Consumer Satisfaction

Consumer Satisfaction

Consumer satisfaction is said to be mild, positive emotion resulting from a favorable appraisal of a consumption outcome. (Babin/Harris) The retail store of my choice was Nordstrom. Nordstrom is an upscale department store chain. I spoke with a department manager named Anne while I was conducting my research. I asked Anne how they assess customer satisfaction and she told me, "We offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value." She believes that customers are generally satisfied because they are generally always assisted while in the store making their purchases and if they are not happy with their purchase when they get home Nordstrom offers a great return policy. Unlike many stores Nordstrom puts a sicker on every item that is bought from the store, so as long as you have the tag you can return the item with out a receipt. Anne also told me that they have a workforce that represents many backgrounds which shows that they are one an equal opportunity employer and it shows a sense of respect to the customer because they will most likely find an employee that they can relate to, to make their shopping experience more enjoyable. Anne believes that Nordstrom offers a friendly shopping environment and when customers are comfortable in a store it is satisfying. She also expressed to me that employees at Nordstrom are trained to make a customer feel good about their purchases even if you don't personally like something that they have picked out. It is always nice to make someone feel special.

The next question I asked Anne was regarding consumer dissatisfaction. Consumer dissatisfaction is said to be mild, negative affective reaction resulting from an unfavorable appraisal of a consumption outcome. (Babin/Harris) Anne told me that you will always have a dissatisfied customer, no matter what the retail store is like. Some people stream away from social norms and do not like to be bothered with overly friendly customer service and view it as bothersome. She expressed that these customers are very special because they want to maintain their business. Anne said that you have to know how to read people in the retail business and look at every situation case by case. If you have a dissatisfied customer, you want to do everything that you can to make that customer happy and leave believing that you generally cared about them and their experience with your store. She told me some