Die Herausbildung von Kundenzufriedenheitsurteilen bei Alternativenbetrachtung

Traditional elements of competitive differentiation are declining. As industries and firms worldwide face increasing competition, slower growth rates, and price pressures, greater attention is being placed on customer satisfaction. However the research in satisfaction never consider alternatives, when customer satisfaction is formed. It has been the approach of this paper to present an extension for this circumstance. Therefor the regret theory, a diversion of the expectation utility theory, is used to explain the phenomena. According to this theory, each outcome has associated with it the evaluation of the difference between the outcome and the outcome that would have been received had a different option been chosen. In an empirical study we found that expectations about the unchosen alternative did have an effect on satisfaction, specially when expectations about the purchased product were not met. Additionally, if expectations about the chosen alternative were met, there was no effect mentioned.