One marketing metric to rule them all An examination of the emergence and rise of Net Promoter Score as a marketing fashion

Abstract

Net promoter score (NPS) is heralded by its proponents as the quintessential marketing metric for measuring customer and brand loyalty. The popularity of NPS is currently very high, especially in North American companies, and the frenetic interest has led some commentators to state that it resembles a religion. In the current paper, the emergence and rise of NPS is examined using management fashion theory as an interpretive lens and organising framework. The findings indicate that the NPS concept exhibits several of the key characteristics and hallmarks of management fashions. However, in recent years, the concept has attracted more scrutiny and negative publicity. Therefore, it can be argued that the NPS concept, at least to some extent, has fallen victim to its own success. The paper discusses these findings about NPS’s evolutionary trajectory and lifecycle in light of theories about management fads and fashions.