Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Problem definition:

Customer satisfaction are not two words simply used in any business. These words help in
bringing out the essence and theme of the different types of practices done by the companies
in terms of keeping their customers satisfied and delighted.

Customer satisfaction plays a major role in today’s business scenario and there are some
basic factors which may impact the customer satisfaction positively or negatively. These
factors include responsiveness, efficiency, performance, service quality, price, and
technology. Customers are sources that provide revenue to a company. Companies that know
how to keep their customers satisfied can do a longer successful business. Higher satisfaction
level leads to more close attachments and build strong relationships between customer and its
vendor.

Customer satisfaction is dynamic and is affected by many different external factors. These
factors can be divided into two broad categories. This includes vendor behaviour and
vendor’s product and service performance.

First one includes how the management and employees of vendor behave with the customers.
The vendor’s response: service and compliant handling are dependent on the attitude and
skills of the vendor’s human resource. The second one belongs to the product itself that
depends on the capabilities of the vendor and the skills of its employees. It shows the
engineering and technology developed or acquired by the vendor.

Customer satisfaction is feeling or attitude toward a product or service after its use. Customer
satisfaction is the result of marketing activities that acts as a communication bridge between
different stages of consumer buying behaviour.

3.2. objectives:

3.2.1. Identify the various factors that affect customer satisfaction:

There are multiple factors that affect the customer satisfaction. these factors help in
identifying the touchpoints that are necessary for a company to achieve customer satisfaction.
these factors also help in measurement of customer satisfaction.

3.2.2. Find out the relationship between customer loyalty and customer
satisfaction:

Customer loyalty is the emotional relationship between the company and the customer. It
shows how willing is a customer to purchase repeatedly from your company, compared with
the competitors.

Customer loyalty and customer satisfaction have a direct relationship. Only if a customer is
satisfied with the service provided by the company, they will be loyal to that brand and
choose it over the competitors brand.

3.2.3. To identify if the customer satisfaction directly affects the profitability of

a business:

Customer satisfaction and profitability and interdependent factors of a company. A satisfied

customer provides revenue to the company. This revenue is the profit of the company. this
shows that customer satisfaction and profitability have a direct relationship.

3.2.4. To understand the role of digital marketing to achieve customer

satisfaction:

Customer satisfaction can be achieved by providing the customers with what they need. As
digital marketing provides a large database and is most preferred by customers in the current
scenario, a company must use digital marketing to achieve customer satisfaction in a
business.

3.3. Research methodology:

3.3.1. Research design:

I will be using a descriptive method for this research. Descriptive type of research includes
describing in detail the characteristics, features and various other information regarding the
topic. It includes complete observation of the factors that affect the topic.
The research design and case of descriptive must be prepared keeping in view the objectives
of the study and the resources available. However, it must ensure the minimization of bias
and maximization of reliability of the evidence collected.

A descriptive method uses a rigid design for protection against bias and maximize reliability.

3.3.2. Type of data:

Since AirportZo is a private company unique in the market, its quantitative data is
confidential and cannot be published in the open. So, I have chosen to work only with
Qualitative data.

Qualitative data includes description of meanings rather than statistical inferences. It can be
collected through exploring attitudes, behaviour and experience through methods such as
interviews and focus groups.

The qualitative data is an inductive type of research where the investigation begins with
observation of the problem or the situation and test theories about it. It helps in providing an
in-depth analysis of the data.

3.3.3. Sources of data:

The required data for this research will be collected via a secondary form of data.

Secondary data refers to analysing and gathering the data already exist in the market. This
includes data collected priorly by different research scholars. The collected data will be
observed and analysed. I will be using the existing company records as my data for this
research.

Examples: Customer feedback, reviews, sifting through customer emails, Monitoring

Customer Feedback calls, Observe customer service teams' approach during a customer call
and their language and readiness to help.

3.4. Data collection:

3.4.1. Factors affecting customer satisfaction of a business:

 a) Product:
The first thing that the customer accesses is the product. The feature of the product
has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. every company must work towards
providing a product that fulfils all the needs and expectations of the customer.
b) Price:
Price of the product is the second most important factor that affects customer
satisfaction. every product or service has a value in the market. this value is converted
in monetary terms that is the price. The customer should be satisfied that the value of
the product is being justified for the price paid. When the customer is satisfied that the
product or service is worth the price paid then he/she returns to purchase again. This
creates a loyal customer base.
c) Convenience:
A customer is satisfied only when they are provided with what they need. Not on
products and services but solving their issues and providing solutions is also required
to ahive customer satisfaction.
Happy customers are most likely to return for a re-purchase. This creates customer
loyalty.
d) Quality:
Quality is another important aspect the helps in achiving customer satisfaction.
customers give importance to the quality of the product. The customer has to feel that
the servive they are receiving is worth the price they pay.
A good product makes the customer come back hence, the quality of the product must
be renewed continuously.
e) Personalization:
The needs of the customers are diverse. Higher customer satisfaction can be achived
by providing personalised products according to the particular customers needs.
Personalised experiences for customers is on of the key in establishing a strong
emotional connection.

3.4.2. Relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction:

Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has become the key area in every business for
the past years. Bothe these concepts are interlinked and depend on each other.
Customer satisfaction is a pharse used to describe that the customer stays with the companies
that satisfy their needs the most.

On the other hand, customer loyalty is the emotional relationship between the customer and
the company where the customer returns to the company for the purchase of the product, and
chooses the company over its competitors.

Customer loyalty is rather emotional than rational. It is nothing but the relationship that a
customer wants to maintain with the company. this relationship can be maintained by creating
one or more positive relations with the customers.

The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty depends on the
propotion of satisfaction received by the customer.

Example: while measuring customer satisfaction on a scale from 1 to 5, if the level of

customer satisfaction is 1 then most likely the customer will not return for a re-purchase of
the product. When the satisfaction level of the customer is above 3 then customer loyalty can
be achived.

In simple terms, loyalty is defined as the state of mind, set of attitudes or desires of the
customer. Achieving customer loyalty benefits the company on a large scale. Once customer
loyalty is achieved the company is able to save financially on the cost of maintain the
customer. This helps in cost cutting for the company.

Unlike customer satisfaction, customer loyalty is forward thinking. It is the measurement of

how much value a company may get out of its customer in a very long period of time.
Knowing this makes it easy for the company to identify the required changes to make a
normal customer into a reccuring customer.

Customer loyalty is measured by using the net promoter score (NPS) . this is a survey on a
ten point scale that asks the question “ how likely are you to reccpmend this product/service
to your friends/family?”. The survey responsens states the following:

 Score 9-10 (promoter): customers who give a sciore between 9-10 are the company’s
bestb customers. They are loyal to the company and recommend the product/service
to their friends/family.
 Score 7-8 (passive): these customers don’t have much loyalty. They are most likely to
shift to a competitor brand if they have better deals.
  Score 6-0 (detractor): unfortunately, this is the widest score range. These cusomers
may damage the company’s name and give a negative impact in the market.

3.4.3. Does customer satisfaction affect the profitability of the business:

Customer satisfaction has become an important ficus of corporate strategy because higher
customer satisfaction leads to greated customer loyalty which in turn helps in increasing
profits. For years, managers and busii es scholers have trusted that higher levels of customer
satisfaction will help in improving the customers performance. It is a basic belief that
“satissfied customers will come back and dissatisfied customers will not”. This statement
proves that higher lrvels of customer satisfaction leads to higher economic returns for the
company.

A notable question is that weather customer satisfaction also affects customers willingness to
pat for the product. As mentioned earlier price is a key determinant in profitability equation.

If companies can chsrge more for their products or services it will lead to higher profits. It is
a general belief that satisfied customers would be willing to pay higher prices, but this factor
depnds on the quality and consistency of the product or service being provided.

Marketing ;practices of yhe company plays a very important role in determining weather
satisfied custoers would lead to profitability of the company. various marketing practices
helps in keeping the interest of the customer consistent and the urge to purchase the product
again.

Example: providing various discounts, offers and bonuses to frequent customers helps to
maintain the satisfaction of the customers and can lead to customer loyalty.

According to the study conducted by conell in 2011,

 A totally Satisfied customers contribute almost 2.6 times as much as revenue to the
company as a somewhat satisfied customer.
 A totally satisfied customer contributes almost 17 times of revenue to the company
than a dissatisfied customer.
 A totally dissatisfied customer decreases the revenue at the rate equal to 1.8 times of
what a satisfied customer contributes to the company.
 3.4.4. To understand the role of digital marketing to achive customer satisfaction:

Today, the success of a business depend on its marketing strategies. Marketing strategies of a
company play an important role in achiving customer satisfaction. with the invention of
internet digital marketing has become one of the most prefferd ways to market a product or a
service by both the company and its customers.

Digital marketing also known as online marketing is the process of promoting and connecting
with the potential customers through the internet or by using various forms of digital
communication. This not on,y includes emails but also social media, web based advertising
and multimedia and text messeges as a form of marketing channel.

Some benefits to customers of a business using internet marketing include:

 It keeps the customers aware of the latest updates:

The digital marketing strategy allows a company to kkep its customers aware about the latest
updates. This helps the customers to know about the various offers and discounts available. It
helps the company to prompt the potential customers.

 It is quick and convenient:

Digital marketing is very convenient and can reach a large number of audience in a small
period of time. Customers can use digital marketing to interact with the company, compare
the prices with a competitor and make immediate purchases.

 It helps to build a stronger relationship with the customers:

It is important to understand thet digital marketing is not just about building a website. It is
important to maintain a relationship with the customers. Digital marketing helps to interact
with the customers and provide prompt solutions to customers’s issues. This helps in creating
a strong emotial connection with the customers.

 It provides 24/7 access:

The internet offers convenience of time to the customers. This provides with the freedom of
contactiong the company regarding an issue or a feedback without the restriction of place and
time.

 It creates a personalised experience:

Digital marketing can be used to create personalised experiences with the customers.
Limitations: