Understanding customer delight and outrage

Evidence indicates that satisfied customers defect at a high rate in many i ndustries. Because satisfaction alone does not translate linearly into outc omes such as loyalty in terms of purchases, businesses must strive for 100 percent, or total, customer satisfaction and even delight to achieve the ki nd of loyalty they desire. Current studies attribute a higher degree of emotionality to the dissatisfa ction end of the satisfaction continuum than in the past. For example, cust omers who have experienced service failures feel annoyed or victimized. Alt hough victimization is felt at a deeper emotional level than irritation, bo th can result in outrage. By focusing on more intense customer emotions, su ch as outrage and delight, the authors explore the dynamics of customer emo tions and their effect on customer behavior and loyalty. Schneider and Bowen base their conceptualization on people's needs rather t han the more conventional model that focuses on customer expectations about their interactions with a firm. The authors propose a complementary needs- based model far service businesses that assumes customer delight and outrag e originate with the handling of three basic human needs - security, justic e, and self-esteem. By recasting a situation as one that has violated any o f a customer's fundamental needs, the deeper emotional outcome (e.g., outra ge) does not seem incongruous. The authors describe each need and offer spe cific managerial tactics for avoiding outrage and creating delight. Recent emphasis on relationship marketing - that is, attracting, developing , and retaining customers is pertinent because building relationships requi res that companies view customers as people first and consumers second. Ser vice is an exchange relationship in which customers swap their money and lo yalty for what Schneider and Bowen argue is need gratification - a psycholo gical contract with service firms to have their needs gratified. The author s discuss strategies that help firms gratify and, in some cases, delight cu stomers. while avoiding the perception that they do not respect customer ne eds. Companies must manage how they show concern for customer needs in all actio ns, including the activities of the back office (e.g., billing, shipping), not just front-office personnel who directly contact the customer.