Outcomes of customer satisfaction

The two dimensions of customer satisfaction

The customer’s assessment of their satisfaction following a purchase and consumption of a product involves a comparison of two views:

  1. What were their EXPECTATIONS of value prior to purchase?
  2. What was their perception of the value delivered AFTER purchase?

The consumer will engage in a mental comparison and make statements like:

  • I am disappointed with the product, I was expecting so much more, the product sounded great in the advertisement (resulting in dissatisfaction)
  • I was surprised by how good the product worked. It was one of the cheaper brands so I thought it would be OK, but it greatly exceeded my expectations (resulting in being very satisfied)
  • The product did the job, it worked as expected (resulting in being just satisfied)

 

Outcomes of customer satisfaction

In the three examples above, there were there different levels of satisfaction outcomes: very satisfied, just satisfied and dissatisfied.

These outcomes are very important to marketers as they will determine the future purchasing behavior and loyalty of these customers. It is highly likely that very satisfied customers will continue to be customers of the firm/brand.

However, there are other purchasing and word-of-mouth benefits that are likely to occur with very satisfied customers as compared to dissatisfied customers, as shown in the following table.

Consumer behaviorVery satisfiedDissatisfied
Likelihood of re-purchaseQuite likelySomewhat likely, perhaps will give the brand one more chance
Long-term loyaltyQuite likelyQuite unlikely
Customer lifetime valueReasonably high due to long-term purchasesVery low due to short-term purchases
Likelihood of positive/negative word-of-mouthSomewhat likely for positive word-of-mouthQuite likely for negative word-of-mouth
Price sensitivityLow, willingness to tolerate price increasesHigh, unlikely to tolerate price increases
Responsiveness to new productsQuite interested in new productsLess likely to be interested in further products
Responsiveness to other products under the same brand nameLikely to purchase our products under the same brandLess likely to purchase of products under the brand
Responsiveness to direct marketing and other forms of promotionLikely to be high, as quite interested in the brand/firmLikely to have a low level of response to deals and special offers
Willingness to tolerate problems/poor performanceLikely to be accepting of occasional problemsUnlikely to accept further problems without switching brands

As you can see from the above table, customer satisfaction is a sought-after marketing goal primarily because it not only delivers ongoing sales and loyal customers, but generates significant opportunities to grow through the existing customer base as well as attracting new customers to the brand/firm through positive word-of-mouth. Revenue increases are also likely through reduced price sensitivity and increased product take up rates of very satisfied customers.

Related Topics

Customer satisfaction definition

Customer satisfaction in marketing

Benefits of customer satisfaction

Problems with the Net Promoter Score (NPS)

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