In response to Mallory's post...

In Mallory's post on product differentiation, she posed the question: "What do you think is more important, quality and design or customer services of a product? What supports your choice?"

Although I think that both quality and design and customer services are extremely important, for me, it is contingent on what product I am buying. Quality and design are naturally very important because you want to ensure that you are getting a product that is going to perform all the tasks that you want it to, while being easy to use at the same time. I believe that quality and design are very important in electronics, appliances, and other more expensive items. Since these products cost a lot of money, a customer will expect to receive a high quality product that has an easy to use design.

Customer service is also an important aspect in deciding what company to buy from, as a customer should expect the employees to be amicable and help them out when they have a question or concern. Also, customer service is very important after the purchase. If a customer has concerns, problems, or questions about a product or service, then the company should be there to assist at all times. I believe when it comes to services and products that are not purchased often (e.g. cars, houses, and other large purchases) customer service may be more important pre-purchase. Of course quality and design are extremely important here too, before the purchase, the customer will need a high level of customer service, so they can learn more about the product they are thinking of buying.

So, although both quality and design and customer service are both extremely important, I believe that which is more important may depend on the customer and what product is being purchased. Do you think that one is ever more important than the other? Or are they equally important?