to blame? Me or the supplier?)
– Controllability (can the agent intervene and solve the
problem?)

Consumer Behaviour and Food 16


Marketing – AEB 41
Complaining

Consumer Behaviour and Food 17


Marketing – AEB 41
Factors affecting
complaining behaviour
• Reluctance to complain
– Word of mouth is often enough
• Low relation between the degree of
dissatisfaction and the likelihood to
complain
• Theory of Planned Behaviour
– Expected outcomes
– Normative influence
– Control factors

Consumer Behaviour and Food 18


Marketing – AEB 41
Expected outcomes
• Expected returns vs opportunity
costs
– Replacement, apology, better
goods/service in the future
– Wasted time, embarrassment, lost
opportunities
• Importance of the product

Consumer Behaviour and Food 19


Marketing – AEB 41
Normative influence
• What other think I should do?
– Not necessary that someone else
should be actually aware of decision

Consumer Behaviour and Food 20


Marketing – AEB 41
Control factors
• Knowledge
– Ease of access to key personnel
– Understanding of causes
• Skills
– Ability to express complaint
• Time

Consumer Behaviour and Food 21


Marketing – AEB 41
Is it good to receive
complaints?
• Reduce negative comments to other
potential customers
• After complaining (if it is
satisfactory) it is more likely to
repeat purchase (?)
• Good complain-handling raise
loyalty

Consumer Behaviour and Food 22


Marketing – AEB 41
The typical complainer
• Young
• Higher-than-average education
• Higher-than-average income
• Other typical characteristics
– Positive about consumerist activities
– Prefer a lifestyle that demonstrates difference
and individuality
– Little hesitancy in letting their problem known

Consumer Behaviour and Food 23


Marketing – AEB 41
Strategies to handle
dissatisfaction
• Refining the product
• Belief management
• Damage limitation

Consumer Behaviour and Food 24


Marketing – AEB 41
Refining the product
• Feedback from consumer
• “Technical” improvement
– Customer preference
– Monitor competitors practices
– Research
• Conjoint analysis
• Preference Mapping
Consumer Behaviour and Food 25
Marketing – AEB 41
Belief management
• Influence relevant expectation
– Forewarning customers about problems (price
increase)
• Reveal hidden benefits
– Focus on certain characteristics (GM free,
organic produce)
• Cue negative beliefs about competitors
– Competitive advertising
• Don’t draw attention to the unnoticed
– Do not apologise for minor shortfall…

Consumer Behaviour and Food 26


Marketing – AEB 41
Damage limitation
• Handling complaints politely
• Recognising the deficiency
• Apologising and responsibility to assist
customers (not necessarily for causing the
problem)
• Explain what’s gone wrong: it is an
exception (?)
• Compensating customers where appropriate
• Improve the product to answer to complaints

Consumer Behaviour and Food 27


Marketing – AEB 41
Customer retention
• Individualised marketing
• Total quality control policy
• Early warning satisfaction feedback
system (questionnaires on expectations)
• Build realistic expectations
• Provide guarantees
• Provide information on product use
• Solicit customer feedback
• Reinforce customer loyalty

Consumer Behaviour and Food 28


Marketing – AEB 41
A case study
• General Mills (cereals, baking
products…)
– Operation sensory department
– Test acceptance of new product
– Sensory panels with daily grading
• Results of the program:
– Reduction in complaints
– Reduction of costs (returned products)

Consumer Behaviour and Food 29


Marketing – AEB 41

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