Attitude surveyor drives into computers, airlines; automotive survey firm J.D. Power plans to expand.

Leveraging its well-established reputation in the auto industry, customer-satisfaction surveyor J. D. Power & Associates is now branching into the competitive worlds of computers and airlines.

In late December, the Agoura Hills-based company plans to complete it first detailed study of business flyers' reactions to flight routes nationwide and to 10 major hubs, including Los Angeles International Airport.

In 1993 and beyond, several first-ever computer studies will be completed, said Greg Chagaris, Power's technology practice leader.

The moves have prompted industry observers to speculate whether the 25-year-old private firm can successfully lodge itself into these competitive fields, based on its marque with autos.

"These industries are similar enough to autos that they have a likelihood of success," said Jesse Snyder, director of vehicle planning and technology for auto-marketing firm Autofacts Inc. in Moorpark.

But some more familiar with computers are skeptical.

"I find it difficult to believe a new kid on the block can jump in and overtake existing organizations..." said 22-year computer-systems consultant Andrew H. Olson, a former manager for IBM and Computer Sciences Corp. who now runs Team International Group, a Manhattan Beach consulting firm.

According to sources at J.D. Power, it posted about $25 million in revenues last year, selling companies syndicated research, forecasts and training programs. But its customer-satisfaction surveys are best known to the public, because the results are often trumpeted in advertisements by the high scorers.

In computers, J.D. Power faces entrenched market-research firms. They include IDC of Framingham, Mass.; InfoCorp of Santa Clara; and San Jose-based Dataquest Inc.

"These computer companies have well-established clientele, well-known reputations and an incredible network of contacts within the industry," noted Olson. "They've paid their dues and are pretty well respected."

In autos, J.D. Power reigns supreme. "To some extent they've become a household name, and that's part of the formula for being a success," said Snyder, who competes with J.D. Power on some fronts, like focus groups.

But its success and resources keep Snyder and others from selling customer-satisfaction studies, a far more expensive proposition.

Olson and others said J.D. Power's "deep pockets" will make it a contender.

J.D. Power will draw on its 200-member staff for research, mailing and coding surveys, noted Power Partner Adrian Heryford.

"It's extremely expensive to do those surveys," said Snyder.

As for airlines, some 40,000 questionnaires were mailed to "frequent flyers" -- mostly business types who travel 30 times or more a year. The eight domestic carriers want to gauge reaction to "the entire flight experience, including the airport," said Heryford.

Nevertheless, these will compete with known products like the Plough and Zagat airline surveys.

In computers, J.D. Power debuted its auto-oriented Customer Satisfaction Index in 1991 with its first computer study -- ranking personal computers with regards to hardware, software and marketing moves.

Previously, "there was just no standard for the industry," claimed Chagaris. "We wanted to be a neutral, third party to objectively assess the industry from the user's perspective."

Next he will study the reseller channel in a report due in April 1993, said Chagaris. Issues to be explored include whether IBM and Compaq Computer Corp. are succeeding in selling directly to the public.

Copying "direct" moves such as via mail-order, a channel brilliantly exploited by second-tier PC maker Dell Computer Corp., is a super-hot issue in computer marketing. Also surveyed will be the impact of training and incentives on sales staff, he said.

Later in the year will come a study of computer "workstations," the high-powered desktop machines that businesses increasingly demand.

Like the PC study, it will consider such factors as ease of use, features and documentation, Chagaris said.

And on the drawing boards is a survey of "personal communications devices" -- the tiny computers that digitally function as organizers, telephones or faxes.

"We hope to influence the manufacturer to give the consumer what he or she wants in the long term by explaining what those wants are," he said.