The factor structure of customer satisfaction An empirical test of the importance grid and the penalty-reward-contrast analysis

There is growing evidence that service quality attributes fall into three categories of factors that have a different impact on the formation of customer satisfaction. However, it is not clear which analytical procedure best identifies these factors. Vavra proposed a two-dimensional importance grid based on customers’ self-stated importance and derived importance using regression analysis. It is based on the assumption that there is a difference between self-stated and derived importance and that by combining these importance weights, three groups of product or service attributes can be identified. Using data collected to measure customer satisfaction with the service of the IT department of a hospital, the authors test the underlying assumptions of the importance grid. They seem to be correct. When the results are compared with the penalty-reward contrast analysis developed by Brandt, the two methods do not yield the same results. Therefore, the convergent validity of the importance grid has to be questioned. The paper closes with a discussion of the implications for research and practice. Introduction The identification of the determinants of customer satisfaction is a central concern for service management academics and practitioners. It is an essential prerequisite for the management of service quality. For service providers, it is crucial to know which service attributes add value and increase satisfaction, which of them merely fulfil minimum requirements and minimize dissatisfaction and which do both. Only then can they make better decisions about how resources should be allocated to different service attributes in order to improve quality and satisfaction. The identification of customer satisfaction factors is crucial. Several methods have been proposed. Among these methods is a 2D grid proposed by Vavra (1997). It assumes that self-stated and derived importance differ and that by combining these importance weights, three groups of product or service attributes can be identified. This method will be tested empirically. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, the literature on the factor structure of customer satisfaction is reviewed, conclusions are drawn and the strengths and weaknesses of the empirical studies are discussed. Then, the underlying assumptions of the T h e c u r re n t i s s u e a n d fu ll t e x t a r c h iv e o f th is jo u r n a l is a v a i la b le a t http://www.em eraldinsight.com/0956-4233.htm