MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTIVES 165Satisfaction
When a consumer buys a product or service he or she has certain expectations about the
purchase. When the product or service lives up to the required and desired benefi ts or sur-
passes expectations, the consumer will be satisfi ed and thus inclined to choose the same
brand whenever he or she buys the product again. Dissatisfi ed consumers will probably
buy a diff erent brand on the next occasion and will complain to relatives and friends. Most
marketers are satisfi ed when consumers fi nally buy and stop communicating at that point.
But it is clear that communications should also be directed to existing customers. Th e most
important reason is that clients are advocates of the brand and products they buy. Word-of-
mouth communications can be stimulated and approved by communicating with current
customers. Moreover, it is important to reassure consumers about their choice. Cognitive
dissonance, i.e. the fact that – due to a choice situation – buyers start to have doubts about
that choice, should be avoided to enhance brand loyalty.Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty is defi ned as the mental commitment or relation between a consumer and a
brand. But there are diff erent types of brand loyalty. Repeat purchase is not the same as brand
loyalty. Th e former is oft en the result of habit or routine buying rather than of brand preference
or brand loyalty. Instead of evaluating alternatives and choosing a new brand for every new
purchase, in low-involvement, fast-moving packaged goods consumers tend to buy the same
brands again without having a commitment to the brand. Th is is how brand habits develop.
By always using and buying the same brands, a positive attitude towards those brands is initiated.
Longitudinal tracking in the USA, UK and Germany has shown that brand loyalty is not a
characteristic of a brand but of a product category. Brands with a higher market share in that
category have a higher ‘loyalty’ because of their higher penetration rate and not necessarily
because the emotional bond with the customer is better. Brand ‘loyalty’ can indeed be the
result of habit formation.^16Research on complaint management has emphasised the importance of service recovery, i.e. restoring customer
trust after a service failure. A well-executed recovery effort not only is capable of influencing customer satisfaction
positively, but can also convert dissatisfied customers into satisfied and loyal ones.^17 Customer satisfaction after
a service recovery depends on customers’ fairness perception (i.e. the extent to which they perceive themselves as
being treated fairly compared with other customers; the extent to which they perceive that the output is in balance
with the input) and attribution of accountability (i.e. the perceived causes of success or failure, who is to blame).^18
Research on recovery management has usually measured satisfaction after service failure of the duped customer in
a one-to-one relationship. With the growing use of the Internet, everybody can post a negative comment online, for
everyone with an Internet connection to read. Negative online WOM by a dissatisfied customer due to a service
failure can have serious consequences, as this can harm brand image, companies’ reputations and consumers’ attitudes
and purchase intentions.^19 Thus, it is one of the major challenges for companies to develop appropriate response
strategies to negative e-WOM.^20 When online reviews are read by so many potential customers, it is critical not
only to satisfy the initial client, but also to remove barriers with the readers of these online reviews. People who
intend to buy a service are likely to reconsider their decision after reading negative reviews, especially when these
potential customers realise that the organisation does not respond properly to these negative comments.RESEARCH INSIGHT
Organisational responses to negative online reviewsM05_PELS3221_05_SE_C05.indd 165M05_PELS3221_05_SE_C05.indd 165 6/5/13 3:01 PM6/5/13 3:01 PM