Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 27, Number 4
Fall 1996
Ramifications of Monitoring Service Quality Through Passively
Solicited Customer Feedback
Scott E. Sampson
Department of Business Management, Marriott School of Management,
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602-3131
ABSTRACT
It is common for service providers to collect data from customers
as part of efforts to monitor quality. Often, this data is
passively collected, meaning (a) any solicitation of feedback is
done without direct customer interaction, and (b) the customer
initiates any response given. Examples include customer comment
cards, toll-free telephone numbers, and comment links on World Wide
Web pages. This article compares passive data collection with
active methods (e.g., interviews and mail surveys). Passive methods
generally have lower response rates and are inherently biased, but
have cost and sample frame advantages when used to monitor quality
on a continuous basis. Despite the biased nature of passive
methods, this article describes the successful validation of a
common customer-response model with passively collected empirical
data. The model is expanded to consider the impact of complaint and
compliment solicitation on customers' evaluation of the service
provider. Results show that this impact is negative, and that
customers who spontaneously register complaints generally record
higher ratings of the service provider than customers who complain
in response to a complaint solicitation. Discussion and conclusions
are given.
Subject Areas: Customer Feedback, Econometric Models, and
Service Quality.
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