Journal of Global Optimization 12: 175–195, 1998. 175 c 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Measuring Customer Satisfaction Using a Collective Preference Disaggregation Model Y. SISKOS 1 , E. GRIGOROUDIS 1 , C. ZOPOUNIDIS 1 and O. SAURAIS 2 1 Technical University of Crete, Decision Support Systems Laboratory, GR 73100 Chania, Greece. 2 Management of Strategic Resources, Av. Lavaux 101, 1009 Pully, Lausanne, Switzerland. (Received and accepted: 2 May 1997) Abstract. A new model to assess customer satisfaction is developed through this paper. The proposed model is based on the principles of multicriteria analysis, using ordinal regression techniques. The procedure uses survey’s data on customer satisfaction criteria and disaggregates simultaneously all the global satisfaction judgments via a linear programming disaggregation formulation. The model provides collective global and partial satisfaction functions as well as average satisfaction indices. These results sufficiently describe customer behavior and they can be used in the strategic planning of an organization. The implementation of the model in three real world applications is used for illustration and for testing the model’s reliability. Finally, several extensions and future research in the area of customer satisfaction analysis are discussed. Key words: Multiple criteria, linear programming, disaggregation method, ordinal regression anal- ysis. 1. Introduction Measuring customer satisfaction is a major problem for every firm or organization, especially within the frame of marketing management practice. Satisfaction of cus- tomer needs is the main objective according to the principles of modern marketing science. Furthermore, a customer satisfaction measure is considered necessary by a lot of methods and techniques. Extensive research in marketing has defined in detail several processes of consumer behavior [6]. Using mainly survey techniques, customer satisfaction can be calculated by the estimation of brand loyalty of a set of customers [3]. The confirmation/disconfirmation of expectations method [11] is a consumer- based model used to measure customer satisfaction. In particular, Oliver [10] describes the satisfaction process associated with the disconfirmation paradigm as follows: i. Buyers form expectations of product performance prior to purchase. ii. Consumption reveals a perceived performance level which is compared to expectation levels which are either confirmed or disconfirmed. This research was partly supported by the Greek Ministry of Development-General Secretariat of Research and Technology.