Visit www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/malhotra to read the video case and view the accompanying video. Subaru: “Mr. Survey” Monitors Customer Satisfaction presents an interesting overview of Joe Barstys's role at Subaru and the importance and utility of surveys in building customer loyalty. About 500,000 mail surveys (with a high response rate) a year plus Internet surveys have helped Subaru get continuous feedback on key parameters that shape customer experience resulting in high brand loyalty. The case can be used to discuss how sample size can be determined for a questionnaire study in measuring consumers' evaluation of Subaru brands. 

Subaru of America (www.subaru.com) is the automobile division of Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI). Subaru has been operating in the United States since 1968, when it began selling the 360 Minicar. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, NJ, the company serves nearly 600 dealers nationwide. Subaru has offered many different cars over the years and as of 2014 the Subaru product line includes the Subaru Impreza, WRX, STI, BRZ, Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, and Subaru Tribeca. One of the unique things about Subaru is that 100 percent of its models come with allwheel drive.
Subaru’s strategy is apparent in one of its key players, Joe Barstys. Barstys has been with Subaru for more than twenty years, and he spends his time worrying about customer satisfaction.
Barstys and people like him are the backbone of Subaru. These people help Subaru focus on its customers and their wants and needs by conducting marketing research. Barstys has incorporated the use of customer surveys into his practice, and for this he has gained the title of “Mr. Survey.” His goal is to develop a customer satisfaction level that will help build a certain level of loyalty in Subaru’s customers. This loyalty is extremely important in the car business, because it has historically been much lower than in other industries. Marketing research has shown that although approximately 90 percent of customers are pleased with their automobile purchase, only 40 percent are loyal enough to buy the same brand again.
Surveys are a very valuable tool to Subaru in its quest for customer loyalty. The company mails a survey to each customer within thirty to forty-five days of purchase to assess the customer’s feelings toward the newly purchased vehicle, to obtain information on the nature of the interaction with the dealer, and to learn about other elements of the purchase process. Subsequent to the initial contact, more surveys follow throughout the “lifetime” of the customer (i.e., the duration of ownership of the car, on average six to seven years). The latter surveys assess the long-term satisfaction with the vehicle and the dealership. The mail surveys have a high 50-percent response rate. As of 2014, about 500,000 surveys are mailed each year. Additional surveys are conducted over the Internet. Questions on the survey include: How was your service experience? How does Subaru compare to other service providers you have visited? What about the buying experience? How satisfied were you? What were the salespeople like? These questions help Subaru determine how customers regard their Subaru experience and what steps Subaru should take to improve this experience further.
These surveys provide important feedback, allowing Subaru to adjust its approach based on consumer demands. An example of the importance of adjustments can be found in the case of the female consumer. Through surveys, Subaru found out that it needed to adjust its marketing to include female consumers, who are becoming a large part of the market. It was important for Subaru to understand what types of things would appeal to women in order to offer a more desirable product to them.
Another benefit of marketing and survey research is that Subaru has been able to identify the types of people who are more likely to buy its automobiles. Subaru believes that the typical Subaru owner is different from the average consumer. Its average consumer is highly intelligent, highly independent, and outside the mainstream crowd. Thus, Subaru tries to market automobiles to these types of people and attempts to distinguish itself from the larger, more mainstream competitors.
Results of affinity for the company are evident, as customers feel motivated to send pictures of their cars to Subaru.
Barstys considers his background in philosophy and theology (he has a B.A. in philosophy and an M.A. in theology) to have contributed to the role of Mr. Survey he plays at Subaru. He explains that his theology and philosophy backgrounds allow him to look at the human experience with a product. A customer’s problem could be a dysfunction with his/her car, dealer, or his/her own ignorance about how the car works. All of these are essentially about human experience, and hence no matter whether Barstys works in the automobile industry or any other, he is, in effect, dealing with human experience. This human experience is just one aspect that he loves about his job, because he loves being with people and finding out what makes them tick. The other aspect that he is really excited about is the great responsibility and decision-making authority that he shoulders with the goal of maintaining customer loyalty, and every year he achieves success.
The company’s goal is continued growth through 2020, and it hopes that with the help of marketing research it will be able to achieve this goal. It believes that listening to the customers and adapting its practices to meet their concerns will provide customers with a higher level of satisfaction and ultimately lead to a higher level of loyalty. Subaru’s marketing research staff, like “Mr. Survey,” will be critical to the success of this endeavor.
Conclusion The case presents an interesting overview of Joe Barstys’ role at Subaru and the importance and utility of surveys in building customer loyalty. Surveys have helped Subaru get continuous feedback on key parameters that shape customer experiences, resulting in high brand loyalty. In sum, marketing research has helped Subaru understand its customers better and in turn address their needs and expectations better.
Questions
1. Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping Subaru understand why its customers are devoted to the brand.
2. In order to continue to grow, Subaru must foster and build customer loyalty. Define the management decision problem.
3. Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the management decision problem you have identified.
4. What type of research design should be adopted to investigate the marketing research problem you have identified?
5. In what way can Subaru make use of data from the 2010 U.S. Census? What are the limitations of these data? How can these limitations be overcome?
6. What type of data available from syndicated marketing research firms will be useful to Subaru?
7. Discuss the role of qualitative research in understanding the devotion of consumers to a particular automobile brand. Which qualitative research technique(s) should be used and why?
8. If a survey is to be conducted to understand consumer preferences for various automobile brands, which survey method should be used and why?
9. Can Subaru make use of causal research? If yes, how?
10. Design ordinal, interval, and ratio scales for measuring consumer preferences for various automobile brands.
11. Design Likert, semantic differential, and Stapel scales for measuring consumer preferences for various automobile brands.
12. Design a questionnaire to measure consumers’ evaluation of Subaru brands.
13. Develop a sampling plan for the survey you have recommended in question 8.
14. How should the sample size be determined for the survey you have recommended in question 8?
15. If Subaru were to conduct a survey in social media to determine consumers’ preferences for automobile brands, what should be the sample size? Explain your reasoning.

16. If Subaru were to conduct marketing research to determine consumer willingness to purchase automobile brands in Germany, how would the research process be different?
17. Discuss the ethical issues involved in researching consumer willingness to purchase automobile brands.