Effects of components of satisfaction on overall satisfaction in industrial markets.ABSTRACT High levels of customer satisfaction are important to marketers as both offensive and defensive tools and are capable of creating a lasting competitive advantage. The effects of four components of satisfaction, satisfaction with the product, interpersonal in·ter·per·son·al adj. 1. Of or relating to the interactions between individuals: interpersonal skills. 2. satisfaction, satisfaction with price, and satisfaction with vendor performance, on overall satisfaction among industrial buyers are investigated. Results show that the component of satisfaction experiencing the largest level of negative (positive) disconfirmation serves as a lower (upper) bound on the level of overall satisfaction reported by the respondent In Equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding in equity. The party against whom an appeal or motion, an application for a court order, is instituted and who is required to answer in order to protect his or her interests. . 1. INTRODUCTION Satisfied customers represent "an indispensable means of creating a sustainable advantage in the competitive environment of the 1990s" (Patterson, Johnson and Spreng, 1997). Highly satisfied customers spread positive word-of-mouth, demonstrate readier acceptance of other products in the product line, and exhibit brand loyalty or increased intentions to repurchase re·pur·chase tr.v. re·pur·chased, re·pur·chas·ing, re·pur·chas·es To buy (something) again. n. The act of buying something that one previously sold or owned. Noun 1. (Rogers, Peyton and Bed, 1992; Grewal and Sharma, 1991). Patterson, Johnson, and Spreng (1997) find a strong link between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention, with customer satisfaction explaining 78% of the variance in repurchase intention. Thus, the investigation of overall customer satisfaction has important managerial implications. The purpose of this study is to examine some of the systematic consequences of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction among industrial buyers. Industrial customers' judgments of components of satisfaction are modeled as influencing overall satisfaction. Empirical results test the relationships that are proposed. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Overall customer satisfaction is generally considered to be a multi-attribute model (Woodruff, Cadotte and Jenkins, 1983). Components of overall satisfaction (SAT_OVERALL) that have been examined include product satisfaction (e.g., Oliver 1993; Homburg and Rudolph 2001), interpersonal satisfaction (e.g., Lele and Sheth 1988; Manning and Reece 2001), satisfaction with the price of the offering (e.g., Anderson 1996), and satisfaction with vendor performance (e.g., Sheth 1973). Researchers have sought greater understanding of the overall satisfaction construct in industrial markets by examining the phenomenon in different situations. In a study of consumer markets, Mittal, Ross, and Baldasare (1998) show a consumer can be simultaneously satisfied with one or more components of satisfaction related to a specific offering while being dissatisfied dis·sat·is·fied adj. Feeling or exhibiting a lack of contentment or satisfaction. dis·sat  is·fied with other components of satisfaction for that same offering. Thus, while experiencing relatively high overall satisfaction, a customer might be extremely dissatisfied with one or more aspects of that offering. Extensive research into the factors influencing customer satisfaction has been conducted in consumer markets (e.g., Spreng, et al. 1996; Swan and Oliver 1991; Oliver and Swan 1989; Churchill and Surprenant 1982), but relatively little such research has been conducted in industrial markets. In spite of this dearth of research, Patterson, Johnson, and Spreng (1997) find that industrial buyers, like consumers, consider multiple attributes when evaluating overall satisfaction. While industrial buyers weight their judgments differently than consumers, the disconfirmation paradigm is applicable in B2B (Business to Business) Refers to one business communicating with or selling to another. See B2B e-commerce, B2C and B2G. B2B - business to business markets (Patterson, Johnson and Spreng, 1997). In the expectancy-disconfirmation model of customer satisfaction, the most widely accepted and studied model (Patterson, Johnson and Spreng, 1997), customers compare their perceptions of performance (not objective actual performance) with their pre-purchase expectations to form judgments about the experience (Olshavsky and Spreng, 1989). When expectations are met, i.e., when perceived performance Perceived performance, in computer engineering, refers to how quickly a software feature appears to perform its task. The concept applies mainly to user acceptance aspects. is close to expectations, little conscious thought is given to the process. However, when perceived performance is higher (lower) than the expected level of performance, expectations are said to be disconfirmed. When expectations are lower (higher) than perceived performance, satisfaction (dissatisfaction) is experienced. 3. PROPOSITIONS Satisfaction with the product, interpersonal satisfaction, satisfaction with the price of the offering, and satisfaction with vendor performance are independent variables that have direct effects on overall satisfaction. The multi-attribute nature of overall satisfaction suggests that consumers are using some combinatory function to reach overall satisfaction judgments based on evaluations of components of satisfaction (Woodruff, Cadotte and Jenkins, 1983; Crosby and Stephens, 1987; Homburg and Rudolph, 2001). The function may be a step-function (Woodruff, Cadotte and Jenkins, 1983), a multi-variable linear function (e.g., Preis and Kellar 2003; Kellar and Preis 2003), or a nonlinear A system in which the output is not a uniform relationship to the input. nonlinear - (Scientific computation) A property of a system whose output is not proportional to its input. function (e.g., Anderson and Mittal 2000). An underlying question in these findings is whether several negatively (positively) disconfirmed components of satisfaction could harm (advantage) the overall impression of the purchase to the point that an overall satisfaction rating could be lower (higher) than all components of satisfaction. This seems unlikely so the following propositions are written: P1: For each customer responding to the survey, let [X.sub.max] = max(SAT_PDT PDT abbr. Pacific Daylight Time PDT Pacific Daylight Time PDT n abbr (US) (= Pacific Daylight Time) → hora de verano del Pacífico PDT , SAT_PRICE, SAT_REL, SAT_PERF perf - chad ) and let Y = SAT_OVERALL. Then, for each individual surveyrespondent, Y [less than or equal to] [X.sub.max]. and P2: For each customer responding to the survey, let [X.sub.min] = min(SAT_PDT, SAT_PRICE, SAT_REL, SAT_PERF) and let Y = SAT_OVERALL. Then, for each individual surveyrespondent, Y [greater than or equal to] [X.sub.min]. Having developed propositions, we now turn to the methodology for collecting data, analysis of the data, and the results. 4. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS A cross-sectional survey was conducted of members of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM See ISM band. ), a national organization of purchasing professionals. Using the "URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. " design (Bradley, 1999), each member with an e-mail address See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address on file with the organization was sent an e-mail requesting that they use a hot-link to connect to the website hosting the survey instrument. Surveys were completed on line. Purchasing agents Noun 1. purchasing agent - an agent who purchases goods or services for another agent - a representative who acts on behalf of other persons or organizations were asked to respond for one offering for which they had decision-making authority and which they had previously purchased. This latter condition assured that all respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. had relevant experience with the offerings on which they were reporting. As recommended by Drolet and Morrison (2001) single items, each using a seven-point, semantic-differential scale, were used to assess each component of satisfaction and to assess overall satisfaction. The scales were anchored at the end-points with the extremes "extremely satisfied" and "extremely dissatisfied." The mid-point was not anchored. Drolet and Morrison (2001) and Miller (1978) find single-measure items in general agreement with multiple-measure items. Single-measure items are commonly used in contemporary satisfaction research (see, for example, Bolton 1998; Rust and Zahorik 1995; Smith and Bolton 2002) and were used in this study, as well. A total of 15,000 e-mail invitations to participate in the study was sent out. Reminder messages were sent two weeks after the initial messages. Of the messages that were sent, 3,566 (23.8%) were undeliverable un·de·liv·er·a·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to deliver: undeliverable mail. un . Of those that received messages, 230 (1.5%) did not receive the message in a timely fashion (autoresponses indicated that the recipients were on extended leaves, trips, etc.). A further 460 (3.1%) respondents claimed ineligibility INELIGIBILITY. The incapacity to be lawfully elected. 2. This incapacity arises from various, causes, and a person may be incapable of being elected to one office who may, be elected to another; the incapacity may also be perpetual or temporary. . Thus, 10,744 recipients constituted the sample frame. The data collection was part of a larger study of dyads of industrial buyers who were members of the ISM and salespeople sales·peo·ple pl.n. Persons who are employed to sell merchandise in a store or in a designated territory. that called on them; responses had to be received from both parties in order to be considered usable. Usable responses were received from 103 dyads, yielding a response rate of 1.0%. P1 and P2 were tested on a respondent-by respondent basis. It was observed that the highest-rated value of any component of satisfaction was always greater than or equal to the reported value of overall satisfaction. Similarly, it was observed that the lowest-rated value of any component of satisfaction was less than or equal to the reported level of overall satisfaction. This was true for all (100%) of the observations. The inspection was double-checked electronically. Thus propositions P1 and P2 are confirmed. 5. DISCUSSION Propositions P1 and P2 confirm that levels of overall satisfaction are bounded by the levels of the components of satisfaction. Thus, overall satisfaction is rated neither higher nor lower than the highest and lowest ratings for components of satisfaction, respectively. The implication is that if managers can raise the ratings of the lowest-rated components of satisfaction for their offerings, their overall ratings will rise, as well. 6. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS The results of this study suggest that marketing managers should survey their customers and work to reduce dissatisfaction on all components of satisfaction. This is so regardless of the weighting given to any individual component of satisfaction, either through a statistical analysis such as multiple linear regression Linear regression A statistical technique for fitting a straight line to a set of data points. or through surveying customers to determine their perceptions of the importance of various components of satisfaction. Understanding the factors that influence customer satisfaction can have great value to marketing managers. This value may occur in the form of greater customer loyalty or greater share of wallet Share of Wallet (SOW) is a survey method used in performance management that helps managers understand the amount of business a company gets from specific customers. . Marketing managers may find the results of this study applicable to many situations and should keep the results in mind when establishing policies and evaluating service levels. For example: 1. Since there is a natural tendency to concentrate on the things they understand or have control over, marketing managers may spend more time and resources "fixing" components of satisfaction that are not troublesome to customers. Managers should guard against this tendency by examining the area that experiences the greatest negative disconfirmation. 2. Marketing managers should periodically survey customers to assess levels of satisfaction. Of course major customers need to be satisfied but to the extent that factors influencing satisfaction differ between large customers and small ones, concentrating on only the components of satisfaction important to large customers will tend to ignore those components important to small buyers, to the extent that they differ. 3. Training should be provided to salespeople, who are often the only face from the supplier that customers see. Salespeople need to recognize signs of dissatisfaction before they run out of control and the salespeople need to be trained to a) probe to find out the basis for the dissatisfaction, and b) report those finding quickly to managers. If salespeople are penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. for reporting "bad news" their tendency will be to hide that news until it can no longer be contained. The results of this study demonstrate that the component manifesting the lowest level of satisfaction is cause for concern for marketers since it serves as a lower bound for overall satisfaction; decreased overall satisfaction, in turn, is correlated cor·re·late v. cor·re·lat·ed, cor·re·lat·ing, cor·re·lates v.tr. 1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation. 2. with decreased repurchase intention (Eggert and Ulaga, 2002). 7. LIMITATIONS The limitations of the study should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. First, while Drolet and Morrison (2001) report that single item measures are commonly used in satisfaction research and are reliable, single item measures may not fully capture the importance or emotion being measured. This study utilized single item measures for all components of satisfaction and for overall satisfaction. Second, four components of satisfaction are analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. in this analysis; these four components may not represent the full range of components that customers evaluate when making overall satisfaction judgments. Third, the survey was conducted utilizing the embedded URL design involving e-mail and the Internet. Use of the Internet among purchasing professionals is high and increasing, nevertheless, not all organizations or purchasing individuals utilize these tools. Consequently, the results may not be representative of the population of purchasing professionals, in spite of the similarity in the demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. of the sample and the ISM membership. Fourth, this study aggregated responses from many different buying industries for many different commodities. Goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. are commingled. Preis and Kellar (2003) and Kellar and Preis (2003) demonstrate that differences in the importance attached to components of satisfaction exist when purchasing offerings from industries with different levels of technology. Fifth, the satisfaction scores in this study are highly skewed skewed curve of a usually unimodal distribution with one tail drawn out more than the other and the median will lie above or below the mean. skewed Epidemiology adjective Referring to an asymmetrical distribution of a population or of data to the satisfied end of the scale. Peterson and Wilson (1992) show that in studies of satisfaction virtually all results are skewed in this manner. The effects of such skewness Skewness A statistical term used to describe a situation's asymmetry in relation to a normal distribution. Notes: A positive skew describes a distribution favoring the right tail, whereas a negative skew describes a distribution favoring the left tail. on the resulting analyses are unknown. Sixth, the demographics of the sample are very similar to the demographics of the ISM, from which the sample was drawn. Nevertheless, the sample must be considered a convenience sample, with all of the cautions that entails. Seventh, the response rate to the e-mail invitation to participate in the study may indicate a systematic bias in the responses, making them non representative. 8. CONCLUSION Propositions have been developed and tested to examine the effects of four components of satisfaction, satisfaction with the product, interpersonal satisfaction, satisfaction with the price, and satisfaction with the vendor's performance, on overall satisfaction among industrial buyers. Results demonstrate that the effects of the component of satisfaction manifesting the greatest level of positive (negative) disconfirmation forms an upper (lower) bound on overall satisfaction. This provides a simple method for approximating overall satisfaction. REFERENCES Anderson, Eugene, "Customer Satisfaction and Price Tolerance," Marketing Letters, Vol. 7 (3), 1996, 265274. Anderson, Eugene, and Vikas Mittal, "Strengthening the Satisfaction-Profit Chain," Journal of Service Research, Vol. 3(2), 2000, 107-120. Bolton, Ruth N., "A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer's Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction," Marketing Science, Vol, 17(1), 1998, 45-65. Bradley, Nigel, "Sampling for Internet Surveys: An Examination of Respondent Selection for Internet Research This article is about using the Internet for research; for the field of research about the Internet, see Internet studies. Internet research is the practice of using the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, for research. ," Journal of the Market Research Society, Vol. 41(4), 1999, 387-95. Churchill, Gilbert and Carol Suprenant, "An Investigation Into the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 19 (November), 1982, 491-504. Crosby, Lawrence A., and Nancy Stephens, "Effects of Relationship Marketing on Satisfaction, Retention, and Prices in the Life Insurance Industry," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24 (November), 1987, 404-11. Drolet, Aimee L., and Donald G. Morrison, "Do We Really Need Multiple-Item Measures in Service Research?," Journal of Service Research, Vol. 3(3), 2001, 196-204. Eggert, Andreas, and Wolfgang Ulaga, "Customer Perceived Value Customer perceived value (CPV) is the difference between the prospective customer's evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering relative to perceived alternatives. : A Substitute for Satisfaction in Business Markets?," Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 17(2/3), 2002, 107-18. Grewal, Dhruv, and Arun Sharma, "The Effect of Salesforce Behavior on Customer Satisfaction: An Interactive Framework," Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management Sales Management Role and Goal Importance of sales management is critical for any commercial organization. Expanding business in not possible without increasing sales volumes, and effective sales management goal is to organize sales team work in such a manner that ensures a , Vol. 9(3), 1991, 1323. Homburg, Christian, and Bettina Rudolph, "Customer Satisfaction in Industrial Markets: Dimensional and Multiple Role Issues," Journal of Business Research, Vol. 52(1), 2001, 15-33. Kellar, Gregory M., and Michael W. Preis, "Modeling Increased Repurchase Intentions in High-Tech B2B Markets Using an Information Theoretic Approach," Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Vol. 7(2), 2003, 55-73. Lele, Milind M. and Jagdish N. Sheth, "The Four Fundamentals of Customer Satisfaction," Business Marketing, Vol. 73 (6), 1988, 80-94. Manning, Gerald L. and Barry L. Reece, Selling Today: Building Quality Partnerships, 8th ed., Prentice Hall Prentice Hall is a leading educational publisher. It is an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6-12 and higher education market. History In 1913, law professor Dr. , Upper Saddle River Saddle River may refer to:
Miller, John A., "Exploring Some Alternative Measures of Consumer Satisfaction," Marketing: 1776-1976 and Beyond, Ed. Kenneth L. Bernhardt, American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association, one of the largest professional associations for marketers, has 38,000 members worldwide in every area of marketing. For over six decades the AMA has been the leading source for information, knowledge sharing and development in the marketing profession. , Chicago, 1976, 661-64. Mittal, Vikas, William T. Ross, and Patrick M. Baldasare, "The Asymmetric A difference between two opposing modes. It typically refers to a speed disparity. For example, in asymmetric operations, it takes longer to compress and encrypt data than to decompress and decrypt it. Contrast with symmetric. See asymmetric compression and public key cryptography. Impact of Negative and Positive Attribute-Level Performance on Overall Satisfaction and Repurchase Intentions," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 62(1), 1998, 33-47. Oliva, Terence A., Richard L. Oliver, and Ian C. MacMillan, "A Catastrophe Model for Developing Service Satisfaction Strategies," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56(July), 1992, 83-95. Oliver, Richard L., "Cognitive, Affective affective /af·fec·tive/ (ah-fek´tiv) pertaining to affect. af·fec·tive adj. 1. Concerned with or arousing feelings or emotions; emotional. 2. , and Attribute Bases of the Satisfaction Response," .Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 20(December), 1993, 418-430. Oliver, Richard L. and John E. Swan, "Equity and Disconfirmation Perceptions as Influences on Merchant and Product Satisfaction," Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16(December), 1989, 372-383. Olshavsky, Richard N., and Richard A. Spreng, "A 'Desires as Standard" Model of Consumer Satisfaction." Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Vol. 2, 1989, 49-54. Patterson, Paul G., Lester W. Johnson, and Richard A. Spreng, "Modeling the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction for Business-to-Business Professional Services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. ," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 25(1), 1997, 4-17. Peterson, Robert A., and William R. Wilson, "Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Fact and Artifact A distortion in an image or sound caused by a limitation or malfunction in the hardware or software. Artifacts may or may not be easily detectable. Under intense inspection, one might find artifacts all the time, but a few pixels out of balance or a few milliseconds of abnormal sound ," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 20(1), 1992, 61-71. Preis, Michael W., Salvatore F. Divita, and Amy K. Smith, "Building Effective Buyer-Seller Dyadic Two. Refers to two components being used. (programming) dyadic - binary (describing an operator). Compare monadic. Relationships: Understanding How Individual Temperaments and Personal Value Systems Affect Customer Interpersonal Satisfaction and Repurchase Intentions," Advances in Business Marketinq & Purchasinq, Vol. 12, 2003, 263-358. Preis, Michael W., and Gregory M. Kellar, "An Information Theoretic Approach to Modeling Customer Satisfaction for Low-Tech Industrial Offerings," Journal of Academy of Business and Economics, Vol. 1(2), 2003, 209-17. Rogers, Hudson P., Reginal M. Peyton, and Robert L. Berl, "Measurement and Evaluation of Satisfaction Processes in a Dyadic Setting," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Vol. 5, 1992, 12-23. Rust, Roland T., Anthony J. Zahorik, and Timothy L. Keiningham, "Return on Quality (ROQ ROQ Return on Quality ROQ Reorder Quantity ROQ Recommended Order Quantity ROQ Reach Out for Quality ROQ Requisitioning Objective Quantity ROQ Reign of Quebec ROQ Re-Order Quantity ROQ Review of Quality ): Making Service Quality Financially Accountable," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59 (2), 1995, 58-70. Sheth, Jagdish N., "A Model of Industrial Buyer Behavior," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 (October), 1973, 50-56. Smith, Amy K. and Ruth N. Bolton, "The Effect of Customers' Emotional Responses to Service Failures on Their Recovery Effort Evaluations and Satisfaction Judgments," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 30 (1), 2002, 5-23. Spreng, Richard A., Scott B. MacKenzie, and Richard W. Olshavsky, "A Reexamination re·ex·am·ine also re-ex·am·ine tr.v. re·ex·am·ined, re·ex·am·in·ing, re·ex·am·ines 1. To examine again or anew; review. 2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. of the Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 60 (July), 1996, 15-32. Swan, John E. and Richard L. Oliver, "Applied Analysis of Buyer Equity Perceptions and Satisfaction with Automobile Salespeople," Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. XI (2), 1991, 15-26. Woodruff, Robert B., Ernest R. Cadotte, and Roger L Jenkins, "Modeling Consumer Satisfaction Processes Using Experience-Based Norms," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 20 (August), 1983, 296-304. Author Profiles: Dr. Gregory M. Kellar earned his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (UT), sometimes called the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT Knoxville or UTK), is the flagship institution of the statewide land-grant University of Tennessee public university system in the American state of Tennessee. , Knoxville in 1996. Currently he is an assistant professor of business at Penn State University, Delaware County Delaware County is the name of six counties in the United States of America:
Dr. Michael W. Preis earned his Ph.D. at The George Washington University George Washington University, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; chartered 1821 as Columbian College (one of the first nonsectarian colleges), opened 1822, became a university in 1873, renamed 1904. in 2000. Currently he is an assistant professor of marketing at the Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Gregory M. Kellar, Penn State University, Delaware County Michael W. Preis, Long Island University/C. W. Post Campus |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion