Methodological aspects of customer satisfaction surveys: how important are respondent selection criteria?

Abstract

Social Transformations in Contemporary Society, 2022 (10) ISSN 2345-0126 (online) 18 METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS: HOW IMPORTANT ARE RESPONDENT SELECTION CRITERIA? Simonas Juozapas Raišys Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania simonas.raisys@gmail.com Abstract Purpose – Based on theoretical analysis and case review, the paper aims to reveal the challenges of respondent selection criteria for customer satisfaction research. In this paper, academic literature of qualitative and qualitative-quantitative research is analyzed and interpreted, revealing the importance of respondent selection criteria for customer satisfaction surveys. Design/methodology/approach – The research paper is based on qualitative content analysis, synthesis of academic literature, and comparative method. Finding – The paper showed that carefully considered, selected, and validated respondent selection criteria are essential for obtaining increased accuracy of customer satisfaction survey results. Research limitations/implications – This paper has potential limitations due to lacking bibliometric analysis of qualitative survey methodologies as well as more thorough academic literature analysis of interlinkage between respondent selection criteria and the accuracy of survey results. Findings of this paper require to be verified in a wider selection of customer satisfaction surveys. Practical implications – The conducted analysis resulted in significant findings towards reliability and consistency evaluation of customer satisfactions surveys. Findings can also be applied in practice during qualitative, survey based interviews, related to other areas than customer satisfaction. Originality/Value – To ensure that the survey is not filled out randomly, but it is filled in thoughtfully, and that the findings are meaningful, researchers need to select respondents carefully, with a set of selection criteria. Respondent selection is one of the key aspects of qualitative survey and is widely discussed in academic literature. The analysis of a set of qualitative customer satisfaction surveys has shown that respondents sometimes lack consistency in their answers, which may result in ambiguities of survey results. Therefore, respondent selection criteria are crucial for survey quality and significance of the results. In this paper, the importance of respondent selection criteria is demonstrated with the help of a qualitative-quantitative survey method AHP (Analytic Hierarchic Process). The potential challenges and limitations that interfere with the obtainment of meaningful results in customer satisfaction surveys are discussed.