The automobile industry customer service satisfaction in China.docx

The automobile industry customer service satisfaction in China.docx

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TheautomobileindustrycustomerservicesatisfactioninChina

INTRODUCTION

Inanycompetitiveindustry,satisfactionofcustomersisvaluedasaprimarydrivertomaintaintheircustomerloyaltysothattheycanberetained（Howard,1977）.ThepositiveimpactcustomersatisfactionontheirloyaltycanbeattributedtofollowfromHirschman’s（1970）theoryofexit-voice.Inthetheoryisdescribedasituationinwhichacustomerorclientgetsdissatisfiedwiththeserviceorproductprovidedbyanorganization.Ontheotherhand,thesameorganizationisbelievedtorealizeitsfailuretodeliverthecustomerswiththeirdesiredqualitiesthroughtwofeedbackmechanismsthatiscalledtheexitandvoice.

Thecustomerissaidtoeitherexitfromtheorganizationofferingtheseinsufficientproductsorstopscompletelyfrombuyinganythingfromthatparticularorganization.Somecustomersliterallyraisetheirvoiceincomplainsagainsttheseunsatisfactoryproductssothattheycouldgetrestitution.Thetheoryfurtherexplainsthatthetwoconsequencesthatappearimmediateontheincreasedcustomersatisfactionappeartobedecreasedcomplainsamongthecustomerandthedecreasedexitofcustomerexitthatwouldtranslatetoincreasedloyalty.Thecustomerswhoexittheseorganizationseitherbuytheirproductsfromthecompetitorsorjustleavethatindustryforgoodacompetitor.Thepredictedimpactonloyaltysatisfactionismajorlysupportedacrossmanyservicesandproduct（Fornell1992;Fornelletal.1996）.

However,theresearch’sconceptualizationofthecustomersatisfactionandorganization’sloyaltyrelationshipisobservedtohavefailedtodevelopupontheeconomicsofHirschman,andtheframeworkofcost-benefit.Variousresearchthathavebeencarriedouteitheroutsidethemarketsphereandtheconsumerbasedresearchrevealavarietyofpolitical,organizational,technologicalandsocialaspectsofanenvironmentofacustomerthathelpthemshapeuptherelationshipthatexistbetweenthesatisfactionandtheirloyaltyinanorganization.Thesearecollectivelycalledtrustenvironment（Katana,1980）.

“Trust,inacustomerorconsumerbehaviorcontext,isdefinedhereastheattainmentofalevelofsatisfactionandresultingloyaltyatwhichcustomersarecomfortableforgoingproblemsolvingbehavior”（Williamson,1993.Pp.65）.Thesecustomersareestimatedtorepurchaseasetofproductsoraspecificproductinahabitualorreutilizedmanner.Thesamedefinitioncouldbemadesimilartootherdomainsfoundinotherdiscipline,likeineconomicsinwhich“trustisacalculationofthelikelihoodoffuturecooperation,andorganizationalbehavior,wheretrustistheexpectationthatanother’sactionswillbebeneficialratherthandetrimentalaswellasthegeneralizedabilitytotakeforgrantedavastarrayoffeaturesofthesocialorder”（CreedandMiles1996.Pp.115）.

Somerecentresearcheshavesuggestedthatthereexistapointonthesatisfactioncontinuumatwhichthepositiveimpactofcustomersatisfactionandtheirloyaltyusuallyincreasesosignificantlydependingonthewaytrustisreachedandthecustomerstendtomovefromthestateofsolvingproblemstoabehaviourthatincludeahabitualpurchaser（AuhandJohnson1997;JonesandSasser1995）.Theresearchproposesthethereisawaythroughwhichthetrustofthecustomer’senvironmentisaffectedbythecontinuumofthecustomerstogetherwiththerelationshipformed.

Theresearchstudyaimsatexpoundingthewaythecustomers’satisfactionhasbeenreceivedbyvariouscustomersintheautomobileindustryofChina.Indoingso,theresearchwillinparticulartakeacloseranalysisonthewaytheChinesecustomersbehavewhenitcomestothedealingsoftransactionsintheautomobileindustry.Thecustomers’behaviourpatternwillthereforeformthebasicprincipleinthestudyanalysis.Inanattempttogetmorespecificfindings,thestudywillnarrowitsresearchtotheautomobilepurchasingpatternoftheChineseyoungpeopleintheBeijingautomobileindustry.

Theresearchwilluseboththeprimaryandsecondaryinitsprocess.Justlikeanyotherproductsinanymarketaroundtheworld,theprocessofpurchasingmotorvehicleamongtheChinesepeopleisalsosignificant.Theseconsumersneedtoacquirevariousinformationsonthekindofthemotorvehicletoacquirefromdifferentmeansthatincludetheinternet,televisionchannels,familyorfriendsthroughthewordofmouth,carsalesstaff,variousshowsthatdisplaythecarsandmanyothermeans.

VariousresearcherswhohavetakenresearchonthesameissuehaveratedinanorderlymannerthevariousfactorsthatmostoftheChinesepersonsusuallyconsiderwhiledesiringtomakeanyformofpurchaseofamotorvehicle（Coleman,1988）.Firstamongthefactorsconsideredbythesepersonsisthesafetyofthecar.Afterconsideringthesafetyofthecar,theChineseclientwillthenconsideritscostasthesecondfactorthenitsridingcomfortwillcomethirdinthecategoryrating.

Thepriorityorderofsafetyfirstanditsmoneyvaluesecondmakesthesepeoplenodifferentwiththewesterncustomerswhoseprioritiesarearrangedinthesamemanner.Theonlydifferencebetweenthesetwotypesofcustomers,thatis,theChinesecustomersandthewesterncustomersisthattheformerpersonshaveonlyonecarthattheyoftenusetopickuptheirfamilieswhilethelatterdohavetwoormorecarsmakingtheridingcomfortfactorhavealittlesignificancetothemascomparedtotheChinacustomers.TheautomobileconsumersinChinesehavebeenobservedtoconsidertheafter-salemaintenanceandthedesignorthesizeoftheexteriorasboththefourthandthefifthfactorstobeconsideredbytheChineseautomobileconsumers（Belk,1975）.

Whenitcomestothedesignoftheautomobile,theChineseconsumersarebelievedtovaluethestatusoftheirsocialclassandwouldinsteadgoforlargerorbiggercarsascomparedtothewesterncustomers（Friedman,1997）.Theleastconsiderationisplacedontheautomobilesresalevaluebearinginmindthatthecountrydoesnotgetitselfinvolvedindealingwiththesecondhandcarmarket.TheChineseconsumerswouldnothavealotofconsiderationfortheinteriorofthecarbuttheexternalsthatisitssizeandspace.Theseindicatethatfortheretoexistacustomersatisfactioninthisindustry,andthenthesefactorsmustbemetbythevariousfirmsresponsiblewiththemanufactureoftheseautomobiles（Leong,1993）.

SATISFACTIONANDLOYALTY:

ACOMPLEXRELATIONSHIP

Beforeengagingtheresearchersontrustenvironmentthathastobeconstructedforaneffectivecustomer-sellerrelationship,itwouldbewiseiftheresearchteamdemonstratedthevariousimpactsrealizedfromasoundsatisfaction-loyaltyrelationship.Thiskindofrelationshipthatdefinesthedegreeofconnectivitybetweenthesellerandthebuyermustbeunderstoodanddemonstratedfirst.Thetraditionalresearchershaveforlongheldthatthereexistsalinearapproachtotheeffectofsatisfactiononthecustomerloyalty.Althoughthistraditionalconcepttookcentrestageforquitealongertime,itwaslatelychallengedbyotherresearchersthatincludeAuh&Johnson1997;Bloemer&Kasper1995,Bloemer&Lemmink1992;Jones&Sasser1995;andfinallyReichheld1996）.Reichheld（1996）,onhispartemphasizedthefactthatitwouldbeunusual,forcustomerswhoarerelativelysatisfiedtodefect.

Theresearchisstrictlyengagedonacompetitiveindustry.AsJonesandSasser（1995）wouldargueitout,competitiveindustryinvolvestwokindofcustomerthatincludesthemercenariesandtheloyalists.Accordingtothem,“loyalistsareverysatisfiedcustomerswhowillinglyrepurchase,whereasmercenariesaremoderatelysatisfiedcustomerswhodonothavealongtermcommitmentandareconstantlyseekingtofindabetterdealfromanotherfirm”（Jones&Sasser,1995.Pp.563）.Theresultcreatedisusuallyacertainkindofrelationshipthatonlyexistsbetweenloyaltyandsatisfaction.“Loyaltyshouldincreasemarginallyovermoderatetohighlevelsonthesatisfactioncontinuumwheremercenariesarepredominantandthenincreasedramaticallyatthehigherendofthesatisfactioncontinuumwhereloyalistsarecreated”Jones&Sasser,1995.Pp.565）.

Auh&Johnson（1997）ontheirpartofferedatheoreticalexplanationthatwouldgiveoutthereasonstowhytherewouldbeanincreaseintheimpactplacedonthesatisfactionandloyalty.Intheirargument,theymaintainthatthecategoricalvariancesseenintheprocessofsolvingthecustomerproblems,andtherelevantchangesexperiencedamongthecustomersevokessomekindofbrandsthatareacceptedtherebymakingsurethattheeffectsaredriven.SuchanargumentgetsitsrootfromtheHoward’s（1977,1983）differencesthatweresaidtoexist“betweenextensiveproblemsolving（EPS）andlimitedproblemsolving（LPS）ontheonehand,androutinizedresponsebehavior（RRB）ontheother”Pp.134,205）.

Itcanbesaidthatintheprocessofsolvingtheproblem,customershavebeenobservedtooptforseveralalternativeapproachesavailabletothem.Theyapplydecisionrulesandstrategiesthatcouldhelpoutweighanybenefitsandcostsofthealternativestherebyidentifyingthebestalternativesthatwouldbestmeetthesecustomers’needs.BettmanandZins（1977）haveattributedthesetobeconstructiveprocesses.

Withthegrowthofthesecustomers’experienceandexpertise,theytendtoidentifywithasmallergroupofpreferredalternativesthatcaneitherbenamedasasetofevokedorconsideration.Thesecustomers’searchpatternarethereforeclassifiedtomajorlyshiftfromtheexternalsearchofinformationtotheinternalsearchasisdescribedbyBettm