Richard L. Oliver

A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions

A model is proposed which expresses consumer satisfaction as a function of expectation and expectancy disconfirmation. Satisfaction, in turn, is believed to influence attitude change and purchase i...

Whence Consumer Loyalty

Both practitioners and academics understand that consumer loyalty and satisfaction are linked inextricably. They also understand that this relation is asymmetric. Although loyal consumers are most ...

Cognitive, Affective, and Attribute Bases of the Satisfaction Response

An attempt to extend current thinking on postpurchase response to include attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction as separate determinants not fully reflected in either cognitive (i.e., expectancy disconfirmation) or affective paradigms is presented. In separate studies of automobile satisfaction and satisfaction with course instruction, respondents provided the nature of emotional experience, disconfirmation perceptions, and separate attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction judgments. Analysis confirmed the disconfirmation effect and the effects of separate dimensions of positive and negative affect and also suggested a multidimensional structure to the affect dimensions. Additionally, attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction were significantly related to positive and negative affect, respectively, and to overall satisfaction. It is suggested that all dimensions tested are needed for a full accounting of postpurchase responses in usage.

Consumer Perceptions of Interpersonal Equity and Satisfaction in Transactions: A Field Survey Approach

Automobile purchasers were surveyed about feelings toward their inputs to and outcomes from the sales transaction, as well as their perceptions of the inputs and outcomes of the salesperson. Struct...

The Dimensionality of Consumption Emotion Patterns and Consumer Satisfaction

Although both consumption emotion and satisfaction judgments occur in the postpurchase period, little is known about their correspondence. This article investigates the interrelationships between the two constructs by way of taxonomic and dimensional analyses to identify patterns of emotional response to product experiences. Five discriminable patterns of affective experience were uncovered, which were based on three independent affective dimensions of hostility, pleasant surprise, and interest. The results extend prior findings of a simple bidimensional affective-response space and reveal that satisfaction measures vary in their ability to represent the affective content of consumption experiences. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.

Assessing the Dimensionality and Structure of the Consumption Experience: Evaluation, Feeling, and Satisfaction

This article examines the underlying dimensionality of three aspects of the post-consumption experience—product evaluation, product-elicited affect, and product satisfaction. In addition, the article integrates these concepts through a suggested causal framework. Students evaluated either a high- or a low-involvement product in current use, reported affective responses evoked by it, and assessed their levels of product-derived satisfaction. Analysis shows that two primary dimensions of product evaluation—utilitarian and hedonic judgment—can be viewed as causally antecedent to two dimensions of affect—pleasantness and arousal—and to product satisfaction. Implications of the conceptual framework and empirical findings for the study of consumption events are discussed.

Response Determinants in Satisfaction Judgments

The effects of five determinants of satisfaction are tested as well as individual differences in satisfaction formation. Manipulations of attribution, expectancy, performance, disconfirmation, and equity are written into stock market trading scenarios in a full factorial design. Results show that all main effects and four ordinal two-way interactions are significant. Then, an individual-level analysis is performed on the repeated measures data. Three clusters of subjects sharing similar response tendencies (disconfirmation, performance, and equity) are identified and related to investment attitudes, outcome attitudes, and demographics. No consistent relationships are discovered, suggesting that the response differences reflect deeper behavioral tendencies. Implications of this approach for satisfaction paradigms, satisfaction theory, and individual satisfaction response orientations are presented.

Customer delight: Foundations, findings, and managerial insight☆

Abstract Many business practitioners have addressed the importance of delighting the customer as an extension of providing basic satisfaction. Yet the concept of customer delight has not been given a clear behavioral foundation, and the antecedents and consequences of customer delight, when manifest in specific service contexts, have not been empirically explored. This paper attempts to provide a first step toward establishing a behavioral basis for customer delight, empirically testing its hypothesised antecedents and consequences, and exploring the resulting implications. Based on data from two service fields, structural equation results support the proposition that unexpected high levels of satisfaction or performance initiate an arousal ⇒ pleasure (positive affect) ⇒ delight sequence. Mixed support is found for the hypothesis that delight is a combined result of pleasure and arousal. Satisfaction, acting in parallel with delight, was strongly related to pleasure and disconfirmation and had a clear effect on behavioral intention; the effect of delight on intention, however, appears to be moderated by the service context. Managerial implications include the consideration of whether delight is a reasonable and meaningful consumer expression in particular service contexts, the necessity of focusing on surprising levels of satisfaction or performance when attempting to produce delighting consumption experiences, and potentially separate strategies for inducing satisfaction and delight.

Perspectives on Behavior-Based versus Outcome-Based Salesforce Control Systems

Forms of control systems used in salesforce evaluation and based on the monitoring of outcomes or of behaviors are described, contrasted, and evaluated in terms of emerging theories in economics, o...

Equity and Disconfirmation Perceptions as Influences on Merchant and Product Satisfaction

Prior work on the equity and disconfirmation determinants of transaction satisfaction was extended to product satisfaction. Based on perceptions of inputs and outcomes of buyer, dealer, and salesperson, two subtractive versions of the equity formula-- absolute equity difference and equity advantage--were tested with fairness and preference as mediating variables. Both variables were related only to the equity advantage formula, and disconfirmation and fairness were shown to be distinct components of post-transaction dispositions. Moreover, product satisfaction was shown to be a function of product disconfirmation, complaining, and satisfaction with the dealer. The latter apparently mediates both fairness and salesperson satisfaction. Copyright 1989 by the University of Chicago.