5.1.3 The Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer (NCSB)

The first NCSB model was identical to the original American model with the exception that it included corporate image and its relationships to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

The new model: (1) replaces the value construct with a "pure" price construct; (2) replaces customer expectations with corporate image as a consequence of satisfaction; (3) includes two aspects of relationship commitment as well as corporate image as drivers of loyalty; (4) incorporates the potential for direct effects of price on loyalty, and (5) includes complaint handling as a driver of both satisfaction and loyalty. These changes are part of the proposed model that is illustrated in figure 16.

Figure 16. The Norwegian Customer Satisfaction barometer model.

Key to perceptions of corporate image is the organization-related associations held in a customer's memory. These associations are similar to schemas in cognitive psychology (Brandsford and Franks, 1971; Brandsford and Johnson, 1972). According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), attitudes are functionally related to behavioral intentions, which predict behavior. As a type of attitude, corporate image should be updated as schemas, including customer satisfaction, are changed. Corporate image should, in turn, affect behavioral intentions such as loyalty. Selnes (1993) hypothesized and documented these effects for brand reputation (a large part of overall corporate image) in a study of four companies from different industries. Finally, in two studies related to the impact of corporate image on customer intent, Andreassen and Lindestad (1998a, 1998b) found a positive correlation between the constructs.

In keeping with the evolution in marketing from a transactional to a relational orientation among service providers, the NCSB model was expanded over time to include a relationship commitment construct. The construct has evolved to focus on both the affective and calculative components of commitment. While the affective component is "hotter" or more emotional, the calculative component is based on "colder" aspects of the relationship such as switching costs. The commitment constructs are modelled as mediating the effects of satisfaction on loyalty (behavioral intentions).

Table 7 Latent and manifest variables NCSB

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Table 8 Exogenous and endogenous variables NCSB

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