Customer expectation
The term customer expectation is understood to mean the wishes and needs of the customer for a product or service . Customer expectations are very subjective , as every customer has different needs in relation to a product.
Customer expectations are exposed to a number of influencing factors , such as the customer's previous experience with a product or the way in which the customer perceives a company. Further external influencing factors can be recommendations from friends, advertising, awareness of the competition, brand image or the quality of customer service .
Market from the customer's point of view
The market has changed a lot from the perspective of customers in recent years. The variety of products has decreased. Although customers have more and more choices of products, the products have also become more similar.
This can be illustrated using the example of the automotive market: Compared to earlier, there are many different small cars that are all very similar; in the times of the Beetle, for example, the selection was much more limited. Another example of this would be the mobile communications market: There are many different cell phones, but they all have roughly the same functions. A smartphone, for example, has a touchscreen and a built-in camera, regardless of the company that makes it. It has therefore become very difficult for customers to decide on a product and to find the right product for their individual needs.
Nowadays, customers can compare the various products very well, for example via the Internet, and thus have a high level of transparency, but the large selection of similar products makes it very difficult for customers to make a decision . Therefore, customer expectations for both the product and the seller have increased in recent years. Customers expect a product to be a perfect match for their needs, as there is so much to choose from. Customers expect very good advice from the seller so that they can find the perfect product for themselves from the large selection and decide on a product more quickly.
Determinants of customer expectation
Customer expectation consists of three determinants : customer-related, company-related and competitive. These determinants influence and form customer expectations.
The customer-related determinant consists of the customer's personality and the specific situation of the customer. The customer personality includes: the needs, the wishes, the service philosophy and the performance of the customer. The specific situation can include the following: the accidental excess demand, force majeure or even transferred expectations.
The company-related determinant consists of the customer's previous experience with the company and the company's service information. Experience to date is made up of previous service utilization, word-of-mouth communication from family and friends and expert statements about the company. The service information is both explicit information, for example in the context of the company's communication, and implicit information, for example the price or the company's image.
The competitive determinant consists of previous experience with the competitor company and the competitor information. The previous experience is composed of the previous use of services by the competition, word-of-mouth communication from family and friends about the competing companies and the expert statements about the competing companies. The competition information is the offers of the competition, the explicit and implicit service information of the competition as well as the possibility of creating a product yourself.
Customer expectations of the product
The customer's expectations of a product are very subjective, as every customer has different requirements for a particular product. However, there are four factors that play a decisive role in the selection of the product:
Quality: The quality of a product plays a major role in the purchase decision. The quality of customer service can also play a role.
Price: The price often determines the purchase decision. The price-performance ratio is also important.
Design: The design of a product can also be decisive for a purchase.
Requirement: This factor is very different for every customer, as every customer has different ideas about a product and has different requirements for a product.
Customer expectations when shopping
When shopping, customers often expect advice because they are overwhelmed by the product selection and have difficulty choosing the right product for them. The first thing customers expect is that the salespeople are friendly and in a good mood. Furthermore, customers expect the seller to be taken seriously, understood and recognized. They also want to have comfort, attention and a sense of welcome while shopping.
However, it should be noted that customers have different expectations of their purchase, depending on what they buy. A distinction must be made between low involvement and high involvement. In this case, involvement describes a customer's commitment to being interested in the product.
A high involvement is the purchase of a car, for example, as it is of great importance for the customer because the purchase is associated with high costs and an acquisition for a longer period of time. The customer invests a lot of energy and time in such a purchase in order to find out exactly what is on offer and needs good purchase advice.
Low involvement describes the opposite, for example when buying food. In this case, the customer spends little time and energy in buying advice or looking for information about the product, since these are everyday products that are consumed quickly.
Meeting customer expectations
Fulfilling customer expectations leads to customer satisfaction , but this is subjective and different for each customer. Customer satisfaction is of great importance to companies because customer satisfaction can lead to customer loyalty . That is why the best possible customer orientation is very important for companies in order to be able to determine customer expectations and thus meet them.
Customer expectations can be determined through customer surveys, customer satisfaction analyzes and complaint analyzes . The best way to do this is to exceed customer expectations and get customers to recommend the company to others. In a company, these measures are part of customer management .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Thomas H. Jachens: Professional shopping , Redline Verlag, Munich 2010, 3rd edition, p. 10.
- ↑ Thomas H. Jachens: Professional shopping , Redline Verlag, Munich 2010, 3rd edition, page 10/11.
- ↑ Mark Richter, Dynamics of Customer Expectations in the Service Process , Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler / GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2005, 1st edition, p. 57.
- ↑ Mark Richter, Dynamics of Customer Expectations in the Service Process , Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler / GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2005, 1st edition, pp. 57/58.
- ↑ Mark Richter, Dynamics of Customer Expectations in the Service Process , Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler / GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2005, 1st edition, pp. 59-63.
- ↑ Mark Richter, Dynamics of Customer Expectations in the Service Process , Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler / GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden 2005, 1st edition, pp. 63-65.
- ↑ Thomas H. Jachens: Professional shopping , Redline Verlag, Munich 2010, 3rd edition, page 11/12.
- ↑ a b c Andreas Scharf, Bernd Schubert, Patrick Hehn, Marketing - Introduction to Theory and Practice , Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, 4th edition, pp. 60/61.
- ↑ Andreas Scharf, Bernd Schubert, Patrick Hehn, Marketing - Introduction to Theory and Practice , Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, 4th edition, p. 12.
- ↑ Andreas Scharf, Bernd Schubert, Patrick Hehn, Marketing - Introduction to Theory and Practice , Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, 4th edition, p. 3/4.