Expectations and Disconfirmation Beliefs as Predictors of Consumer Satisfaction, Repurchase Intention, and Complaining Behavior: An Empirical Study

Abstract

This study assesses the ability of consumer expectations and disconfirmation beliefs to classify individuals into groups based on three postpurchase processes: consumer satisfaction judgments, repeat purchase intentions, and complaint incidence. Three two-group discriminant analyses were performed on a national sample of over 400 new carpet owners using prior expectations and subjective disconfirmation beliefs as independent variables and the three postpurchase behaviors as dependent variables. The results indicate that expectations and disconfirmation beliefs are not only strong predictors of consumer satisfaction, but can also be used to classify consumers into other postpurchase behavioral groups. The hit ratios of the satisfaction and complaining behavior classifications were most favorable when compared to proportional chance criteria.