Revista daESPM –Maio/Junho de 2003
119
AdrianaFriedrich/
FelipeSchaandeQuadros/
NereuViegas
Customer satisfaction has becomeoneof the central objectives of
every company.More andmore, retention of customers is relevant for
organizations, sincea satisfactory experience canbeagood indication
of repeated purchases. But more often than not, a primordial fact is
ignored: customersdefinequality, not theorganization.
Generally, the consumer has expectations regardingaproduct
or service. In the after-sales period, he will be a precious source of
information for the company, as he compares actual performancewith
hisexpectation, andmakesuphismindabout thequalityof theservice,
decidingwhetherornothe issatisfied.Theevaluationofperceivedquality
is evenmore subjective concerning services, as they are variable and
intangible.
From viewing the consumer as a source of information useful
for decisionmakingwithin the company, we go to discussing how to
measure thissatisfaction.Thearticle focusesonsatisfaction research,a
useful tool used for traditional servicecompanies, likehotels.
Satisfactionsurveys’dataontheprincipalhotelsofPortoAlegre
were collectedandanalyzedas to types of questions and scales used,
thedegreesofadaptationandpracticalapplicability.Theanalysisreveals
thatpracticedoesnotalways follow theguidelinessuggestedby theory.
Customer satisfaction surveysmay become an important tool for self-
analysisof companies.
p.
39
MEASURINGCUSTOMER
SATISFACTION INTHEHOTELS
OFPORTOALEGRE
english abstracts
Theappearanceof the
homoestheticus– the
growthof thebeautymarket
MarliAppel
This article intends to provoke reflections on the current trends of
consumption of beauty services and products and its relationshipwith
recent historical transformations. These transformations ledMaffesoli
(1996), acontemporaryFrenchsociologist, topropose theemergencyof
a "new"humanbeing, thehomoestheticus,orbetterstill,anew formof
social existence. Based on the ideas of Maffesoli, an ethical
transformation of subjects is observed (taking ethics as the
presuppositions and foundations ruling human actions). An end to the
“ethicsofrationality” isperceivedandreplacedbytheethicsofesthetics:
the substitutionof "duty" for "liking", or, inotherwords, the "good" and
"bad" (ethics) invades the fieldof theemotions (esthetics).With thenew
trend of the ethics of esthetics, the body acquires newmeanings – it
trains, itsings,getsdressedandappearsontelevision–andthusbeauty
becomesacentral subject for contemporaryhumanbeings.
p.
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