Assessing the Current State of Corporate Voice of the Customer Programs: Part Three

This chapter describes two quasi-experiments conducted to examine potential hierarchical and role-based influencers of perceived organizational listening effectiveness. For each quasi-experiment, we present a brief background/literature review, the hypotheses that were developed and tested, and the research methods employed. With regard to location in the organizational hierarchy, results supported hypotheses that assessments of VoC program effectiveness made by senior executives would be more favorable than those made by middle managers. With regard to a member’s role in the organizational listening process, results supported hypotheses that assessments of VoC program effectiveness made by consumer intelligence providers would be more favorable than those made by customer intelligence users. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for long-term success and sustainability of corporate VoC programs.