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Satisfaction equals perception minus expectation
Phones as remote controls
Phones have become remote controls for our lives. A vehicle, a meal, a flight, or a train ride shows up when you want it, and you don't have to be wealthy to get that. When a delay appears in the Amtrak app, an Uber can be pointed at Penn Station two seconds later.
Expectations in the gap
Because getting what you want when you want it has become so cheap, expectations have gone through the roof. A five-star hotel carries a huge expectation, and a three-star hotel carries a much lower one. Stretch that gap across a whole life and it becomes easy to be annoyed.
How you leave people
The way out is to stop for a second and ask how someone felt when you left them. Did they get a real hug and some kindness, or did the two of you squabble over the last percentage point? The same question can be asked about how you leave an entrepreneur, and how you leave the world.
Why does expectation shape satisfaction?
Marketing researcher Richard Oliver proposed in 1980 the expectancy disconfirmation model of consumer satisfaction. People form expectations before an experience, then compare what they got against them. Satisfaction tracks the gap between the two, so a good experience can still disappoint when expectations were higher. Studies of customer satisfaction in hotels, airlines, and retail have built on this model since.
Why do endings shape how experiences are remembered?
Psychologists call this the peak-end rule. In a 1993 experiment by Daniel Kahneman and colleagues, participants held a hand in painfully cold water for 60 seconds, and in another trial for 60 seconds followed by 30 seconds of slightly warmer water. Asked which trial to repeat, most chose the longer one, whose final moments were less painful. Memory of an experience leans heavily on its most intense moment and on how it ended.
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