1. What is customer satisfaction, and why is it so important? Discuss how customer satisfaction can be influenced by each of the following: product attributes and features, customer emotions, attributions for success or failure, perceptions of fairness, and family members or other customers. 2. What is the ACSI? Do you believe that such national indicators of customer satisfaction should be included as benchmarks of national economic well-being similar to gross domestic product (GDP), price indicators, and productivity measures? 3. Why do service companies generally receive lower satisfaction ratings in the ACSI than nondurable and durable product companies? 4. Discuss the differences between perceptions of service quality and customer satisfaction. 5. List and define the five dimensions of service quality. Describe the services provided by a firm you do business with (e.g., your bank, your doctor, your favorite restaurant) on each of the dimensions. In your mind, has this organization distinguished itself from its competitors on any particular service quality dimension? 6. Describe a remote encounter, a technology-mediated encounter (phone, real-time texting, or live chat), and a Page 105 face-to-face encounter that you have had recently. How did you evaluate the encounter, and what were the most important factors determining your satisfaction/dissatisfaction in each case? 7. Describe an "encounter cascade" for an airplane flight. In your opinion, what are the most important encounters in this cascade for determining your overall impression of the quality of the airline