Product and service quality: consumer satisfaction benefit

Abstract

The real benefit of product and service quality is known through consumer feedback. This paper identifies three knowledge domains: (1) product’s knowledge such as emotional or cognitive, (2) consumption experience and (3) the response after consumption and examined customer feedback within these three domains of knowledge. Since consumer feedback on satisfaction is known to be variable in each knowledge domain: based on product and service quality. This paper argues that benefit – the knowledge on satisfaction and quality relativism is important for consumers but, its usability for competitiveness is important for both consumer satisfaction and quality management. Although, this argument comes with mixed reaction – the different perception of consumers, academics and practitioners contrived understanding of the feedback efforts. The paper anchors its argument of satisfaction benefit on qualitative survey data collected from 110 randomly selected respondents: snowballed from small to large numbers of respondents within the manufacturing companies in Cape Town. The paper found that although respondents’ perception of satisfaction benefits and quality are mixed and perceptual: they are useful in understanding consumers’ satisfaction benefit and quality management.