Voice Of Customer Research Articles

The Voice of Customers in Customization

Recent years have seen a growth in customized products and services. As a prerequisite for customization, private information on individual customers’ quality preferences needs to be uncovered. Sellers can listen to customers about their stated or self-reported preferences through direct communication (e.g., conversation, survey). Alternatively, customer preferences can be inferred from their behavior when they are given the rights to self-design the quality. In this research we endogenize the viability of customization by investigating whether and when customers may reveal their stated/inferred preferences truthfully. We find that, for either preference-learning approach, customers would voice their preferences faithfully if and only if they are sufficiently heterogenous. Equilibrium preference revelation, and hence endogenous customization, tend to be sustained by intermediate seller bargaining power or nonextreme production/selling costs. We examine how the preference-learning approaches may differ in the endogenous feasibility of customization, equilibrium qualities, and the parties’ expected payoffs. We show that giving up the design right need not always be harmful for the seller, and gaining it can make the buyers worse off, especially when fixed costs of customization are considered. This paper was accepted by Eric Anderson, marketing. Funding: This work was supported by a DAG grant offered by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council.

Integrating Sentiment Analysis and Quality Function Deployment for Product Development

The development of technology and media has made online data reviews a promising data source. Through machine learning utilizing text processing, data analysis of Ventela Public Low product reviews can be carried out—sentiment analysis is used to find class groups from each data. The classification algorithm is Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine (SVM). A classification model with the best performance and accuracy values will be selected. Word association is then applied to obtain information from the required class. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a tool used to assist designers in developing products. The results of the integration of sentiment analysis into QFD show that sentiment analysis produces information by the provisions of the QFD method and can support the product development process in terms of the amount of data various data topics and reduces the subjectivity of designers at the stage of determining Voice of Customer (VOC) and performance values of products and competitors

Designing a Communication Model Based on Digital Communications to Foster Customer Loyalty

The objective of this applied-developmental research was to design a communication model to foster customer loyalty based on digital communications. From the perspective of data collection methods, this study is categorized as a survey, employing an exploratory mixed-methods research approach (qualitative-quantitative). The data collection tools included semi-structured interviews in the qualitative phase and a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative phase. The qualitative population consisted of loyal customers of Parsian Electronic Commerce Company (organizations), and theoretical and purposive sampling methods were used until data saturation, which was achieved after 18 semi-structured interviews. The quantitative population included all employees of these organizations. The sample size was estimated using Cochran's formula, and ultimately, 393 individuals participated in the study through stratified random sampling. Grounded theory was used to analyze the specialized interviews in the qualitative section, and partial least squares (PLS) method was employed to validate the final model in the quantitative section. After open and axial coding, 6 selective codes, 8 axial codes, and 60 open codes were extracted. The results indicated that customer experience management, digital customer voice, and digital infrastructure are causal factors influencing digital communications, which in turn affects digital marketing strategy. The quality of digital services provides the context, and the intensity of industry competition is an intervening factor that impacts digital marketing strategy. Ultimately, the digital marketing strategy leads to customer loyalty.

Exploring electric scooter regulations and user perspectives: A comprehensive study in Hungary

This paper focuses on the integration of electric scooters into the Hungarian urban transportation system as innovative mobility solutions. This change may provide several social advantages in the country, including environmental and economic benefits as well, to improve the quality of life. In this article, we investigate the policy regulations introduced at government level that facilitate this integration. To bridge the regulatory gap surrounding e-scooters and capture the voice of customers, we employ a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) house, utilizing the data of an extensive investigation involving a literature review, a qualitative social media listening process, two interviews with government officials, seven focus group interviews and a questionnaire. These diverse data sources contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape and potential improvement directions. By developing the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) house, we determine priority levels for effective problem-solving and enhancement. According to our results, users are eagerly anticipating new laws regulating the usage of e-scooters, such as optimizing speed limits, designating the usage of e-scooter infrastructure, and appointing dedicated parking places. Overall, this study serves as a valuable reference for the government in shaping future e-scooter legislation. By addressing the identified user expectations and incorporating these insights into regulatory frameworks, policymakers can facilitate the seamless integration of electric scooters into urban transportation systems. This integration is expected to yield numerous societal benefits, such as reduced environmental impact, improved mobility options, and enhanced economic viability.

Continuous improvement of a face protection mask using quality function deployment

-This article aims to examine the applicability of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Kano model considering the expectations of the client, to a personal facial protection equipment against the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), a disease that has caused a global pandemic, posing threats to public safety and social economies. In the first phase of the study, user requirements are identified at the local level based on current designs through the Kano model. This data is then merged with a Voice of Engineer (VoE) chart listing technical attributes and characteristics corresponding to items in Voice of Customer (VoC). The quality characteristics are then obtained by calculating the weights according to the level of importance, which are then transformed into measurable technical attributes in the House of Quality (HOQ). Through the weighting process using the pareto diagram, the main technical characteristics are identified, in which attention must be paid and the resources to be considered to satisfy said requirements must be evaluated. Finally, as a result, a 3D design is defined to make the prototype considering the needs of the client, which allows deducing the good applicability of the Kano-QFD model to carry out the development process of any product.

Analisis Kualitas Keripik Tempe Di UD. Bu Las Desa Maluk Menggunakan Metode Voice Of Customer (VOC)

Quality is very important in choosing products besides competitive prices. UD. Bu Las is a Small and Medium Enterprise (UKM) located in Maluk Loka, Kab. West Sumbawa was founded in 1997 by Mrs. Welas Asih with the main product being tempeh chips. The many similarities in products produced by SMEs give rise to competition in the sale of tempeh chips. The aim of the quality analysis research is to ensure that the tempe chips products produced can compete with other SMEs. Voice of Customer is a process used to capture needs or feedback from customers as a means of providing service/product quality. Apart from that, of course you will get the information you are looking for regarding customer expectations and needs as input that the company must consider when making decisions. Results from Voice of Customer of Ud Bu Las customers with 25 statements to 10 consumers, namely, balado taste score 45%, round shape score 49%, price Rp. 2,500 20g size scores 48%, expiry date scores 45% and slice thickness scores 45%. Suggestions for improvement are (1) for the taste, not just 1 variant, (2) the shape of the chips is not monotonous, (3) the price is the same as the more economical size variant, (4) the packaging is vacuum packed so that the expiry period is longer, (5) the dimensions of the tempeh so there are many variants. Keywords: Quality of tempe chips, Voice of Customer, UD. Bu Las

Classifying Quality Attributes of Hotel Services Considering Review Characteristics and Semantic Consistency: A Review-Driven IPA

ABSTRACT Service quality is associated with customer satisfaction and a determinant to success of hospitality enterprises. Different types of quality attributes affect customer satisfaction in varying degrees. Online reviews offer opportunities and challenges in terms of building importance-performance analysis (IPA). Considering review characteristics and semantic consistency, this paper explores a review-driven IPA that achieves the classification of service quality attributes, based on which appropriate improvement strategies are generated for hotel services. First, measuring service quality from online reviews is conducted to convert the voice of customer into requirements associated with service quality. The performance of the attributes is estimated by considering multiple aspects with different proportions among reviews. Second, the importance estimation is advanced with a newly defined semantic consistency that can reflect customers’ actual preferences, ensuring the reliability of the classifications. Subsequently, the proposed method is validated by applying it to chained-brand hotels in Hong Kong together with correlation and comparison analyses. The derived results contribute theoretically to service quality analysis and IPA, while providing meaningful findings to the hospitality sector.

Sustainable Last-Mile Delivery Solution Evaluation in the Context of a Developing Country: A Novel OPA–Fuzzy MARCOS Approach

With the surge in e-commerce volumes during COVID-19, improving last-mile logistics is extremely challenging, specifically for developing economies, due to poor infrastructures, lack of stakeholders’ cooperation, and untapped resources. In the context of Vietnam, there are certain solutions that can bring more efficient and sustainable last-mile logistics. In this paper, to evaluate and rank these potentially sustainable last-mile solutions (LMSs), we propose a novel hybrid multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) model that combines the Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA) and fuzzy Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to the COmpromise Solution (fuzzy MARCOS). Twelve sustainability factors of technical, economic, social, and environmental aspects were determined through a literature review and experts’ opinions to employ the MADM approach. A case study evaluating five LMSs in Vietnam concerning their sustainable implementation is solved to exhibit the proposed framework’s applicability. From the OPA findings, “efficiency”, “costs of implementation and control”, “voice of customer”, “reliability”, and “flexibility” are the topmost criteria when considering a new LMS implementation in the context of Vietnam. Moreover, sensitivity analysis and comparative analysis were performed to test the robustness of the approach. The results illustrate that the applied methods reach consistent solution rankings, where LMS-03 (convenience store pickup), LMS-02 (parcel lockers), and LMS-01 (green vehicles) are the best solutions in Vietnam. The study holds novelty in evaluating last-mile initiatives for Vietnam by utilizing a unique approach in the form of two novel MADM techniques, thus providing significant insights for research and applications.

Identification Customer Needs of Shuttle Travel by Using Servqual and Kano Methods

Bhinneka Shuttle is a companies which is engaged in customer delivery transportation services and was founded in 1972. Throughout 2022, Bhinneka Shuttle experienced an unstable amount of revenue and did not achieve the target number of passengers. Based on the results of a comparison of the four branches of Bhinneka Shuttle outlets in Bandung City, it is known that Bhinneka Shuttle Mekar Wangi needs to get improvement priority. This is supported by the low Google review rating and many complaints about the performance of the services provided. Customer dissatisfaction and high competition in the transportation business require Bhinneka Shuttle Mekar Wangi to improve and increase the quality of its services. This study aims to identify True Customer Needs by using the integration of the Servqual method and the Kano Model so that priority attributes are obtained for improvement and become basic recommendations for designing company service quality improvements. The attribute needs were obtained by conducting a study of the literature and Voice of Customer which were classified into five Servqual dimensions, that is Reliability, Comfort, Extent of Service, Safety, and Affordability (RESCA). According to research result, 11 attributes True Customer Needs that needed to be improved which states that the services provided by Bhinneka Shuttle still does not provide satisfaction to consumers. Bhinneka Shuttle are suggested to pay more attention to weak attributes that are included in the must be category because they are basic need in company’s services.

Minimalist Sofa Redesign Using the Kano Method

UKM Mebel Berkah Raya is a company engaged in the field of furniture, one of the products produced is Sofa products. The large number of competitors who are the company's competitors, makes it difficult for the products produced to compete with similar products on the market, therefore, the company conducts a preliminary survey involving loyal customers owned by UKM Mebel Berkah Raya, in order to find out the desires of customers for sofa products, especially sofa products that are produced by the UKM furniture, Berkah Raya. The data obtained shows that the problem that is owned by the product sofa produced by UKM Mebel Berkah Raya lies in the product design attributes, so that with the problems that are owned, further research is carried out which aims to find out in detail the problems that are owned, to then carry out re-design of the sofa product, so that it will produce a sofa product that is in accordance with the customer's wishes. This study uses the Kano method to determine the level of customer satisfaction with a product by paying attention to the attributes attached to the product. so that the level of urgency of each Voice of Customers, so that action can be taken according to the priority level of the results obtained. The results of this study are that the attributes that will be developed with the provisions of Attractive that produce customer satisfaction. attributes Indiffrent that can generate positive feedback with customers.attribute One-Dimantion can increase customer satisfaction. So that the resulting design in the form of an existing sofa design is representative of the measurements that have been carried out with the method used.

Modeling E-Commerce Website Using QFD

In the last decade, technological developments and advances in the digital economy have changed consumer behavior significantly. In this millennial era, all levels of society can easily use e-Commerce. Meeting customer needs, even exceeding their expectations, is crucial in this intense digital business competition. This study took place at a X Store, which aimed to identify service attributes that would be developed to improve their quality. This study used the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, which began with surveys and interviews, then distributed questionnaires to respondents (customers) to find the Voice of Customers, and then processed the data using QFD. The results showed that: 1) the attribute Product Quality had the highest level of importance, with an importance level of 4.63; 2) the attribute Complete Product Type had the top priority for superior performance, with a weight value of 4.6398; 3) the technical response Easy Order Tracking Service is a top priority for improvement, with a priority value of 6.3224 and a normalized contribution of 32.44%.

The Utilization of Lean Six Sigma Methodologies in Enhancing Surgical Pathways and Surgical Rehabilitation

The authors offer their perspective on the application of Lean Six Sigma methodology to surgical pathways, from referral to post-operative rehabilitation, and how it has resulted in sustainable improvements in patient outcomes, and patient and staff satisfaction. The origin of Lean Six Sigma is described before considering its application to improving scheduled surgical care. The concept of ‘flow’, and its relevance to pre-, intra-, and post-operative care, is discussed as well as the role of Lean Six Sigma in supporting innovation and in promoting an organizational culture that promotes openness to new ideas. The elements of the methodology that render it especially suitable for the redesign of surgical pathways include eliciting the customer voice, co-design, enabling system awareness and inculcating a continuous improvement mindset. The necessary conditions for the successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma initiatives include managerial support, high-quality education and training, and alignment with organizational strategy. Future directions for practice and research are discussed before presenting a key finding from the literature and from the authors’ collective experience: Lean Six Sigma initiatives will not lead to sustainable improvements where the key elements of the methodology are not recognized and enacted, and where the necessary conditions are absent.

Quality improvement in retail-distribution of Saudi thobe using six-sigma

PurposeThis research aims to enhance the operational excellence and continuous improvement of the retail supply chain in the Saudi Thobe Factory through an integrated approach of Six Sigma DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) with artificial intelligence (AI).Design/methodology/approachThe study identified the tailoring department as the department with maximum defects by using voice of customer and critical to quality tools. An AI-integrated Six Sigma approach was applied to identify and eliminate nonproductive stages, and a new facility layout was designed to enhance productivity and customer satisfaction.FindingsThe use of the factor rating method and simulation using Arena software led to an improved sigma level from 1.597 to 2.237, representing an increment of about 40%. Additionally, the defects per million opportunities reduced from 461,538 to 230,769. The study can help production industry management to optimize facility layouts and improve overall production line efficiency.Practical implicationsThis study addresses the lack of published research on the use of an integrated approach of Six Sigma DMAIC with AI in the retail and distribution sector of Saudi Arabia, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study demonstrates how this approach may significantly boost SMEs’ performance and provides a basis for future research in this area.Originality/valueThis study provides a practical example of how an integrated approach of Six Sigma DMAIC with AI can be used in the retail and distribution sector of Saudi Arabia to enhance operational excellence and continuous improvement. The study highlights the potential benefits of this approach for SMEs in the region and provides a framework for future research.

Research on the influencing factors of customer rating based on PCA and RBF neural network

In the past four decades, China's mobile communication technology has made rapid development and application, changing the way of life of human beings and making it possible for everything to be connected. As the network continues to be built, the network coverage is getting better and better. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the factors that customers influence on the operator's product services and thus further improve the quality of network services. First, cleaning operations such as coding and missing value processing are performed on the data, and specific data are filled based on information gain to fully utilize customer information. Secondly, based on principal component analysis, the features of each influencing factor are dimensioned down, and the cumulative influence contribution rate of each principal component is calculated. The influencing factors that have a cumulative influence contribution rate of more than 80% in the two data affecting the scores are selected, and mathematical models of customer scoring based on relevant influencing factors are established for customer voice service and Internet access service respectively, and other customer scores are predicted accordingly. The models stabilized after 8 and 6 iterations for voice service and Internet service, respectively, and their mean square error was kept at about 2.

I Hear You: Does Quality Improve with Customer Voice?

The paper show that online reviews can help hotels improve their quality

Employing Fuzzy-weighted SERVQUAL, Refined-KANO, IPA, and QFD to Assess Service Quality in Vocational Higher Education

This research aims to evaluate the quality of vocational higher education services and determine which characteristics most influence service quality. The research used multiple service quality methods, including Fuzzy Weighted SERVQUAL, Refined Kano, Importance-Performance Analysis, and Quality Functional Deployment. This study was conducted in 7 aviation polytechnics: Indonesian Aviation Polytechnic Curug, Medan Aviation Polytechnic, Palembang Aviation Polytechnic, Surabaya Aviation Polytechnic, and Makassar Aviation Polytechnic, and Aviation Polytechnic Jayapura under the Human Resources Development Centre for Air Transportation - Ministry of Transportation. Random sampling was used to determine the number of samples. The population was 3063 cadets, with 507 samples drawn from seven Aviation Polytechnics in Indonesia. The research instrument was a questionnaire with Servqual dimensions and attributes that meet two criteria: service quality Servqual includes five dimensions and attributes of service quality in vocational higher education comprising 23 attributes. The data analysis techniques used were both quantitative and qualitative. The results of this study found that; (1) Of the 23 service quality items at vocational colleges, 14 items are the voice of customers for the Cadets of the seven aviation polytechnics under the PPSDMPU with modern or up-to-date practice lab equipment as the most item that needed to be improved. (2) Formulate 22 alternative technical problem-solving sequentially according to priority with the fulfillment of items carried out by considering the capability of the resources owned by each aviation polytechnic with the application of rights and obligations to all learners as the most quality characteristics that should be implemented.

How Firm Strategies Affect Consumer Biases in Online Reviews

Online reviews have become increasingly important to both consumers and businesses and, as a result, have attracted considerable research attention. However, all reviews are not created equal as consumers may differ in their propensities to leave reviews, often as a function of their satisfaction. To ensure a more representative customer voice, companies often utilize different strategies to moderate the biases in online reviews. The strategies deployed by many hospitality firms differ dramatically in both how reviews are collected and where they are posted. This study investigates four review-collection strategies of major hospitality companies and analyzes how each strategy affects review ratings and length. We find that the effort required to post a review impacts review characteristics. We show that reviews collected through self-motivation methods tend to be lower rated and longer, whereas reviews solicited from companies through poststay emails tend to exhibit different characteristics.

Faktor Keberhasilan Kritis Usaha Kuliner Berbasis Cloud Kitchen Dari Perspektif Pelaku Usaha dan Konsumen

Cloud kitchen is a food service business system that does not serve dine-in orders and only focuses on serving delivery. This study aims to identify the characteristics, challenges, and critical success factors of cloud kitchen-based culinary businesses. Critical success factors will be analyzed from the point of view of cloud kitchen’s tenants as well as from the consumer's point of view. The research method used is the mixed method. The research begins with a qualitative method, employing phenomenology approach. Characteristics found in the study were low cost, simpler operational activities, and unique branding. The challenges are dependency on the aggregator, profit margin, voice of customer, and branding. Meanwhile, the critical success factors identified in the study are sales promotion, food taste, brand reputation, online rating, packaging, and hygiene. Then, the research is continued by distributing questionnaires to determine the critical success factors from the consumer's perspective as the independent variable, repurchase intention as the dependent variable, and customer satisfaction as the intervening variable. The results showed a significant influence on repurchase intention of all critical success factors mediated by customer satisfaction. Critical success factors also affect repurchase intention directly except for the hygiene factor. Meanwhile, the importance of critical success factors according to the consumer's point of view from the most important factors are food taste, sales promotion, brand reputation, rating in applications, food hygiene, and product packaging. Keywords: cloud kitchen, characteristics, challenges, CSF, Mix Method

Desain Mesin Pembuatan Gula Semut Berbahan Dasar Nira Kelapa Skala UMKM

Product development is a combination of technological trends that play a role in creating innovative works. Conceptual design is the initial phase of developing innovative product configurations. The processing of coconut sap into traditional palm sugar has constraints; the production process takes 4 to 6 hours and has a moisture content above 3%. The research objective was to obtain a machine design to increase production volume and reduce the water content in palm sugar. The machine design process begins with conducting interviews with 20 palm sugar craftsmen with approximately 5 years of experience to obtain information on priority needs. The VOC (Voice Of Customer) method can be used to determine priority designs and specifications. The results of the VOC process are (1) machine components made of food-grade materials, (2) production machines that are easy to operate and easy to maintain, (3) production machines with operational costs and affordable prices among MSMEs. The design development process has two alternative machines made using the Solidworks software. The results of the assessment of 30 SMEs’ palm sugar selected alternative two machine designs with dimensions of 70 x 60 x 155 cm. The advantage of the second engine design alternative is that it has a temperature sensor to adjust the gas valve and a pan with an insulator so that it can maintain temperature stability. The design of the palm sugar machine still requires innovation and development to increase production and quality.

Efforts To Improve The Quality of Bakcang Products in Surabaya Using The Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Method

Bakcang is a traditional Chinese food which is quite famous among the people of Surabaya. In the manufacturing process, bakcang still uses traditional methods using human expertise in a relationship regarding improving the quality of taste and appearance according to customer and company expectations. The stages of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method are carried out by making a House of Quality (HoQ) matrix. The results of the research are in the form of priority scales that must be improved for business development based on Voice of Customer. Improvements wrapping bakcang. Therefore, research was conducted to identify the quality characteristics of taste and appearance that are expected from both the consumer and company sides. The method used in this research is Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The distributed questionnaires will include the attributes of the respondent's classification, the level of importance, and the level of customer satisfaction. Then the results of data acquisition from filling out the questionnaire will be processed using the House of Quality (HoQ) method. The results of the study will show that there is to the output of HoQ are replacing packaging with other materials, providing labels as product information, making prints for more precise sizes, making cooking time guidelines so that the level of maturity is even, preparing fresh raw materials, utilizing social media, holding prices reductions, making new variations in the form of frozen, and opening new outlets with sufficient facilities.