Customer Satisfaction Measurement on the Internet

Tesis , 1999 , 81 Páginas , Calificación: 1

Medios / Comunicación - Multimedia, internet, nuevas tecnologías

Within this thesis, two popular subjects are combined: Customer satisfaction measurements and marketing research on the Internet.

The importance of customer satisfaction has gained considerable intention in the marketing literature. With increasing global competition, accelerating customer choice opportunities and demands, customer satisfaction has become a vital goal for the survival of the company. Individual countries as well as the European Union have recognized this importance and started to develop their own customer satisfaction indices in order to provide their companies with a standard benchmark within their industry and country.

Since its opening to private and commercial use in 1995, the Internet has been growing tremendously. Because of this growth, the new medium has also gained the interest of (marketing) researchers. While Internet marketing research is gaining popularity and studies concerning this subject are finally emerging on a larger scale, no specific investigations of customer satisfaction measurements on the Internet could be found. The problem statement to be answered within this thesis therefore is the following:

How can customer satisfaction measurements be realized on the Internet?

In order to find an answer to this question, a restriction has to be made because the satisfaction formation appears to be different for products and services. Due to the more advanced findings concerning the satisfaction formation with products as opposed to services, the satisfaction with products is investigated within this thesis.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 Definition of Subject Matter and Problem Statement
  • 1.2 Subquestions
  • 1.3 Intended Academic and Practical Contribution
  • 1.4 Chapter Conclusion
• 2. Customer Satisfaction Models
  • 2.1 The Expectancy Disconfirmation Model
  • 2.2 The Equity Theory
  • 2.3 Ongoing Research
  • 2.4 Chapter Conclusion
• 3. Customer Satisfaction Measurement
  • 3.1 Measurement Approaches
    • 3.1.1 Event-specific Methods
    • 3.1.2 Attribute-specific Methods
    • 3.1.3 Methods to assess Important Product Attributes
  • 3.2 The Research Process
  • 3.3 Chapter Conclusion
• 4. The Internet
  • 4.1 Internet Services
  • 4.2 Internet Research Methods
    • 4.2.1 E-mail Surveys
      • 4.2.1.1 Advantage and Disadvantages
    • 4.2.2 WWW-Surveys
      • 4.2.2.1 Advantages and Disadvantages
    • 4.2.3 Online Focus Groups
      • 4.2.3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages
  • 4.3 Internet-specific Target Groups
    • 4.3.1 Newsgroups and Mailinglists
      • 4.3.1.1 Advantages and Disadvantages
    • 4.3.2 Virtual Communities
      • 4.3.2.1 (Potential) Advantages and Disadvantages
  • 4.4 Chapter Conclusion
• 5. Customer Satisfaction Measurement on the Internet
  • 5.1 Online Measurement of Derived Satisfaction
    • 5.1.1 E-mail Surveys
    • 5.1.2 WWW-Surveys
    • 5.1.3 Comparability/Combination of Methods
  • 5.2 The Online Measurement of Exceptional Experiences
  • 5.3 Online Methods to Assess Important Product Attributes
    • 5.3.1 In-Depth Interviews
  • 5.4 'CS' Research using Internet-specific Target Groups
    • 5.4.1 Virtual Communities
  • 5.5 The Online Research Process
    • 5.5.1 The Decision-Making Framework
  • 5.6 Chapter Conclusion
• 6. Online Customer Satisfaction Surveys In Practice
  • 6.1 Methodological Considerations
    • 6.1.1. Definition of the Population
    • 6.1.2 Data Collection Method and Questionnaire Design
    • 6.1.3 Sampling Frame
    • 6.1.4 Sampling Procedure and Sampling Elements
    • 6.1.5 Data Collection
  • 6.2 Survey Results
    • 6.2.1 Demographics
    • 6.2.2 E-mail Surveys
      • 6.2.2.1 Differences between Countries
      • 6.2.2.2 Differences between Firm Sizes
    • 6.2.3 WWW-Surveys
      • 6.2.3.1 Differences between Countries
      • 6.2.3.2 Differences between Firm Sizes
    • 6.2.4 Online Methods to Assess Important Product Attributes
      • 6.2.4.1 Differences between Countries
      • 6.2.4.2 Differences between Firm Sizes
  • 6.3 Chapter Conclusion
• 7. Conclusion
• References
• Appendix
  • The Questionnaire
  • The Reminder

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This research paper investigates the measurement of customer satisfaction on the Internet. It aims to explore the applicability of various Internet-based research methods for measuring customer satisfaction, considering the specific challenges and opportunities presented by the online environment. The paper analyzes the suitability of different methods, including email surveys, WWW-surveys, and online focus groups, for assessing customer satisfaction in various contexts. It also examines the potential of virtual communities for conducting customer satisfaction research.

• Customer satisfaction measurement methods
• Internet-based research methods for customer satisfaction
• Suitability of email surveys, WWW-surveys, and online focus groups
• Potential of virtual communities for customer satisfaction research
• Challenges and opportunities of online customer satisfaction measurement

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The first chapter introduces the subject matter and problem statement, outlining the research question and its significance. It also defines the intended academic and practical contributions of the study. The second chapter explores various customer satisfaction models, focusing on the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model and the Equity Theory. It discusses the theoretical framework for understanding customer satisfaction and its measurement. The third chapter delves into the measurement of customer satisfaction, examining different approaches and methods, including event-specific, attribute-specific, and methods for assessing important product attributes. It also outlines the research process for conducting customer satisfaction studies. The fourth chapter provides an overview of Internet services and research methods, including email surveys, WWW-surveys, and online focus groups. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of each method and discusses the potential of virtual communities for research. The fifth chapter examines the applicability of Internet-based methods for measuring customer satisfaction, exploring the online measurement of derived satisfaction, exceptional experiences, and important product attributes. It also presents the online research process and a decision-making framework for determining the suitability of online customer satisfaction measurement. The sixth chapter presents the results of a survey among market research agencies, exploring their perspectives on the use of the Internet for customer satisfaction surveys. It analyzes the methodological considerations and survey results, highlighting the limitations and potential of online customer satisfaction measurement in practice.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

The keywords and focus themes of the text include customer satisfaction, Internet research, online measurement, email surveys, WWW-surveys, online focus groups, virtual communities, derived satisfaction, exceptional experiences, important product attributes, research process, decision-making framework, methodological considerations, survey results, and practical applications.

• Universidad: Maastricht University
• Calificación: 1
• Autor: Katja Hofmeier (Autor)
• Año de publicación: 1999
• Páginas: 81
• No. de catálogo: V185298
• ISBN (Ebook): 9783668331938
• ISBN (Libro): 9783867462341
• Idioma: Inglés
• Etiqueta: customer satisfaction, internet, customer service, internet marketing, marketing