How do Asiaʹs two most important consumer markets differ? Japanese–Chinese differences in customer satisfaction and its formation

Little is known about international differences in the formation of customer satisfaction, particularly regarding developed and emerging markets in Asia. This lack of knowledge limits the competitiveness of Western companies in Asia. From the perspectives of economic and cultural country differences, this study thus compares customer satisfaction and its formation between Japan, China, and Germany (Western reference country). Customer satisfaction is higher in Japan than China for goods and private services but lower for public services. It is influenced more strongly by perceived quality and less strongly by perceived value (difference moderated by switching costs), public brand image, and quality expectations in Japan than China. Economic differences between developed (Japan, Germany) and emerging (China) markets influence consumer preference structures more strongly than cultural differences. Due to larger inter-Asian cultural variance than Western managers might expect, Chinese consumer preference structures differ more from Japanese than German consumer preference structures.