Keywords: Expectations, satisfaction, delight, dissatisfaction, disconfirmation, simple confirmation Jessica Santos NFO Incom, Wembley Point, Harrow Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 6DE, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 8782 3071 Fax: +44 (0)20 8900 1500 e-mail: jessica. santos@nfoeurope. com A theoretical exploration and model of consumer expectations, post-purchase affective states and affective behaviour Received in revised form. Jessica Santos is an Associate Director in NFO – a leading market research agency. She completed her PhD in 2000 and published over a dozen research papers. Her research interests include service quality, customer satisfaction and consumer behaviour. Jonathan Boote is a Senior Research Officer at Sheffield Care Trust and an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield. His research interests include analysing the impact of consumer involvement on research processes and outcomes. Abstract Through a detailed review of the service quality and (dis)satisfaction literatures, this paper presents a theoretical model exploring the interrelationship between expectations, affective post-purchase states and affective behaviour. Drawing together a comprehensive hierarchy of expectations culled from the service quality literature, the authors seek to apply levels of expectation to specific post-purchase affective states and affective behaviour. The authors argue that consumers have two types of expectation that influence post-purchase affective states: the core or predictive ‘will be’ expectation; and peripheral expectations — that can range from the ideal standard to the minimum tolerable level. By applying the levels-of- expectation approach to the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm, the authors argue that there are four types of post-purchase affective states: delight, satisfaction (or positive indifference), acceptance (or negative indifference) and dissatisfaction. These four states may lead onto affective action — ie varying degrees of complaining or complimenting behaviour. The paper presents 11 propositions relating to expectations and their interrelationship with post-purchase affective states and subsequent consumer behaviour, with the aim of stimulating further scholarly enquiry. The managerial implications of the analysis are also considered. INTRODUCTION: EXPECTATIONS AND THE SERVICE QUALITY–CONSUMER SATISFACTION INTERFACE At a theoretical level, expectations and (dis)satisfaction remain controversial issues among marketing scholars. Many questions relating to differing levels of consumer expectation, and the properties of post-purchase affective states such as satisfaction and dissatisfaction, remain unresolved. Since Miller (1977) argued that each consumer may have several different preconsumption expectations, and that different consumers may well apply different types of expectation in different situations, it is a logical step to assume that post-purchase affective states are just as fluid; therefore, degrees of expectation, at least theoretically, should be coterminous with degrees of resultant (dis)satisfaction. This has led 142 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 2, 142–156 # Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838