Consumer response to service and product quality: A study of motor vehicle owners

Abstract There is currently much interest in the idea of integrated quality management for durable products, extending from the product design, development and manufacturing process and through the ownership cycle of the product. We have carried out a logit analysis of events pertaining to a critical incident model which demonstrates how quality in both the product and its supporting services, as well as the interactions between these factors, can affect owner intentions regarding future purchases. The model was evaluated through a study of 659 motor vehicle owners. Two of our specific conclusions are: (1) our data suggests that owners tend to have a tolerance towards negative vehicle incidents, but negative service incidents can harm owner perceptions of both the dealer and the manufacturer, and (2) positive critical incidents can counteract negative critical incidents. Proactively creating positive service incidents and avoiding negative service incidents can help improve customer loyalty to the service agent and counteract negative vehicle incidents which affect loyalty to the manufacturer. We also suggest that the results from this study may be generalizable to service and product quality management for other types of equipment.