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Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

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Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#51
post #7

They are using Google reviews as proxy for customer satisfaction. I really can't take rest of the article seriously after that, knowing anyone can leave a review at Google and there's no guarantee they own the phone. Sure, 99% satisfaction rate is pretty much impossible, but if all Apple asked was "are you satisfied with iPhone 14" with "yes" & "not at all" options and only surveyed iPhone 14 owners, I can easily see…

> I really can't take rest of the article seriously after that, knowing anyone can leave a review at Google and there's no guarantee they own the phone.

> but if all Apple asked was "are you satisfied with iPhone 14" with "yes" & "not at all" options and only surveyed iPhone 14 owners, I can easily see the number being 99%.

"and only surveyed iPhone 14 owners"

451 Research's own statement on their survey mentions _nothing_ about owning the phone:

> The findings are based on a December 14th – January 22nd survey of 3,568 primarily North American consumers from 451 Research’s user insight service, Voice of the Connected User Landscape and its Leading Indicator panel of 25,000 accredited business and technology professionals whose application for inclusion identifies them as having a high wallet share being used for personal technologies, and a high readiness to try new products and services. The service captures consumer and business spending through weekly tracking studies, delivering a continuous view of user perceptions and purchase activity as new products and services enter the market.

And also, how valid would you consider a "satisfied" rating from an iPhone 14 owner who'd never owned anything but an iPhone? There's value in their ongoing satisfaction, but relatively speaking what does it mean? It could just as easily be interpreted as "not annoyed enough to change ecosystems".

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#52
post #46

[This PDF]( http://media.wix.com/ugd/bbfb8a_2ea66bffc09b40d099237bb83813... ) appears to provide information about their methodology -- noting it was linked from [this article]( https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/20/apple-watch-tops-iphone... ). In short, it looks like potential-respondents first had to apply (e.g., in response to [this Facebook post]( https://www.facebook.com/Wristly.co/posts/apple-watch-owner-... ))…

somewhat satisfied is an amusing answer. it implies you're not actually satisfied with the product.

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#53
post #7

They are using Google reviews as proxy for customer satisfaction. I really can't take rest of the article seriously after that, knowing anyone can leave a review at Google and there's no guarantee they own the phone. Sure, 99% satisfaction rate is pretty much impossible, but if all Apple asked was "are you satisfied with iPhone 14" with "yes" & "not at all" options and only surveyed iPhone 14 owners, I can easily see…

Yeah, especially when you consider that Apple likely uses NetPromoter as its primary metric for customer satisfaction. NetPromoter only sends out surveys to verified purchasers and the question is a 1-10 scale for satisfaction. Anything 8-10 is “satisfactory”. This is not only plausible but likely and is why the rating is so high. There wouldn’t be very many anomalous responses of people not understanding the questio…

> Apple likely uses NetPromoter as its primary metric for customer satisfaction

The article is entirely about a completely different firm, 451 Research, who actually is not and does not use NetPromoter. They state that they use a pool of "high wallet spend early adopters and technical people".

(For added irony, 451 Research says it's own customers are 98%+ satisfied with them...)

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#54
There are people who practically worship apple. A new iphone could ship broken and a certain percentage of buyers would praise it as being brilliant. They'll never be unsatisfied with an apple product. There's another group whose satisfaction has nothing to do with the phone itself and everything to do with knowing that it was new and highly expensive and out of reach for many. As long as they can pull it out of their pocket and show it off they'll be happy.

Adding to that, people already have a tendency to convince themselves after the fact that an expensive purchase was a good deal, and that companies pay for fake reviews and I'm not surprised iphone reviews seem inflated.

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#56
post #7

They are using Google reviews as proxy for customer satisfaction. I really can't take rest of the article seriously after that, knowing anyone can leave a review at Google and there's no guarantee they own the phone. Sure, 99% satisfaction rate is pretty much impossible, but if all Apple asked was "are you satisfied with iPhone 14" with "yes" & "not at all" options and only surveyed iPhone 14 owners, I can easily see…

Yeah, especially when you consider that Apple likely uses NetPromoter as its primary metric for customer satisfaction. NetPromoter only sends out surveys to verified purchasers and the question is a 1-10 scale for satisfaction. Anything 8-10 is “satisfactory”. This is not only plausible but likely and is why the rating is so high. There wouldn’t be very many anomalous responses of people not understanding the questio…

Hey - I'm the post author.

Apple may use NetPromoter internally, but on the earnings calls they are citing satisfaction surveys from 451 Research.

In 2018, they shared some of the response categories from the survey. They are customer satisfaction questions "Very Satisfied, Somewhat satisfied." Not recommendation questions.

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#57

A number this high is absurd to get in a survey of the general public -- always remember Lizardman's Constant [1]. [1] https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/12/noisy-poll-results-and...

It’s not a survey of the general public, though. That’s why the OP article is nonsense. This is most-likely a NetPromoter survey. It is a survey of verified iPhone purchasers/owners just after the 14 day return window who decided to keep it. It’s self-selective but it’s not unattainable like the article claims.

It is not a NetPromoter survey as clearly outlined in the article. It is a non-representative 451 Research survey.

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#59

There are people who practically worship apple. A new iphone could ship broken and a certain percentage of buyers would praise it as being brilliant. They'll never be unsatisfied with an apple product. There's another group whose satisfaction has nothing to do with the phone itself and everything to do with knowing that it was new and highly expensive and out of reach for many. As long as they can pull it out of thei…

I do think there is something to the idea that people want to satisfied by something they spend a lot of money on. Though, 99% is a bit much.

Re: Is Apple making implausible iPhone satisfaction claims?

#60
Is there a legal limit how much you can fake the numbers before you are held accountable? Seems like Apple is pulling a lot of numbers out of their rear end. See also LTT's recent video about Apple quite clearly faking Mac Studio performance numbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buLyy7x2dcQ
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