Satisfaction is conceptually defined as 'the fulfillment or realization of a need, desire or taste', which, in terms of market research, could be posed as a question in terms of whether it has been fulfilled or not, to a greater or lesser degree, the need, desire or taste that gave rise to a particular purchase.
Also, an interviewee could be asked directly whether or not they are satisfied with that purchase. That is to say, the term itself can be used in the question, or some synonym of more colloquial and frequent use. Satisfaction has as synonyms joy, pleasure, taste, complacency, joy, delight, pleasure, well-being or contentment, among many others. And as antonyms displeasure, disgust, discontent or sadness and of course, dissatisfaction. The colloquial use of the expression 'be, or feel satisfied' is highly unlikely among Spanish-speaking customers and consumers, so its use must be questioned in a questionnaire.
It is worth wondering when was the last time that you or someone you know declared to be, to have stayed or to feel 'satisfied' after watching a movie, going to the hairdresser, taking a plane trip or after a visit to the service offices to the customer of your cell phone provider, internet connection, cable TV, etc.
Local expressions vary and it is clear that there is a lot of work to be done in writing questions for a satisfaction survey questionnaire. 'Being, or feeling happy' seems to be a much more common expression.
Satisfaction can be measured at different stages of the purchase process, from the expectations that are previously established, to the purchase situation and the use of products and services. In fact, it could be argued that the measurement includes a comparison between what the customer expected to obtain versus what he actually obtained through the terms of trade.
In addition, some effects after the transaction and even more, after the use, consumption or enjoyment of the product or service should be considered. Perhaps this would lead to a questionnaire that is too long, so it is common to find measurement instruments focused on an evaluation of results, rather than expectations.
Satisfaction can be measured by itself, or the elements that led to it occurring. That is, a direct measurement can be made of what we call 'satisfaction' and which is the result of a complex chain of events and relationships that interweave the relationship between customer and supplier. Or a measurement can be made of each and every one of those dimensions, factors, attributes, execution elements and characteristics of the product or service that together give rise to a satisfied customer.
In the first case, customers would be asked simply 'how satisfied' are they (how happy)? In the second, they would be asked to make an evaluation of the perceived quality of each of the elements of the customer - supplier relationship.
In this second case, you can still ask a direct (general) question about customer satisfaction. And it could be done before and after the evaluation of each of the individual elements. Thus, the first question would be considered a spontaneous evaluation of customer satisfaction, while the second a reasoned evaluation.
It is assumed that the process of evaluating each element of the business relationship separately leads to a correction in the customer's original assessment of satisfaction. This correction can be both to overvalue and to devalue the originally declared satisfaction.
Satisfaction can be measured as a phenomenon in absolute or gradual terms. The consideration must be made separately for the direct measurement of satisfaction as a general phenomenon and for the evaluation of the elements that give rise to it separately.
In the first case, there is a general agreement that satisfaction is a phenomenon that occurs gradually, so in reality the problem lies in deciding on the number of points within the scale, the inclusion or not of a point intermediate; the balance between positive points towards one extreme and negative points towards the opposite extreme and the phrasing of the scale points. The scales are usually 4, 5, 7 or 10 points, with descriptions of the type 'Very satisfied' or 'Not at all satisfied', or equating the level of satisfaction to a rating scale of 10 points.
On the other hand, in the case of the elements of the commercial relationship, it is worth considering a categorical measurement of the YES / NO type. For example, ask Was your car delivered to you on time? As opposed to asking about your satisfaction with your car's delivery time.
The decision of the scale has to do both with the writing style, the fluency and the handling of the questionnaire as well as with the statistical analysis that is intended to be carried out with the answers given by the clients. Both considerations are very relevant in reaching a decision regarding the scale of the questions.
The importance of satisfaction items can be measured directly, or they can be derived statistically.
In the first case, the interviewees are asked how important each of the elements that affect their satisfaction is. This can make the questionnaire very long, since you have to ask for the importance of each attribute and then, in a second round, its evaluation. Also, it typically results in an overestimation of the importance of attributes.
In the second case, starting from the general evaluation of satisfaction declared by the interviewee, a statistical analysis is carried out in which that 'dependent variable' is considered to be a function of the elements that give rise to it. The most widely used functional statistical technique is multiple regression, in different versions, although discriminant analysis or tree analysis can also be used.
The dependent variable can be spontaneous or reasoned satisfaction, as well as questions about repurchase intention, recommendations to third parties, etc. They are also based on the evaluation of the elements of customer satisfaction.
Either statistical method provides sufficient statistical validity and reliability to avoid having to ask respondents for a statement of the importance of each attribute. The only reason to order it this way separately would be the possibility of carrying out a market segmentation exercise in such a way that customers are grouped according to which attributes they consider more or less important. A customer satisfaction study must include the measurement of global satisfaction, in a spontaneous and reasoned manner; a satisfaction evaluation for each performance attribute; questions on buyback intent and recommendations to third parties and an open questions section on recommendations,without forgetting the classification data that in the end will help to understand the differences between satisfied and dissatisfied customers.
Additional discussion topics have to do with the definition of the sample (who to interview), the moment of measurement (near or far from the moment of truth), the frequency of measurement, the means of application of the interview, anonymity of the interview, etc. Also, with the characteristics and depth of the information analysis, its presentation to the General Directorate and, very especially, the use that will be made of it.
Customer satisfaction is an evaluation response that they give about the degree to which a product or service meets their expectations, needs and desires. Being aware of it only makes sense to the extent that the provider is willing to change the way they establish a relationship with that customer.
