Identification and Interpretation of the Importance of Customer Service Satisfaction Factors

Abstract

Customer satisfaction is shaped by their experience over the whole supplier - customer relation cycle, i.e., throughout a pre-transactional, transactional and post-transactional phase, respectively. Customer service is the process that unites all three phases. Therefore planning efficient customer service should be based on the priorities which customers value most in the process and which have the strongest impact on their satisfaction. The literature and practice indicate at least two ways which allow one to establish customer-perceived significance of market offerings’ attributes. However, each way leads to a different customer’s reality and supports different managerial decisions. Understanding of those alternative ways enables decision-makers to take more appropriate steps and consequently achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. In this article, we attempt to uncover the implications of alternative procedures to identify customer perceived importance of market offering aspects: stated importance and derived importance. We verify our claims using the data from an exploratory study of personal insulin pumps users.