¶ … Market Research Impacts Relationship Marketing
How Market Research Impacts Management of Customer Expectations wide variety of market research techniques and approaches are used in companies for first discovering unmet customer needs, then defining product, pricing, distribution and services strategies for their fulfillment. Discovering unmet needs and their expectations of fulfillment are what differentiate successful new service and product development strategies. When market research techniques are used to capture customers' unmet needs and their expectations, respondents tend to overstate the negative aspects of how their needs have been unfilled or partially met (Yu, 2005).
This dynamic of measuring customer expectations is particularly relevant to Microsoft and their efforts to retain their Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and other personal productivity applications. With the growth of open source applications that are either free for download (as Google StarOffice) or purchasable for a fraction of the cost of Microsoft Office, Microsoft has a major challenge on their hands of researching customer expectations. The use of usability testing labs and the role of Microsoft Research looking to completely re-define the software user experience are examples of how customer expectation research impacts product strategy (Turner & Krizek, 2006). Microsoft's future development plans for ensuring a high level of usability of their applications also includes putting the familiar Microsoft Office applications interface onto the more complex Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). These are all strategies Microsoft has undertaken based on their research of customers' expectations to bring their previously more difficult-to-use applications more in alignment with what customers' expectations dictate. For Microsoft, the managing of expectations from purely a usability and functionality standpoint can mean the difference of holding onto their long-standing customers or not. Research expectations are essential for Microsoft to continually bring value to their loyal customer base. Without this research Microsoft would not be able to align their product strategies to the evolving needs and expectations of their customers.
References
Yu, L (2005). The Great Expectations Effect. MIT Sloan Management Review, 47(1), 5. Retrieved March 12, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 924480251).
Turner, P & Krizek, R. (2006). A Meaning-Centered Approach to Customer Satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly: McQ, 20(2), 115-147. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1148834491).
Howard Bloom, a literary critic notes, "That is, Dickens portrays Havisham and the convict as social products who self-defeatingly embrace the ideology of the class that has unjustly destroyed their innocence and happiness" (Bloom 258). Estella is another example. She is a member of the upper class, a ward of Miss Havisham, but she is really the child of a convict and a cold, calculating woman who only manipulates
The man was limping on towards this latter, as if he were the pirate come to life, and come down, and going back to hook himself up again. It gave me a terrible turn when I thought so; and as I saw the cattle lifting their heads to gaze after him, I wondered whether they thought so too. I looked all round for the horrible young man, and could
Great Expectations Appearance vs. Reality in Great Expectations In Great Expectations Pip is frequently affected, effected and influenced by appearances. The very nature of his life is dictated by his view of the appearance of others and his own self and outward appearances. The work itself demonstrates a major theme associated with not judging by appearance as it simultaneously demonstrates how much those very appearances actually mean to the individual characters and
Great Expectations" & "The Sun also Rises," one may concur that both narrators are on opposites ends of the spectrum when comparing their reliability. In Great Expectations the main, character Pip is the narrator. Pip is considered a reliable source in the novel, on the other hand in " the Sun Also Rises" the narrator Jake Barnes is not viewed as a reliable source, there are scenes in the
Great Expectations Dickens judges his characters not on social position or upbringing but on their treatment of one another Character, class and social status in Great Expectations The world in which Charles Dickens wrote was one in which class and social status was a determining factor in establishing the quality of an individual's life. Social status was an element of nineteenth century society, like the legal system, that Dickens continually exposed
people of different social classes are viewed in each novel, how they treat one another, what assumptions they make about their worth, how they view themselves, and how Dickens's view changed between one novel and the other Both stories, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, are one of escape for their characters. For Oliver, it is escape form his starvation and bondage. For Pip is it escape from his poverty and
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now