Ilka Willand
Head of Section “Publications, graphic and design”
Destatis – Federal Statistical Office of Germany
Statistisches Bundesamt
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11
65189 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)611.75-4545
ilka.willand@destatis.de
Headline: Beyond traditional customer surveys: The reputation analysis
Keywords: customer survey, image survey, kano model, measuring reputation,
quality management, reputation, reputation analysis, reputation management,
stakeholder, target groups
Abstract
An important strategic goal of Destatis is to continuously collect information about
customer satisfaction and the perception of the Federal Statistical Office by
stakeholders. We have been conducting frequent customer surveys since 2007. But
not all important stakeholders and key target groups are necessarily costumers or
users of our data and services. To learn more about the demands of important target
groups (also the ones we did not reach) a reputation and acceptance study was
conducted in 2013.
To determine a manageable frame for the study we focused on three target groups
who will be important in the future. The reputation analysis is based on the “KanoModel” which is often used in quality management and product development. It
classifies user needs into different categories to figure out the main drivers of
reputation as well as satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The next step is to implement
targeted reputation management to reach the highest level of satisfaction possible
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within available resources. In the following article the survey design, main results and
conclusions will be explained.
Headline: Beyond traditional customer surveys: The reputation analysis
An important strategic goal of Destatis is to continuously collect information about
customer satisfaction and the perception of the Federal Statistical Office by
stakeholders and important target groups. We have been conducting frequent
customer surveys at regular intervals since 2007. In 2013 Destatis carried out a
reputation and acceptance study in cooperation with a market researcher. What is the
purpose of a reputation analysis compared to a customer survey?
1. Purpose of the study
Reputation is defined as the most important immaterial value of a company or a
public institution [1]. Customer surveys do not answer all our questions about the
main drivers of reputation and the needs and expectations of stakeholders and target
groups. They only focus on registered customers and the perception of the available
products and services [2]. A reputation analysis goes beyond traditional customer
surveys. Reputation is the assessment of an institution based on personal
experiences and perceptions by target groups. We need information about the basic
needs and delighters of important target groups concerning data search, access and
data use (regardless of whether they have already used our data or not), because
they are the most important drivers of reputation [3].
2. Survey design
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The main concept for the reputation and acceptance study was developed at the
Federal Statistical Office. A working group set the target groups and worked out the
main questions and issues. Based on this frame the market researcher (LINK-Institute
Frankfurt) developed the survey design (table 1) and conducted the survey in 2013.
There are different tailor-made questionnaires for every target group but they also
have comparable parts. The market researcher realized overall nearly 5000
interviews so that we have a reliable and representative database. The study has
both qualitative and quantitative parts [1].
Table 1: Survey design
2.1 How to find out what target groups think
There are many potential target groups for a reputation analysis. To determine a
manageable frame we focused on three target groups (table 1) which became
increasingly important in the last years.
a) Respondents (private households and enterprises)
b) Fast multipliers (online and data journalists)
c) Young multipliers (graduates and doctorates of social and economic sciences).
a) The respondents are divided in two subgroups. We needed to learn more about the
willingness of the population to respond in household samples and about their attitude
towards the Federal Statistical Official in general (regardless of whether they have
survey experiences or not). The market researcher realized 2200 computer assisted
telephone interviews (CATI) on the basis of a representative sample of German
landline and mobile phone numbers. Among the 2200 interviewed persons were 14%
who have participated in surveys of Official Statistics so far.
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Enterprises in Germany must (depending on their number of employees and branch)
respond to a variety of mandatory surveys of Official Statistics monthly and annually.
We wanted to learn more about their attitude towards the reporting process and their
perception of Destatis in general (although most of them are only in contact with the
Statistical Offices of the Länder). The market researcher realized 1000 CATI
interviews with managing directors or members of the higher management of
enterprises who are in charge of the reporting process.
b) The work of fast multipliers is often data driven and data journalism became more
and more important in the last years [4]. For the first qualitative part of the study our
market researcher interviewed five leading German data journalists via Skype to
identify relevant topics in the context of data search and data use. The results were
integrated in the quantitative online-questionnaire for the fast multipliers (n=300).
c) Young multipliers are highly qualified and we expect them to get appropriate jobs in
the private or public sector or in the scientific community. For many of them statistical
data is currently important for their studies and will be important for their work in the
future. A focus discussion with 12 young multipliers from different universities was the
basis for the development of a quantitative online-questionnaire. 1500 onlineinterviews with graduates and 290 online-interviews with postgraduates were
realized.
The fulfillment of basic needs affects the perception and the reputation of an
institution. How can the needs and expectations of target groups be determined? The
reputation analysis is based on the “Kano-Model”, that has been developed by
Professor Noriaki Kano, a former psychologist at Tokyo University. It classifies
customer preferences into different categories [5] and is often used in quality
management and product development [6]. The most important categories are basic
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needs (dissatisfiers) and delighters. Basic needs are typically “unspoken”. If they are
fulfilled, they do not increase satisfaction, because they are taken for granted. If they
are not fulfilled, they will cause dissatisfaction which can cause a serious damage of
reputation. For example: If somebody books a flight, the luggage will come with the
flight of course. When people book a flight ticket, they do not request the transport of
luggage separately – it is taken for granted. If the luggage doesn’t arrive at the
destination, they will be extremely dissatisfied.
Delighters are unexpected features that impress customers and do not necessarily
cause dissatisfaction when not fulfilled, because they are not expected. For example:
A hot towel delivered to the customers at an economy class flight is a delighter
because it is only expected at business class flights. Delighters are important
because they can make the difference in comparison to competitors and can increase
reputation. For the analysis target groups were asked for their basic needs and
delighters concerning data search, access, use and data related services.
3. Results and conclusions
Regarding the reputation values, the Federal Statistical Office is considered to be a
trustworthy, competent and generally accepted institution across all target groups.
However, they differ between respondents and multipliers (figure 1). On the other
hand the Federal Office is considered as bureaucratic – especially among the
enterprises.
Destatis is the most important data source among the fast and young multipliers.
About 60% of the journalists and university students or graduates have used data
from the Federal Statistical Office before. For comparison: less than 30% have ever
used data from commercial data providers. The results are very good in general but
there are also a number of challenges Destatis has to face.
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Figure 1: Reputation values by target groups
3.1 Respondents
The reputation of the Federal Statistical Office among the respondents depends
significantly on the assessment of the process of data collection. Most of the
respondents in enterprises (59%) have the opinion, that official data is important for
the German economy and democracy. But only 29% think that the results of
enterprise surveys are useful for their company. Obviously they are not aware of how
they can benefit from the data – which may have a serious impact on data quality.
The analysis reveals similar effects for the private households. In private households
the reputation of Destatis and the willingness to participate in surveys increases with
the educational level of the respondents.
For 30% of the respondents in enterprises it is a basic need that the results are
directly made available for them after the surveys. This is also the case for 21% of
respondents in private households. For 23% among this target group this is a
delighter. The results show how important it is to reflect the results of surveys directly
to the respondents. This result affects also the Statistical Offices of the Länder who
are in charge of the regional data collection.
3.2 Fast multipliers
Two thirds of the fast multipliers are working with statistical data from time to time but
only 6% are data journalists. 89% of the interviewed journalists are at least satisfied
with the services of the Federal Statistical Office and 94% would recommend it.
What are their basic needs? They expect to find data they are looking for as fast as
possible (55%) and for free (45%) on the internet. After an average of 14 minutes of
searching on the Destatis website they will contact the information service. 38%
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expect a telephone service. Fast multipliers expect more than databases and
datasets – for one third among them explanatory texts linked to the data are a basic
need. What would delight them? Interactive charts and application programming
interfaces (APIs) to grab huge amounts of primary data are the delighters (especially
for data journalists). One third also mentioned examples of how to read tables and
charts as a delighter.
Profound knowledge about the media use of journalists enables the users to adapt to
their needs effectively. For the journalists the internet plays the most important role in
their work (97%), printed publications in the second place (76%), followed by
newsletters (67%). It is interesting that every second journalist works with
smartphones and tablets already.
3.3 Young multipliers
95% of the students are at least satisfied with the Federal Statistical Office and 64%
can imagine working there.
Most of the students and postgraduates of social and economic sciences are
experienced in data search and data use. 55% of the students and 36% of the
postgraduates use data recommended by their lecturers. The lecturers are obviously
important multipliers at universities. One third of the students and 21% of the
postgraduates stated that their lecturers recommended statistical data of the Federal
Statistical Office in the past. This share should be enlarged to reach more of the
young multipliers.
What are the basic needs of the young multipliers? They want data as fast as
possible, for free and that all data is available via the internet and. Also most of the
postgraduates (55%) expect detailed methodological descriptions related to the
datasets beyond. What are the delighters? Surprisingly nearly one half of the students
and graduates mentioned examples on how to read tables and charts as a delighter.
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It seems that we overestimated the statistical knowledge of students and
postgraduates in the past. Already more than one third of the students see the
opportunity to search for data via smartphone or tablet as a delighter. That is
consistent with the fact that already 67% of the students are using a smartphone for
their studies.
Table 2: Important results at a glance
3.4 Conclusions
The results of the reputation analysis are of great value because they show if Destatis
is on the right track with its (dissemination-) strategies and investments. The basic
needs and delighters are important drivers of reputation. On the basis of the results
we are now able to manage resources and investments accordingly. The main recent
challenge is to implement appropriate measures into the work process within
available resources.
The results affect many different divisions of the Federal Statistical Office and the
statistical Offices of the Länder who are responsible for the contact with the local
respondents. The results for the respondents show that there is an urgent need to
offer tailor made information after the surveys which is not common practice at the
moment. The results for fast and young multipliers show that our investments in
formats for mobile devices are justified. Another important finding is that we
overestimated the skills of multipliers to understand charts and tables without reading
examples and explanatory texts. We have to publish our data in a way that enables
people without special knowledge in statistics to understand the facts.
Basic needs and delighters regarding data search and data use are assumed to be
quite similar in other European information based societies so that the results can be
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helpful in other national settings as well. It is also possible to adapt the Kano model to
other environments and issues.
Subline 1: References
[1] Dr. Helen Lauff und Alexandra Wachenfeld, Abschlussbericht zum Projekt
Reputations- und Akzeptanzanalyse für das Statistische Bundesamt, 2014.
[2] Ulrike Dausmann, Kundenzufriedenheitsbefragung 2011. Wirtschaft und Statistik
8/2012, pp. 623-633.
[3] Jörg Schneider, Reputation Control – Befragungstool für das umfassende
Controlling der Corporate Reputation. LINK Fokus, Informationsreihe des LINK
Instituts zur Markt-, Sozial- und Meinungsforschung, 2013.
[4] Jonathan Gray, Liliana Bounegru, Lucy Chambers
http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/, 2011.
[5] Jörg A. Hölzing, Die Kano-Theorie der Kundenzufriedenheitsmessung: Eine
theoretische und empirische Überprüfung, 2008, pp. 76-84.
[6] Angelika Eckert, E-Commerce-Studie: So zahlt der Kunde gerne. WEAVE 6/2013.
pp. 98-101.
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