The Asymmetric impact of

attribute level performance

on Overall Satisfaction

MIGHTY WARRIORS

KRISHNA PRASAD MENON

 According to the study by
SQM
• Employee satisfaction drives
customer satisfaction
• There are a few attributes that need
to be looked into in order to ensure
employee satisfaction
• These attributes are classified into
two sections namely Importance
and Employee Attribute
Satisfaction
• The attributes that rank high on the
Importance list are Appreciation,
stress, being valued, etc.
• The attributes that rank low on the
employee attribute Satisfaction
are freedom, career opportunities,
communication, etc.
• SQM plotted all the attributes on an
Importance v/s Satisfaction graph
•
• The study proposed that attributes
that are high on Importance and
low on Satisfaction need to be
looked into first and named these
attributes “fix these first”.
•
 Flaws in this method
• All identified attributes
symmetrically and linearly impact
overall satisfaction
•


• Negative/ positive Performance on a

single attribute is neglected
•
•
 Asymmetric Impact of
Attribute-level Performance
• Automotive manufacturer has consistently
increased performance on engine power.
But it is observed that customer
satisfaction has been falling……?
•
•
• A physician has been appreciated for his
skill, current diagnosis, politeness, etc. In
the current survey her ratings on
timeliness are low,but others are high.
Yet customer satisfaction is low…..?
•
• In a given set of attributes the
relative impact of each attribute to
overall satisfaction is
different(asymmetric)
•
• Customer satisfaction is a
psychological phenomenon, in that,
it is a memory based process.
•
•
 Prospect Theory
• Loss aversion
 one unit of
negative
performance has a
greater effect on
performance than
a corresponding
unit of positive
performance
• Diminishing sensitivity:
 High level of performance either
positive/negative contributes less to
overall satisfaction as compared to
lower level performance
• A negative performance on a single
attribute could outweigh
accumulated positive
performances on other attributes

• Attribute –level performance could
affect customer satisfaction and
repurchase intention differently
•
• Physician example


•
•
•
 Conclusion
• Managers should not view
attributes with a neutral eye and
always keep the asymmetry in mind.
• Managers should focus on
attributes for which customers are
experiencing negative performance
and then allocate resources to
maximize performance on attributes
that contribute to customer
satisfaction.
 QUESTIONS ??
• Could you give us examples from your
own life wherein you bought a certain
product due to some attributes and
later on found that you were a bit
disappointed in the product due to a
certain negative attribute ?
• How did this affect your repurchase
intentions?
• If the negative attribute is
removed/taken care of would you
give the product another chance?