CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY
1. IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SATISFICATION
Customer Satisfaction is a measure of products and services given by a company meet or up to the level of customer expectation. It also depends on how efficiently, effectively and promptly products and services are provided. It plays a significant role in business sector part and one of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard. Customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Customer satisfaction is the overall essence of the impression about the supplier by the customers.
1.1.1 THEORIES ABOUT CUSTOMER SATISFICATION
A number of theoretical approaches have been utilized to explain the relationship between disconfirmation and satisfaction. Many theories have been used to understand the process through which customers form satisfaction Judgements.
The theories can be broadly classified under three groups:
1. Expectancy disconfirmation, Equity, and Attribution.
2. The expectancy disconfirmation theory suggests that consumers form satisfaction judgments by evaluating actual product/service.
Four psychological theories were identified that can be used to explain the impact of expectancy or satisfaction: Assimilation, Contrast, Generalized Negativity, and Assimilation-Contrast
1.1.2 MEASUREMENT OF SATISFACTION
The Heart of the satisfaction process is the comparison of what was expected with the product or service’s performance – this process has traditionally been described as the ‘confirmation / disconfirmation’ process. First, customers would form expectations prior to purchasing a product or service. Second, consumption or experience with the product or service produces a level of perceived quality that is influenced by expectations. If perceived performance is only slightly less than expected...