Customer delight and market segmentation:: An application of the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction on life style groups

There is increasing evidence that product and service attributes fall into three factors (basic, performance, and excitement factors) which affect overall satisfaction differently. This has been argued extensively in theory and has also been confirmed empirically. Researchers and practitioners have also recognized the importance of distinguishing these factors in order to manage customer satisfaction more effectively. Surprisingly, nobody has so far addressed the issue of market segmentation in this context. This paper reports an extensive empirical study which investigates the different roles of basic, performance and excitement factors in different market segments. The results clearly show that significant differences can be found among lifestyle segments. The implications of the findings are of central importance in both theory and practice. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.