Value Assessment: The Antecedent of Customer Satisfaction

Abstract

If customer satisfaction is viewed as an outcome, then focusing discussion on its antecedents is necessary to effect desired outcome. We take the position that dis/satisfaction is largely based on an assessment of value. Although a core concept in marketing, surprisingly little is known about what value is, what its characteristics are, or how consumers determine it. The purpose of this paper is to ( 1 ) present our synthesis of the value-related literature, including several postulates summarizing extant knowledge; (2) describe our proposal to reconceptualize the value assessment process in terms of perceived risk, and (3) present suggestions for future research.