The Kano model is a theory for product development and customer satisfaction developed in the 1980s by world famous living TQM Guru Dr. Noriaki Kano, which classifies customer preferences into five categories as below.
5 Categories of Kano Model
1. Must Be Quality (Basic Requirements)
Simply stated, these are the requirements that the customers expect and are taken for granted. When done well, customers are just neutral, but when done poorly, customers are very dissatisfied.
Example:
- In a hotel, providing a clean room is a basic necessity.
- Paying Salary by your Employer
- For TV, Safety
2. One Dimensional Quality (Performance Requirements)
These attributes result in satisfaction when fulfilled and dissatisfaction when not fulfilled. These are attributes that are spoken and the ones in which companies compete.
Example:
- Waiting service at a hotel.
- Facilities provided by your Employer
- For TV, Power Consumption (Please consider the year 1984)
3. Attractive Quality (Delighting Requirements)
These attributes provide satisfaction when achieved fully, but do not cause dissatisfaction when not fulfilled.
Example:
- In a hotel, providing free food is an attractive feature.
- Sudden bonus or promotion by your Employer
- For TV, Remote Control System (Please consider the year 1984)
4. Indifferent Quality
These attributes refer to aspects that are neither good nor bad, and they do not result in either customer satisfaction or customer dissatisfaction.
Example:
- In a hotel, highly polite speaking and very prompt responses might not be necessary to satisfy customers and might not be appreciated by them.
- Collaborations between different organizations and your employer
5. Reverse Quality
These attributes refer to a high degree of achievement resulting in dissatisfaction and to the fact that not all customers are alike.
Example:
- In a hotel, producing elaborate photographs of the facilities that set high expectations which are then not satisfied upon visiting can dissatisfy the customers.
- Decreasing Salary by your Employer
