The role of understanding customer expectations in aged care

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to argue that understanding and exceeding customer expectations in the aged care services is more complex than other health services and general services because of the multiple stakeholders and additional intimacies that exist. The author first explores expectation theory and how it links to customer behaviour and then discusses confirmation/disconfirmation theory. The author builds an argument that aged care service providers must understand consumer needs and expectations so that customer satisfaction is generated. Exploring patient and relative expectation and satisfaction in different theoretical contexts.