Nonlinear and asymmetric returns on customer satisfaction: do they vary across situations and consumers?

Customer satisfaction is generally acknowledged as a key determinant of the value a customer contributes to a firm. Following the widespread recognition that the relationship is nonlinear and possibly even asymmetric, the authors develop a framework for understanding and predicting functional differences across consumers and situations. The resultant conceptualization proposes two general categories of moderating factors: Type I moderators, which induce functional changes by impacting the underlying comparison standards employed in the CS formation process, and Type II moderators, which cause the function to change by altering the interplay of cognitive and affective modes of the satisfaction experience. The authors employ firm reputation as an example of a Type I moderation and customer involvement as an example of a Type II moderation to illustrate differences between these types of moderation and to highlight how exactly each type of moderation changes the functional nature of the focal relationship. Specifically, a firm with a strong reputation benefits from a broader zone of tolerance than a firm of minor reputation, and highly involved customers react more intensively to extreme changes in satisfaction than do low involvement consumers.