Using a web-based longitudinal panel to measure customer satisfaction

The benefits of using web-based longitudinal panels for customer satisfaction studies are described according to the experience of such a study for the rail customers of New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit). Numerous benefits of this method are noted over cross-sectional studies, including more robust statistics, better understanding of customer satisfaction, and the ability to analyze customer satisfaction trends. Various innovative Internet technologies, as described, add value to the study by ensuring data quality, timeliness, reduced respondent burden, less random error in respondent answers, and the ability to pair qualitative data to quantitative analysis. Online geocoding of respondents' origins and destinations is also described as another aspect of the survey that provides NJ Transit more value from the study. The details of how the study was implemented for NJ Transit are described, and some results as an example of the beneficial aspects of the study design are reported.