Claes Fornell

Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error

The statistical tests used in the analysis of structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error are examined. A drawback of the commonly applied chi square test, in addit...

A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience.

Many individual companies and some industries monitor customer satisfaction on a continual basis, but Sweden is the first country to do so on a national level. The annual Customer Satisfaction Baro...

Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error : algebra and statistics

Several issues relating to goodness of fit in structural equations are examined. The convergence and differentiation criteria, as applied by Bagozzi, are shown not to stand up under mathematical or...

The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, purpose, and findings

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a new type of market-based performance measure for firms, industries, economic sectors, and national economies. The authors discuss the nature and...

Two Structural Equation Models: LISREL and PLS Applied to Consumer Exit-Voice Theory

In marketing applications of structural equation models with unobservable variables, researchers have relied almost exclusively on LISREL for parameter estimation. Apparently they have been little ...

Customer Satisfaction and Shareholder Value

In this article, the authors develop a theoretical framework that specifies how customer satisfaction affects future customer behavior and, in turn, the level, timing, and risk of future cash flows. Empirically, they find a positive association between customer satisfaction and shareholder value. They also find significant variation in the association across industries and firms.

A framework for comparing customer satisfaction across individuals and product categories

Abstract A framework is presented which integrates economic and psychological perspectives in order to compare customer satisfaction across individuals and product categories. The framework lays the foundation for the development of a national index for customer satisfaction that is now in place in Sweden. An important property of any such index is that it allows for comparisons across customers, firms, and industries. A number of propositions are forwarded regarding potentially systematic differences in satisfaction across people and products.

Why Do Customer Relationship Management Applications Affect Customer Satisfaction

This research evaluates the effect of customer relationship management (CRM) on customer knowledge and customer satisfaction. An analysis of archival data for a cross-section of U.S. firms shows that the use of CRM applications is positively associated with improved customer knowledge and improved customer satisfaction. This article also shows that gains in customer knowledge are enhanced when firms share their customer-related information with their supply chain partners.

Rational and Adaptive Performance Expectations in a Customer Satisfaction Framework

This article develops and tests alternative models of market-level expectations, perceived product performance, and customer satisfaction. Market performance expectations are argued to be largely rational in nature yet adaptive to changing market conditions. Customer satisfaction is conceptualized as a cumulative construct that is effected by market expectations and performance perceptions in any given period and is affected by past satisfaction from period to period. An empirical study that supports adaptive market expectations and stable market satisfaction using data from the Swedish Customer Satisfaction Barometer is reported. Copyright 1995 by the University of Chicago.

Foundations of the American Customer Satisfaction Index

How do we know if an economy is performing well? How do we know if a company is performing well? The fact is that we have serious difficulty answering these questions today. The economy-for nations and for corporations-has changed much more than our theories and measurements. The development of national customer satisfaction indices (NCSIs) represents an important step towards addressing the gap between what we know and what we need to know. This paper describes the methodology underlying one such measure, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). ACSI represents a uniform system for evaluating, comparing, and - ultimately - enhancing customer satisfaction across firms, industries and nations. Other nations are now adopting the same approach. It is argued that a global network of NCSIs based on a common methodology is not simply desirable, but imperative.