How does (National) Culture influence Customer Satisfaction and the Customer’s Willingness to Recommend a Company to others? : A Cross- Country Comparison of Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish Customer Feedback

Abstract

Customer satisfaction is a primary focus for an increasing number of companies, as customers who are highly satisfied with a product or a service provide positive word-of-mouth to others. Therefore, many companies are tracking both customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction in order to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction, and thus, increase the number of customer referrals. As many companies today are operating in a cultural environment that affects their business on many different levels, it is highly important to acknowledge the cultural aspects in international business. Previous studies show that people from different cultures are likely to judge the same service differently based on differences in the perceived quality, and therefore, companies ought to take cultural differences into consideration when comparing customer feedback between different markets.

This study examines the influence of culture on customer satisfaction and the customers’ willingness to recommend a company to others, by analysing customer feedback on the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish markets, collected by Company X. The main objective of the study is to provide a deeper understanding of how cultural differences between Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark influence customer satisfaction, and thus, the potential customer referrals. This study applies both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques and the empirical findings are analysed with the support of Hofstede’s framework of culture.

The results of the quantitative analysis showed that there were differences in customer satisfaction and the customers’ willingness to recommend the company to others, between the markets. The Finnish customers were the most likely to recommend Company X to family or friends, whereas the customer on the Danish market were the most satisfied with the overall experience. On the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish markets, lack of responsiveness was the main reason for the dissatisfaction, whereas the main reason for dissatisfaction among the Finnish customers was Company X’s inability to provoke trust and confidence. Additionally, empathy in service was the main reason for satisfaction among the customers in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, whereas the main reasons for satisfaction among the Finnish customers were responsiveness and reliability in service. Thus, the findings suggest that customers on the Finnish market judge the quality of a service differently than the customers on the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish markets.