"Mere Measurement Plus": How Solicitation of Open-Ended Positive Feedback Influences Customer Purchase Behavior

Keywords

customer feedback, mere measurement, question-behavior effects, positive open-ended feedback, field experiment

Abstract

In two studies (a longitudinal field experiment with an established business-to-consumer national chain, and a field experiment with a business-to-business software manufacturer), the authors demonstrate that starting a survey with an open-ended positive solicitation increases customer purchase behavior. Study 1, a longitudinal field experiment, shows that one year after the completion of a survey that began by asking customers what went well during their purchase experience, those customers spent 8.25% more than customers who had completed a survey that did not include the positive solicitation. Study 2 utlizes multiple treatment groups to assess the stepwise gains of solicitation, measurement, and solicitation frame. The results demonstrate (1) a mere solicitation effect, (2) a traditional mere measurement effect, and (3) an additional "mere measurement plus" effect of an open-ended positive solicitation; all effects increased customer spending. Specifically, starting a survey with an open-ended positive solicitation resulted in a 32.88% increase in customer spending relative to a survey with no open-ended positive solicitation. The findings suggest that firms can proactively influence the feedback process. Soliciting open-ended positive feedback can create positively biased memories of an experience; the subsequent expression of those memories in an open-ended feedback format further reinforces them, making them more salient and accessible in guiding future purchase behavior.

Original Publication Citation

Bone, Sterling A., Katherine N. Lemon, Katie A. Liljenquist, Paul W. Fombelle, Kristen B. DeTienne, and R. Bruce Money (2017), “Mere Measurement “Plus”: How Solicitation of Open-ended Positive Influences Customer Purchase Behavior,” Journal of Marketing Research, 54 (1), 156-170.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2017

Publisher

Journal of Marketing Research

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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