Table 1. Comparison of Various Survey Methods when Conducting CSS in Financial Services* Survey Method F2F (in home) F2F (at the branch office) Self administered questionnaire (via fax) Self administered questionnaire (at the branch office) CAWI CATI
Customer Discomfort
Response Rate
QL
Interviewer Assistance
TPL
Cost
High
Low
Long
Yes
No
High
Medium
Medium-low
Medium-short
Yes
Yes
Medium
Medium-low
Low
Medium
No
Yes
Medium-low
Medium-low
Medium
Medium
No
Yes
Medium-low
Medium Medium
No Yes
Yes No
Low Medium
Low Medium-high Medium-low Medium-high
* Note. QL = questionnaire length; TPL = target population limitations (i.e., limitations to reach certain elements of the target population due to the inherent properties of the survey method in question).
conduct F2F interview in home or at the branch office it may lead to customer discomfort. Interviewers are not always welcome when they show up at the respondent’s front door. Customers who visit branch offices do not wish to spend more time at the branch offices than they usually would. Having all of that in mind, it would be wise to consider other survey methods, and use F2F only when there is a requirement to use pictures or for especially lengthy interviews. Self administered questionnaire sent via fax (or postal service) or submitted to the customers while they are visiting the branch office may be another solution. Certainly this method reduces customer discomfort. However, self administered questionnaires are exposed to some drawbacks. Logistics for sending and receiving questionnaires does not always work perfectly, because some of the questionnaires may be sent to wrong addresses, and some may be lost. Respondents can read the entire questionnaire before they start to fill it which might distort their answers. Third person may influence on respondents while filling the questionnaire, and so forth. All of this leads to a conclusion that self administered questionnaire may not be the best survey method when conducting CSS in financial services. Since the expansion of Internet usage, computer assisted web interviewing (CAWI) survey method is experiencing rapid growth (ESOMAR, 2008). CAWI offers important advantages when conducting CSS in financial services, such as: (a) customer discomfort is reduced to a minimum, and (b) complex target populations can be reached with less effort. However the issue of Internet usage, especially in developing coun-
tries remains. Internet usage is still not sufficient to provide representative samples in CAWI surveys. Computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) is the remaining survey method. CATI provides minimal customer discomfort, and can be applied easily since there are no issues with telephone usage such as with Internet usage. Even though CATI questionnaires may not be as lengthy as the F2F questionnaires, their length is sufficient for most occasions. Contact with the interviewer provides the respondent with the possibility to ask additional questions or get additional information and so forth. CATI offers some other advantages as well. For instance, if the respondent does not wish to take part in the survey his phone number can be removed from the sampling frame, thus preventing further discomfort. Respondents can choose to reschedule the interview at the more convenient time for them. Questionnaires are tested for logical errors automatically during the interviewing process, and so forth. Table 1 summarizes information in reference with survey methods and their application in CSS in financial services. CATI survey method provides balance between client discomfort, response rate, and cost. Other survey methods may perform better on some criteria, but CATI has the best overall performance.
Questionnaire Design and Data Acquisition There are two key recommendations that must be taken into account when designing questionnaires for
Customer Satisfaction Surveys: Methodological Recommendations for Financial Service Providers 119