The Importance Of Customer Satisfaction At Heart Of Strategic Marketing

In most literature related to behavioral intentions, overall satisfaction was integrated as a dominant factor of purchase intentions with reference to brand loyalty (Spreng et al., 2015). In the viewpoint of Bloamer and Kasper (2013), customer loyalty is one of the considerable paths with which customer satisfaction about product or services received is expressed. For this reason brand loyalty is at heart of strategic marketing. Soloman (2013) explored that purchase decisions of loyal costumer may become a habit in nature, even quite simple and provide satisfaction with current brand(s) as a result. Many scholars concluded that satisfaction is one of the important determinants of customers‟ loyalty (Jamal and Anastasiadou, 2011; Bearden and

It is well accepted that customer satisfaction is both a goal and a marketing tool for customer-centered companies (Kotler, Keller 2012). Customers’ satisfaction with their purchase is a significant factor that leads business to success. In recent times, customer satisfaction has gained new attention within the context of the paradigm shift from transactional marketing to relationship marketing (Sheth, Parvatiyar 1994). Organizations can accomplish customer satisfaction by satisfying their customers’ needs and wants (LaBarbera, Mazursky 1983). Customer satisfaction as a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption related fulfillment (Oliver 1997). In general satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome to the expectation (Oliver, Richard 2006). If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations the customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds expectations, the customer is highly satisfied and delighted (Fournier, Mick 1999). In case of mobile commerce, customer satisfaction is customer’s post-purchase appraisal and emotional response or reaction to the overall product or service, familiarity in a mobile commerce environment (Lin, Wang 2006).Jones, Sasser (1995) mentioned that achieving customer satisfaction is the main goal for most service firms today. Increasing customer satisfaction has been shown to directly affect companies’ market share, which leads to improved profits, positive recommendation, and lower marketing expenditures and greatly impact the corporate image and survival (Pizam, Ellis 1999). Better service quality results in enhanced customer satisfaction, which in turn