Abstract

Purpose – Basing on theoretical analysis, the paper aims to reveal the challenges of customer satisfaction evaluation in the context of business-to-business model. The authors analyze academic insights on business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) models, their interpretation and reveal the reasons for uniform model of customer satisfaction assessment lacking and offer solutions to find solutions to these challenges.

Design/methodology/approach – The research paper stands for a qualitative research approach, which compounds qualitative content analysis and synthesis of scientific literature and conceptual modeling. The conceptual modeling part follows a simplified Robinson (2008a, 2008b, 2015) conceptual modeling framework and logic of Logical data flow diagrams (DFDs).

Findings – The article showed that traditional service quality evaluation models have considerable content differences between criteria proposed in those models and cover only high-level needs and limited evaluation perspectives to compare to the existing modern business environment and practical needs in service quality assessment and management. Also, notable differences of focus area (organization, product/service or customer) between traditional and other service quality evaluation models impose uncertainty for businesses in practice, making it hard to assess what criteria to follow when aiming to improve customer satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications – The research paper has both methodological and theoretical limitations, which should be considered as future research directions and improvements. Methodologically, the paper is missing a more comprehensive literature review of the theoretical background and relationships between B2B and service quality models as well as a bibliometric analysis of these research domains' outcomes and dynamics. From a theoretical content perspective, continuous semantical analysis is required by performing a comparative type of analysis of the existing legal base and legal interpretations of key terms in B2B, service quality, and customer satisfaction research domains as well as research subject analysis from customer’s perspective.

Practical implications – The conducted analysis resulted in critical theoretical findings and conceptual models towards management and measurement of modern customer satisfaction, loyalty, and service quality within B2B operational models. These findings can be implied as a standpoint both for future scientific research and practical discussion within quality assurance managers and specialists.

Originality/Value – Customer satisfaction assessment guidelines are sparse in academic literature since there are lots of ambiguities when discussing customer position and needs in accordance with business relationship models (e. g. B2B, B2C). This paper essentially seeks to find answers to such issues as how a uniform B2B customer satisfaction assessment model may be built which would respond to the customer's needs and would also allow the organization to respond to changing market by meeting organization-centered service quality criteria.

Keywords: business-to-business services; customer satisfaction criteria; customer satisfaction evaluation; customer loyalty.

Research type: General review.

JEL classification: M10.