Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction: Relationship and Efficient Management

Asier Baquero

doi:10.3390/su14042011

Abstract

The NPS index is used in the hotel industry to measure customer loyalty and, by extension, customer satisfaction. Many hotel companies set their annual budget based on this index and include it, together with annual economic results, for evaluation when deciding on a potential management bonus. For managers in some companies, achieving a high NPS becomes nearly as important as achieving strong economic results. The purpose of this research is to deepen the study of the NPS index by analysing the existing relationship that the model has with customer satisfaction, focusing on the following main areas of a hotel: reception, cleanliness and room comfort, and gastronomy. To do so, this study uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). New evidence of value is offered based on the analysis of a sample of six hotels (4 and 5*) located in the Balearic Islands, Spain (Mallorca, Minorca, and Ibiza). In total, 557 surveys were completed in August 2021 and 571 surveys were completed in August 2020, and therefore both sample groups were impacted by a Black Swan (BS) event, the COVID-19 pandemic, in two different stages of its trajectory. The results suggest that in the study sample, the key factor in achieving a high NPS was (1) gastronomy in 2021 (after more than one year of the COVID-19 pandemic), and (2) cleanliness and room comfort in 2020 (at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic). These results offer insights for hotel managers, as well as for academics who can develop new lines of research on the subject.

Highlights

Since the exchange of goods and services began, companies have focused on establishing process improvements to offer quality products that meet customer needs
The quality of service in the hotel sector goes beyond the facilities themselves, with a specific focus on customer service, customer relations, resolving customer issues, promotions, and facilities access [3]
The research objective of this study was to propose a model that shows the degree of influence between the satisfaction expressed by clients staying in hotels in the key areas of reception, cleanliness and room comfort, and gastronomy and the satisfaction and loyalty expressed and measured by the NPS index, in a sample of hotels in the Balearic Islands, Spain

Summary

Introduction

Since the exchange of goods and services began, companies have focused on establishing process improvements to offer quality products that meet customer needs. During the mid1990s, the development of technology, computing, and the emergence of the Internet had a significant influence on the market, and data processing is key to designing marketing strategies [2]. This has led to a commercial projection focused on communication, with a new approach to measuring customer perception in line with the advancement of digital services. The quality of service in the hotel sector goes beyond the facilities themselves, with a specific focus on customer service, customer relations, resolving customer issues, promotions, and facilities access [3]

Objectives

Methods

Results