Quality in Marketing

The customer is the final judge of value. Customer satisfaction is the extent to which a product's perceived performance matches a buyer's expectations. Quality is defined in various ways, but in terms of competitiveness and profitability, none is more important than customer satisfaction. It is critical to create products that customers will buy, enjoy, tell their friends about, and buy again. 

The quality of a product is a major determinant of customer satisfaction. The American society of qualitydefines quality as the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. 

The quality viewpoint stresses the provision of high-quality products and services at all times. The aim of W. Edward Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) approach is constant quality improvement.

 Deming was one of the founders of the quality movement and helped Japanese organizations make statistical quality control improvements. Later, United States marketers recognized his contributions. Deming's recommendations include planning for quality, striving for zero defects, using only a few suppliers who have demonstrated that they can deliver quality, and inspecting for quality during the process and not after. 

For marketers the focus of the total Quality Movement has shifted to total customer satisfaction. Quality begins with customer needs and ends with customer satisfaction. Successful marketers want their customers to be delighted when actual performance exceeds expectations. When customers are surprised with more quality, their perceived sense of value is heightened. Marketers manage satisfaction by targeting the customers who are most likely to appreciate the organization's distinctive competence.