Mini-Case Happy Global Customers?

Mini-CaseHappy Global Customers?

Joe Pike is a CMO in a consulting firm out of Miami that specializes in creating loyalty programs for its clients. As a first step, he gathers customer satisfaction data, and the results for an international hotel chain follow.

These data draw from three samples: Brazil, Japan, and England.

Here is the hotelier's response to seeing these data: "Wow, we're doing great in Japan, and pretty good in Brazil except for their perception of value. Maybe the English don't care that much about hotels."

Marketing managers of global multinationals frequently gather customer satisfaction data from their customers all over the world. The question is how to make sense of the data. When the Japanese customer satisfaction ratings look higher than those in England, does that mean the Japanese customers are truly more satisfied, or is something else going on?

Joe has a lot of experience with international data and knows the cross-cultural literature. There are known response tendencies found in different countries. These are stereotypes, of course, but here are the generalities typical in such data:

Some cultures are said to be "enthusiastic," meaning that the ratings display high variance. Thus, customers in the U.S., Brazil (and many other South American countries), France, Italy, and Australia produce data indicating that, when customers are happy, they're really happy and when they're not, they're really most sincerely not.

Other countries, such as England and Germany, are more "reserved." The numbers on surveys show less variability. Ratings tend to be near the midpoint, which means customers won't indicate liking or disliking anything all that strongly.

Some countries (e.g., Japan and some other Asian countries) have an "acquiescence" or courteousness bias, saying things look favorable when maybe deep down that's not quite what they think. Thus, when the Japanese ratings appear more positive, giving the impression they're happier, it's more likely that they're just being polite on the survey.

Problem Identification

• Identify the major problems found in the case. Ensure that you distinguish between causes and symptoms. Causes may include changing customer preferences, increased competition, etc. Symptoms include declining revenues, loss of brand equity, increased customer churn, etc.
• Please support your problem identification by relevant case facts along with the associated theory and concepts.

Quantitative Reasoningand Analysis

• Conduct research to identify data (e.g., obtain data in the form of trends, statistics, ratings, etc. from the library and other sources) that can be utilized to provide additional insight into the case.
• Draw appropriate conclusions based on the quantitative analysis of data, while recognizing the limits of this analysis.

Discussion and Recommendation

• Identify and recommend a solution to the major problem in the case (there is likely to be more than one solution).
• Briefly outline your solution and evaluate it in terms of its pros and cons.
• Always ensure that your recommendations are supported by statistical evidence and provide spreadsheets as necessary.

Appendix and References

• Please include any tables or figures that are not included but are referenced in your report.
• Make sure all references are cited correctly.

Please ensure that your assignments are typed, proofread, and concise. Points will be deducted if

• the length of the submission is excessive.
• it does not conform to the formatting requirements
• there are typos or grammatical errors

Submission Instructions:

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