What Determines Satisfaction?
“Prior expectations and postpurchase experience interact to influence the level of customer satisfaction.” Paul G. Patterson
“Satisfaction is a function of expectation as well as realization.” Steven Covey
Prior expectations and postpurchase product performance determine satisfaction.
If you have wrong expectations, you can get a really good deal and still not be satisfied with it. In fact, wrong expectations can even get in the way of you having a great deal.
Let me tell you a short story.
For the past few months, I have been looking to buy a used car to replace my 2002 honda accord which I’ve had for about 12 years. It’s gotten old and the AC hasn’t been working for almost two years now. Living in the Desert, a working AC is a necessity, not a luxury. Last summer I suffered through a hot summer with temperatures up to 120 degrees without A.C.
Now, in April, with the summer fast approaching, I’m not about to do that again. I’ve already spent $500 on my car trying to fix the A.C. After three attempts by different mechanics to fix it and not succeeding and me losing money, I’ve decided to stop spending money on a car that is not even worth $500.
My wife and I saved some money for a new used car.
I’d like to get a really good deal on the car so that I can save money. A few people told me that I could get a decent Honda Civic 2014-2016 at the auction for about 7-8K cash. Believing that, I’ve been looking for that kind of deal for several months now. I tried to work with two different guys who buy cars from the auction. One of them charges a $500 flat fee and buys the car from the auction for you without making any more profit from it.
After spending several weeks looking through cars on craigslist and then through the auction website with the licensed car buyers, I grew frustrated because all the cars were far removed from what I had in my mind.
I expected a decent honda civic to cost around 7-8K but the best deal I could find at auction was around 10-11K. That caused me for a short time to doubt that the car buyers who trying helping me find a good deal through the auction were doing a good job.
Frustrated and temperatures getting hotter and hotter, I went to a dealer and about a car for $14,750. That’s way more than I had expected. Even though I had spent months looking for a car and thinking about the right price, I immediately felt buyer’s remorse and lost my joy during the first two days of getting my car.
Compared to cars bought through a dealership, I got a fairly good deal for 2015 Honda Civic with 24K miles and no significant damage. However, after buying from the dealership, I learned from them a few days later that they bought that car from the same auction I had been looking at for about $12,500.
Then I understood there was no way I could have found such a good car from the auction for the $7,000 to 8,000 dollars I was expecting before. The previous two car buyers who were trying to help me buy a car had told me. But I was skeptical to believe them. Now, the guy who just sold me a car confirmed what two other buyers who didn’t know each other had said.
If my expectations hadn’t been so wrong, I could have bought the car I now have for about 2,000 dollars less than I paid for from the auction. I had experienced buyers willing to help me do so. My wrong expectations stood in my way. Wrong expectations prevented me from finding the great deal I had desperately sought to find.
Even after I got a fair deal at the level of a dealership, I wasn’t happy because of my prior expectations.
Prior expectations and postpurchase product performance determine satisfaction.
Beware of your expectations. They can hurt you.
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