An examination of personal and cultural values between Turkish and American consumers concerning cross-national customer satisfaction judgement

This research will help marketers seeking to sell their products in other countries and striving to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction compared to the competition. This goal cannot be obtained without a clear understanding of factors contributing to the generation of high satisfaction and the process by which customer satisfaction evolves following a product consumption experience. Customer satisfaction is an important determinant of post-purchase attitude and product choice. The growing amount of international business has increased the need to understand customer satisfaction from a cross-national perspective.; Empirical evidence drawn from Hofstede's international study (1980, 1983) shows values differ significantly among nations. This research explores important differences in the types of values held by individuals in Turkey and the United States and how these values influence consumer satisfaction. This research mainly examines whether the consumers living in Turkey place more importance on status, social image, personal abilities, family and interpersonal relationships than the consumers living in the United Sates. Hofstede's (1980) definition of national culture as the “collective mental programming that conditions peoples' values and perceptions” was adopted in this research.; According to the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm, satisfaction following a product experience depends on the direction and significance of the perceived disparity between actual attribute performance and prior expectations. This research also partly examines whether there is a relation between product attributes and consumer satisfaction.; Two hypotheses were tested by data collected from Turkey and the United States of America. Results indicate that values affect consumer behavior. Also, there is a relationship between personal values and cultural values. Consumer values and performance expectations are associated.