Customer Satisfaction Model
(Kano)

Knowledge Center

What is the customer satisfaction model?

The customer satisfaction model from N. Kano is a quality management and marketing technique that can be used for measuring client happiness.

Kano's model of customer satisfaction distinguishes six categories of quality attributes, from which the first three actually influence customer satisfaction:

1. Basic Factors. (Dissatisfiers. Must have.) - The minimum requirements which will cause dissatisfaction if they are not fulfilled, but do not cause customer satisfaction if they are fulfilled (or are exceeded). The customer regards these as prerequisites and takes these for granted. Basic factors establish a market entry 'threshold'.
2. Excitement Factors. (Satisfiers. Attractive.) - The factors that increase customer satisfaction if delivered but do not cause dissatisfaction if they are not delivered. These factors surprise the customer and generate 'delight'. Using these factors, a company can really distinguish itself from its competitors in a positive way.
3. Performance Factors. The factors that cause satisfaction if the performance is high, and they cause dissatisfaction if the performance is low. Here, the attribute performance-overall satisfaction is linear and symmetric. Typically these factors are directly connected to customers' explicit needs and desires and a company should try to be competitive here.

The additional three attributes which Kano mentions are:

4. Indifferent attributes. The customer does not care about this feature.
5. Questionable attributes. It is unclear whether this attribute is expected by the customer.
6. Reverse attributes. The reverse of this product feature was expected by the customer.
    

Origin of the customer satisfaction model. History

The approach towards analyzing customer satisfaction was first published in an article by KANO, N. SERAKU, N., TAKAHASHI, F. & TSUJI, S. (1984) Attractive quality and must-be quality, Hinshitsu (Quality, the Journal of Japanese Society for Quality Control), 14, pp. 39-48.

Usage of the customer satisfaction model. Applications

Besides the obvious quality management and marketing usage, Kurt Matzler, Matthias Fuchs and Astrid Schubert wonder in their article "Employee Satisfaction: Does Kano's Model Apply?" (Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, November-December 2004) whether Kano's model on customer satisfaction factors is also relevant to describe employee satisfaction. Since employees can be perceived as internal customers. They reach the conclusion that Kano's theory is indeed useable for internal customers analysis as well.

Steps in the customer satisfaction model. Process

Kano developed a questionnaire to identify the basic, performance and excitement factors as well as the other three additional factors.

1. For each product feature a pair of questions is formulated to which the customer can answer in one of five different ways.
2. The first question concerns the reaction of the customer if the product shows that feature (functional question);
3. The second question concerns the reaction of the customer if the product does NOT show this feature (dysfunctional question).
4. By combining the answers all attributes can be classified into the six factors.

Forum Start a new topic about Customer Satisfaction Write here. Ask a question or explain something. Current forum discussions about Customer Satisfaction: Sensemaking: what are the True, Deeper Needs of your Customers? Really? Customer Behavior Approaches There are many approaches towards analyzing customer needs, customer satisfaction, customer behavior and customer experiences. They range from market data analysis and co... 38   13 comments Kano Model Examples in FMCG and in B2B Business Who can give an example of these 3 factors in the FMCG and in the B2B business. What are the basic factors, the excitement and the performance factors in each sector? Thank you.... 37   2 comments 4 Categories of Customer Needs and 30 Elements of Value (Bain) Marketers have generally spent much time and effort on the pricing side of the value equation (marketing mix), because it is the easier part. Given the psychological complexity and analytical difficul... 33   8 comments Overall Satisfaction in Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire? Should we have a question capturing "overall satisfaction" in a survey form, apart from individual product/service attribute rating? If required, what is the additional value?... 16   7 comments Alternate Methods to Measure Customer Satisfaction Are there any other approaches to measuring customer satisfaction or client happiness?... 14   3 comments

Courses about Customer Satisfaction. Beginners Course Advanced Course Course for Experts

Expert Tips Advanced insights about Customer Satisfaction. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips Advantages of Kano’s Model Classifying quality attributes The advantages of classifying customer requirements by means of the Customer Satisfaction Model of Kano are as follows: ... Measuring Customer Interactions and Customer Loyalty: Customer Effort Score (CES) Website Interaction, Customer Interaction, Customer Effort, Customer Loyalty, Customer Experience, Customer Journey What is the Customer Effort Score? Definition According to CEB (2010), Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that mea... Importance-Satisfaction Model Classifying quality attributes Kano’s model has a deficiency in that the degree of importance of quality attributes is neglected. As the degree of impo...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Customer Satisfaction. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Service Quality Models SERVQUAL, Service Quality Management, CRM, CEM, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction This presentation elaborates on service quality, especially focusing on perceptions and expectations of consumers and th... Overview of the Kano Model Customer Satisfaction, Voice of the Customer Comprehensive overview of the Kano Model by E.L. Farmer. The following sections are included in this presentation. - Au... Mystery Shopping Measuring Customer Satisf. Paper by Martijn Hesselink and Ton van der Wiele discusses the phenomenon Mystery Shopping in the field of customer sati... Five Steps to Increased Customer Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction Improvement, Client Satisfaction Improvement This presentation introduces a five-step customer satisfaction process that can be helpful to realize organizaiton’s aim...

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