Perception of Quality By Kalsoom Ashraf
This assignment Perception of Quality is prepared Perception of Quality By Kalsoom Ashraf
Assignment Title: Perception of Quality
Submitted by: Kalsoom Ashraf
Department: Political Science
Semester: 1st
Session: 2021-2025
Govt.Graduate College Chowk Azam
What is The Perception of Quality:
Perception of quality can be defined as the opinion or idea of a customer about the overall standard or image of the obtained product or service or the company itself regarding its purpose or need of use as against its different alternatives. Perceived quality might not be accurately connected to the actual product but is closer towards the image of the brand, the experience of the customer with the brand and its other products, peer opinions, etc. Thus perceived quality mainly differs from the objective quality, quality based on product and manufacturing quality.
Importance of Perceived Quality:
To understand the phenomenon of perceived quality one must be able to understand what kind of perception is it? So, Actually, According to experts, I studied in literature;
“Perception is a psychological behavior, through which a person can identify, well organize and evaluate the different stimuli into a meaningful or useful and comprehensible outlook.”
Perceived quality is insubstantial. Perceived quality cannot be checked properly on quantitative backgrounds, preferably because analysis about what is important to the customers differs widely beyond the different personalities, needs, and preferences. If it’s a product, the customers look at the following seven main features for evaluation: features performance, conformity with specifications, durability, reliability, serviceability, finish and fit.
Whereas if it’s a service, customer decision is based on the following five main features: reliability, competence, tangibles, responsiveness, and empathy. The basic idea of perceived quality takes into account both the intrinsic and extrinsic features of the product and the behavior of the brand. Customers’ knowledge about the product or the brand and their past experiences with it are important decision variables and these above-mentioned features play a vital role in the development of any brand or success of a product.
Relationship between perception and expectation:
Examples of Perceived Quality
According to Literature I studied, different examples are quoted to explain the quality of perception in the business market but the below-mentioned example greatly describe the perception to understand easily and this is the theory of first-level expert in the business market.
By Experts, if someone looks at a product say, a washing machine, then the following are the seven parameters on which the customer would think and judge about the product.
1. Performance: in this sense, he/she observe how best the washing machine washes the clothes?
2. Features: Does it have an automatic mode of washing clothes?
3. Conformance with specifications: how rapidly do the defaults happen?
4. Reliability: will its performance improve or somehow degrade after 2-3 years of continuous use at work?
5. Durability: what is its overall average life span?
6. Serviceability: Is the service system is useful, competent, and more convenient?
7. Fit and finish: is the product looks beautiful and has a mini size?
These above-mentioned things often help to understand easily the perceived quality of any product whether it is common or branded.
Next, if we look at a service, like banking, then the following five parameters would play a vital role in the customers’ perception of the bank:
1. Tangibles: physical facilitation, devices in it, and looks of personnel reflect the quality of standards?
2. Reliability: Will the accounting work performed would be trustable and show accuracy?
3. Competence: Does the bank contain the beneficent skilled personnel usage? Does the convey trust and belief in a product through the services offered?
4. Responsiveness: Is the sales staff agrees to help the customers with any misuse and offer prompt and best services?
5. Empathy: Does the bank provide caring and focused attention on every client for their problems?
These above-mentioned things help in analyzing perceived quality for service brands or common brands.
Advantages of perception of quality:
- It enables the product to differentiate itself from other items.
- Hold the company on track of continuous positive improvement as competitors also raise the bar.
- It helps the company to demand low payment as compared to other brands.
- If the improvement of the process is at faster round compared to different competitors in the marketplace, then the company can enjoy more profits with the help of perceived quality.
Disadvantages of Perceived Quality
- Any misleading related to the perceived value and its configuration may lead to improper perception.
- Since it is maintainable, even the best products might be subject to poor perception, leading to business loss and causing a bad impact on the brand.
How to Measure Customer Perception of quality:
Customer perception is not a simple thing or obscurity!
Each brand can analyze and check the perception by consuming a little time and using smart and modern methodologies.
Perception of a customer, when measured properly, gives a continuous stream of valuable and efficient consumer insights. When a brand starts to conduct deep dive and check customer's perception, it’s become enabling to see the behind-the-scenes of how customers look at your products or brand. A brand manager can see how different customers connected with and react to the concerned brand.
So how do different companies check and measure consumer perception or choice of the client when they’re looking at it from behind the scenes? After studying a variety of literature about perception following parameters are shortlisted to measure customer perception.
Analysis of website traffic:
According to researchers and business experts, one can analyze his website traffic by using different analytical techniques and can observe the following observations for analysis.
- How many clients entered your company URL in the section of the search bar?
- Who has clicked on an email button that you had sent to customers or placed on the website?
- How many clients are there who downloaded your specification manual or documents?
- Analyze the trend of the behavior of users on your website by answering all these questions. It enables you to check if there is any change with the passage of time in brand perception.
Online Customer Reviews:
It’s revealed from previous studies that;
72% of customers can’t take any action until they read reviews properly.
One can realize how large an impact customer reviews can have on customer perception of quality. Good reviews can import a positive customer perception of quality. Therefore, companies must focus on customer reviews to check customer perception of quality.
There are different product review sites like G2Crowd, Yelp, App Exchange, Angie’s List, etc. that have the main database of feedback of customers. Customers of each brand are precisely looking at the previous reviews before deciding to buy your products.
Google alerts are used to notify you when reviews about your brand or product are posted. In this way, you can easily know what customers are thinking and talking about your brand or product and check out the positive or negative reviews that are created in the mind of experienced customers.
Analyzing Social Media Conversations:
This is one of the most efficient methods to check customer perception of quality. Social media conversations are a big start to measure what people are mainly talking about your brand. Customers of products and services are all over the internet and are using social media to describe their experiences, hatred, or liking towards a brand.
Perception of quality is the reality!!
Either one may know or not each and every company or brand already has a perception about the product quality. But the most important thing is whether it is working in your close favor or against you and your brand.
If one measure and become aware of the brand's perceived quality, One can work towards improving it or fixing it for a better tomorrow, and the development of the brand may start.
References:
- https://perceivedquality.co/#:~:text=Perceived%20Quality%20is%20the%20impression,sound%2C%20touch%2C%20and%20scent.
- Laforce Ingram; Marketing Principles And Projective; Fourth Edition.
- Courtland L, Bovver and John J. Thrill P 153.
- Gilbert A. Churchill and Douglass F. Halley.
- Journal of Marketing Research; Buyers' perception.
- William D. Perrault Jr. And E. Jerome McCarthy, EtiaOMarketing. Pp162-181.