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Many different scales have been used to measure customer satisfaction. These scales can be divided into three main groups, being those measuring performance, disconfirmation and satisfaction. Reports on the design and execution of a study of hotel guests in which they were asked to rate the key service attributes of their stay using all three of these measurement scales. Repurchase intention and word‐of‐mouth effects were also measured. Compares the scales on the basis of reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, predictive validity, skewness, face validity and managerial value for directing a quality improvement programme. Shows the disconfirmation scale to be superior to both the performance and satisfaction scales on all these criteria except for predictive validity. In addition, the performance scale was generally better than the satisfaction scale on a number of these criteria.

How service evaluations are influenced by the complexity of the service delivery process has not been adequately studied. Therefore, this study investigates three types of service processes: a hotel stay, a day conference and a restaurant visit, which represent different levels of complexity. Cumulative satisfaction was measured for each service attribute and their subattributes along the path of the service process. In addition, overall satisfaction, service quality, disconfirmation of expectations and likelihood to recommend and return were measured after completion of the service delivery. Both similar and dissimilar patterns of overall and cumulative evaluations were found across the three processes. In terms of the relative importance of process attributes and subattributes, both common and core attributes across the three processes exhibited similar importances.

Although there have been many research articles about how to measure service quality, how service quality perceptions are formed, what effect service quality has on behavior, and service quality’s financial impact, there has been little discussion to date of the potential impact of service quality on competitive marketing decisions. This paper considers directly the issue of how an analysis of the impact of comparative service quality can inform tactical marketing decisions in a competitive marketplace. We propose and empirically demonstrate a simple theoretical framework of how market share changes result from changes in service quality, by the focal firm and/or by a competitor. In addition we show how price changes trade‐off against changes in service quality, and how comparative customer value is affected by changes in service quality and/or price. Our framework enables us to evaluate the projected market share shifts produced by proactive changes in service quality and/or price, and also enables us to evaluate the projected effectiveness of reactions to competitors’ changes in service quality and price. For example, our framework suggests that a quickly‐implemented increase in service quality (rather than a matching price cut) may sometimes be an effective tactical response to a competitor’s price cut. We illustrate the implementation of our framework on actual longitudinal industry data. We show how the market share impact of changes in service quality and/or price can be projected, and how this information can be used to drive competitive marketing decisions.

Presents some techniques developed by Telecom New Zealand where first the component factors that most influence the overall satisfaction rating of Telecom’s service are found. Second, these components are quantified and the improvement required for each component to meet overall excellence targets is determined. Gives a successful example of International Directory Assistance which shows that these techniques have significantly raised customer overall satisfaction in just five months.

The purpose of this study is threefold: To compare many old and new media channels in terms of a range of attributes such as perceived intrusiveness, reliability, trustworthiness, convenience, and entertainment value. To compare the perceived relative effectiveness of alternative communication channels in terms of how a marketing proposition is evaluated by recipients and thus to establish whether some channels are better than others for achieving engagement and persuasion. To additionally survey the senders of marketing communications, to examine potential differences between how senders think recipients perceive each channel and what recipients actually perceive. Moreover, it is proposed that the survey be conducted in both consumer and business markets.

First, in a survey, the channels are compared from the perspective of both receivers and senders of marketing communications and additionally from that of consumer and business markets. Second, by means of experimentally generated scenarios, the paper assesses the relative effectiveness of the 11 channels in eliciting responses to two typical B‐to‐C and two B‐to‐B promotion offers.

The paper finds that, although e‐mail is well established and widely used, the traditional channels of television, radio, newspapers and direct mail retain their historically favored attributes of trust and reliability of information that make them still preferred by consumer recipients of marketing communications, even by “tech savvy” younger consumers who use e‐mail and SMS extensively. Business receivers are more accepting of e‐mail marketing communications than are consumers but, like consumers, they are more likely to act on a marketing offer if it comes through traditional mass media or mail channels.

The paper enables marketing managers to assess the relative benefits of a number of marketing communication channels.

Prior studies of how service quality evolves during the service delivery process either have used aggregate case data or have not obtained objective measurements of the actual dimensions of the service encounter on an individual basis. Reports on a study of a service delivery process in a hotel. Its conference day guests rated the delivery process based on four distinct service encounters: arrival, coffee break, lunch and conference room. The aim was to investigate how quality factors were related to their respective encounters and how cumulative satisfaction levels impact on each other and over time. Average satisfaction levels for each of the four encounters were found to be significantly different. Moreover, there was a clear trend in the cumulative satisfaction results. Arrival resulted in high satisfaction, the coffee break was not as satisfying and lunch rated the worst. Satisfaction rose again after the conference room experience. A factor analysis of all the questions, for a hypothesized four‐factor solution, explained 72 per cent of the variation. All four encounters loaded highly and collectively on four distinct factors. Finally, a logistic regression model was used to rank the importance of the quality factors on their respective encounters. This information can be used to assist with the quality improvement of each encounter.

Prior studies of how service quality evolves during the service delivery process have used aggregate case data in retrospect or have not obtained objective measures of the actual dimensions of the service encounter on an individual basis. Reports on a study of an actual hotel service delivery process partitioned into five distinct service encounters; check‐in, the room, the restaurant, the breakfast and check‐out. The aim was to investigate how quality factors were related to their respective encounters and how cumulative satisfaction levels impact on each other and over time. Average satisfaction levels for each of the five encounters were found to be significantly different. Moreover, there was a clear trend in the cumulative satisfaction results. Check‐in resulted in high satisfaction, the room was not so satisfying and the restaurant rated the worst. Satisfaction scores rose after the breakfast experience and rose again after check‐out. A factor analysis of all the questions, for a hypothesized five‐factor solution, explained 78 per cent of the variation. All the first four encounters loaded highly and collectively on four distinct factors. The fifth factor largely comprised correct check‐in booking and a correct bill on check‐out. Finally, a logistic regression model was used to rank the importance of the quality factors on their respective encounters. This information can be used to assist with the quality improvement of each encounter.

In this article we present the results of a survey of marketing departments in Australasia. The department head completed the questionnaire, which covered the areas of class sizes, course taught, staff research interests and research productivity. We find that university marketing departments have experienced fast growth in student enrolments in the past year, and they expect overall enrolments to grow by about 15 percent over the next five years. Research interests among staff span a broad range of topics, and research productivity appears to compare favourably with the rates seen in similar disciplines in US universities.