Beyond satisfaction: A holistic measurement of customer experience in international B2B machinery manufacturing
In the dynamic realm of contemporary business, the significance of customer experience (CX) surpasses traditional customer satisfaction (SAT), emerging as a pivotal factor for companies vying for competitiveness. The imperative to deliver an exceptional CX has escalated, marking it as a top-tier strategy for the future. Despite the acknowledged importance of CX, its exploration and application in business-to-business (B2B) settings, especially in the context of international textile manufacturing, remain understudied. Addressing this research gap, we adapt the customer experience quality (EXQ) and industrial SAT models to the unique challenges of an international B2B textile manufacturing landscape. Grounded in customer interviews, we formulate a comprehensive questionnaire that underpins the development of CX and SAT composite indicators (CIs) through Categorical Principal Component Analysis. Drawing insights from a diverse sample spanning 13 countries, our results unveil a statistically significant, very strong positive correlation between CX and SAT, with the latter’s mean CI value surpassing the former’s. Exploring the influence of agents and respondents’ years of experience in the textile industry on CX and SAT items and CIs, we find statistically non-significant effects, except for the latter’s impact on a specific SAT item. Delving into the dimensions of national culture, our study identifies a statistically significant influence of the power-distance index on a particular SAT item. Notably, this research represents a pioneering effort, marking the first study tailored for measuring CX in the B2B textile manufacturing context. Furthermore, it stands as the inaugural attempt to quantify CX as a valuable CI.
Regina de Sousa Paiva holds a master’s in industrial engineering and management at FEUP. With a background in mechanical engineering, her main interests are focused on the planned maintenance, life cycle costing, and customer experience analyses across multiple sectors (e.g., automotive, construction, manufacturing).
Miguel Alves Pereira is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Systems Engineering and Management at the Department of Engineering and Management of the Instituto Superior Técnico – Universidade de Lisboa, as well as an Integrated Member of the Centre for Management Studies at the same institution. His main interests concern analytics and operational research / management science, emphasising the development of efficiency, productivity, and decision analysis models, and their applications to health, water and sanitation, sustainable development, energy, and climate change. He is the author of 21 scientific publications, as well as an ad hoc referee in 57 international peer-reviewed journals.
Elizabeth Coggins-Hill has a background in economics and logistics at Kingston University and the Cranfield University School of Management. She is an experienced supply chain and business improvement practitioner, having worked in several areas
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Categorical Principal Component Analysis, Customer experience, Customer satisfaction, National Culture
