The Influence of Customer Satisfaction on Corporate Performance

The subject of this article is research into the influence of customer satisfaction on corporate performance. The research is based on the proposition that customer satisfaction affects corporate performance and that this is a positive influence. However, the question arises as to what (which factors) produces customer satisfaction, and in particular, which satisfaction factors have a significant influence on corporate performance. At the same time, there is the question of how strong an influence these factors have and what their measurement of satisfaction on corporate performance is. Financial performance can be examined from several perspectives and the authors found that there was a lack of research into the relationship between customer satisfaction and a company's efficiency measured by the indicator for asset turnover (ATO). If corporate management is aware of significant satisfaction factors and the extent of their effect, they can set out new policies affecting not only customer satisfaction but consequently corporate financial performance and sales. This research was conducted on the basis of two associated samples; on a sample of 182 food-industry companies and a sample of 4,255 customers of these companies. Financial performance is evaluated on the basis of the financial ratio ATO derived from accounting data. Customer satisfaction is evaluated using several satisfaction factors divided into four categories related to intrinsic customer satisfaction, product quality perception, the competitiveness of the company and the characteristics of customer purchasing behaviour, which were represented by 31 quality-related factors in total. It was demonstrated that nine of them have a significant effect on ATO ratio. However, an interpretation of their effect on ATO was not straightforward and, in the case of some factors, was surprising. This was seen with product price in terms of its quality, product tradition compared to competitors, product flexibility compared to competitors and payment terms, which all affected the financial performance in a way which was contrary to what had been expected. On the other hand, frequency of purchase, willingness to pay the set price, product quality compared to competitors, price compared to competitors and product availability compared to competitors, all affected the ATO in the expected way. The research confirmed that customer satisfaction was reflected in the interest in the product, which led to an increased interest in the product, which was reflected in the income from the product. Income directly affected the company's efficiency and the assets turnover indicator which measures it.