DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION/DISSATISFACTION OF A DURABLE PRODUCT : THE CASE OF AUTOMOBILES

Abstract

With the dramatic growth of consumerism recent years, consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction has begun to emerge as a major topic in the field of consumer research. Much attention has been placed in tryirg to understand its underlying causes as a result of the rapid increase in complaints by cosumers. The emiprical study uses the rnultiattribute approach of day with on the determination of specific constructs of ccnsumer experiences. Individual difference, usage pattern househo differences and retailer-controlable factors. The automobile was selected as the durable product for the study. Data were collected from a survey of recent car owners a eight-page questionaire. A total of 129 cases were usable representing 19.6% of the contact Iist. Six models were definedcomprising of the overal mode. Japanese model. European moodel, compact model, intermediate model and large model to allow for cross comparison with respect to country-of-origin and capacity. Forward stepwise regression was used for the analysis.