Competitive Advantage of Good Customer Service

In the 1990s, customer service has become a major ingredient of corporate competitiveness (Kiely, 1993, pp. 3034). The delivery of high levels of customer service is becoming more difficult, as the customer base for most firms becomes both more diverse and more demanding (Kiely, 1993, pp. 3034). Literature related to the development of a competitive advantage through the provision of high levels of customer service is reviewed.

A high level of customer service is analogous to a high level of consumer satisfaction. The concept of consumer satisfaction, in turn, is the basis of the concept of quality management. Quality is an essentially meaningless term unless a perception of quality is attributed to a productgood or serviceby the users of the product. Consumer satisfaction is difficult to define and even more difficult to measure (McCarthy, 1992, p. 412). Consumer satisfaction is, in many ways, a personal concept that is based on personal perceptions (McCarthy, 1992, p. 413). Consumer satisfaction is significantly related to one's post purchase feelings about that which was bought (Kotler, 1993, p. 18). In this context, consumer satisfaction is considered to be a function of (1) the purchaser's expectations concerning the product, and (2) the product's perceived performance (Kotler, 1993, pp. 175176). Consumers form expectations on the

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eature evaluations (Teas and Dellva, 1985, p. 99). In this model, a regression equation is developed. The multiple regression analysis permits the measurement of consumer satisfaction levels on the basis of consumer tradeoffs between various attributes, preferences, and perceptions (Teas and Dellva, 1985, p. 112). The regression model employed in conjoint measurement analysis is as follows (Teas and Dellva, 1985, pp. 99112): Y = B + SUM AX, where Y = the preference rating, or consumer satisfaction level; B = the grand mean of the dependent variable; A = partial regression coefficients; and X = a vector of effects coded variables for each attribute. Developing High Levels of Customer Service and Consumer Satisfaction Pisharodi and Langley (1990, pp. 2648) suggested a perceptual process model of customer service based on cybernetic/control theory; a theorybased interpretive model of the behavioral process of customer service. The model has its basis in both cybernetics and general systems theory. Arnould (1989, pp. 239267) developed a systems theorybased model of consumer behavior. The service sector of the economy is hi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Mahler Nicholson, Armstrong Symonds, SMWTs Barton, Bennett Hymowitz, Service Concept, Hammonds DeGeorge, Mahoney Robishaw, Pisharodi Langley, Consumer Satisfaction, Teas Dellva, customer service, consumer satisfaction, levels customer, 1991 pp, levels customer service, nicholson 1989, 1993 pp, mahler nicholson, gortner mahler, gortner mahler nicholson, mahler nicholson 1989, armstrong symonds 1991, symonds 1991, telephone services, nicholson 1989 110,
Approximate Word count = 2764
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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