Customer Satisfaction in a High-technology Business-to-Business Conext

Abstract

Customer satisfaction is a subject that has gained much attention. However, the focus has been on business-to-consumer (B2C) industries rather than business-to-business (B2B) industries. The author investigates the concept of customer satisfaction in a high-technology B2B context. A survey was sent out to industrial customers of a manufacturer of high-technology products. 205 responses were gathered from all levels of the customer organizations. The study investigates the effect of the role as decision-maker on overall customer satisfaction. Product performance for customer’s personnel, customer’s customer and the quality of the technical service are introduced as dimensions to measure in a study on industrial customer satisfaction. Disconfirmation of expectation, a well-known framework for measuring customer satisfaction in consumer context is tested in a B2B context. Another common framework for measuring customer satisfaction, perceived performance, is also tested. Finally, the effect of customer satisfaction on loyalty is investigated. Measures are developed by principal component analyses and both multivariate and univariate regression analyses are utilized to investigate the relationships. Most of the hypotheses are supported but the role of decision-makers is not as strong as initially believed. Technical service is the most important dimension in the model, and product performance for personnel and for customer’s customer both have a positive effect on overall customer satisfaction. Disconfirmation of expectations and perceived performance have different influence depending on which dimension of the product offer they are measuring. Customer satisfaction is found to be an important antecedent of loyalty even in a B2B context. The results give empirical support to the different theories and provide insight for managers of companies in the high-technology B2B industry.