Asymmetrical effects of attribute performance on customer satisfaction

Evaluation of customer satisfaction has drawn a lot of attention from hospitality practitioners and researchers. However, an accurate measurement of satisfaction is yet to be found. This study addresses the gaps in previous customer satisfaction studies that conceptualize the relationship between attribute-level performance and overall satisfaction as linear or symmetric. Some evidence suggests that such a relationship does not always hold true.;This study examines asymmetric responses of customer satisfaction to different types of attribute performance and tests if interactions between attributes provide an explanation to the observed asymmetry. Additionally, the study assesses the validity of dividing performance attributes into two categories, core and facilitating.;A web-based survey was used to collect data from faculty and staff at a major Midwestern university. An experimental design was applied to collect data for the purported research hypotheses, which later were tested using t-tests and regression analysis.;Results of the study indicated that core attributes and facilitating attributes were two separate dimensions that caused different patterns of customer satisfaction response. The results also supported earlier suggestions that core and facilitating attributes had asymmetrical effects on customer satisfaction. Interactions between core and facilitating attributes played a significant role in the formation of customer satisfaction. Moderator effects that core attributes had on the relationship between facilitating attributes and customer satisfaction explained the detected asymmetry, providing theoretical rationalization to the observed phenomenon. Therefore, conceptual relationships proposed and tested in this study provided new knowledge for evaluating customer satisfaction and making decisions about how to achieve high levels of satisfaction with optimal amount of resources