Customer satisfaction: I ask, therefore it exists? - Impact of firm-sponsored customer satisfaction surveys on participants' behaviours

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Queirós de Almeida, J., 2021. Customer satisfaction: I ask, therefore it exists? - Impact of firm-sponsored customer satisfaction surveys on participants' behaviours. DBA, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This research contributes to the common body of knowledge of Question Behaviour Effect (QBE) and Mere-Measurement Effect (MME) by exploring several issues that have emerged from the critical analysis of the existing literature on the influence of firm sponsored customer satisfaction surveys on subsequent behaviour of the customers. The main goal of this study was to assess if and how firm sponsored customer satisfaction surveys can influence participants' behaviours and impact business outcomes, in particular defection, repurchase, complaints and profitability. This study expands on previous research by going beyond the exploration of the direct impact of responding to firm sponsored customer satisfaction surveys. Moreover, this study explores the impact that can emerge from customers simply receiving the survey (even if they do not reply) and the impact of the company replying (or not) to the customer that answers the survey. In addition, the potential moderator effects of tenure and satisfaction levels on the MME existing between independent and dependent variables was studied.

A field-based experiment was developed by collaborating with a Portuguese utility company whose existing customer satisfaction survey platform was used to measure the impact of different scenarios around the administration of firm-sponsored customer satisfaction surveys on the dependent variables defection, repurchase, complaints and profitability, based on measurements made on the date of the experiment and twelve months after. From the study conclusions, it is possible to highlight: i) customers participating in the surveys present lower defection and higher profitability than the control group (no survey); ii) customers that received the survey and did not reply to it present higher profitability than the control group, iii) customers that participate in the survey and receive a "thank you message" present lower defection than customers that participated and did not receive a "thank you message" ; iii) Customers that received the “thank you message” by phone show higher repurchase and higher profitability than customers that received the "thank you message" by e-mail. Although due to data limitations it was not possible to perform regression analysis on moderating interactions, the study presents also relevant findings about the influence of tenure and satisfaction on the impact of firm-sponsored customer satisfaction surveys.

From the conclusions of the experiment, relevant contributions were identified for a better understanding of MME, exploring some gaps in knowledge that have been identified, and presenting original contributions to MME research (in particular, the ex-ante and ex-post MME). In addition, several recommendations were identified from a managerial perspective, namely for a better cost/benefit analysis of running firm-sponsored customer satisfaction surveys. The thesis also identifies limitations of the study and highlights areas for potential future research.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Queirós de Almeida, J.
Date:	October 2021
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author, José Queirós de Almeida. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained in this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Right: jqueiros.almeida@gmail.com.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	29 Jun 2022 08:27
Last Modified:	29 Jun 2022 08:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/46505