A Maximum Difference Scaling Application for Customer Satisfaction Researchers

This paper puts forth maximum difference scaling as a valid research method to determine attribute importance for customer satisfaction research, which in turn can drive valid and meaningful need-based segments of the marketplace. In addition, this paper empirically demonstrates the value of bringing need-based segmentation into the centre of customer satisfaction analysis. The results suggest that implementing maximum difference scaling to determine attribute importance scores for the overall market, as well as to create valid need-based segments, will result in significantly different improvement priorities as compared to more traditional customer satisfaction approaches.