Theory of Attractive Quality
Special issue call for papers from The TQM Journal
Submission deadline: 10 January 2010
Inspired by Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene theory (M-H theory), Professor Kano and his coworkers developed the theory of attractive quality. The theory of attractive quality originated because of the lack of explanatory power of a one-dimensional view of quality. The theory is intended to help one better understand how customers evaluate and perceive quality attributes. It explains how the relationship between the degree of sufficiency and customer satisfaction with a quality attribute can be classified into five categories of perceived quality: 1) attractive quality; 2) must-be quality; 3) reverse quality; 4) one-dimensional quality; and 5) indifferent quality. One of the features with the theory of attractive quality is that quality attributes are viewed as dynamic, that is, over time an attribute will change from being a satisfier to a dissatisfier.
One of the strengths of the theory of attractive quality is that it is built on a solid theoretical foundation, and that it includes a way to operationalize the theory in practice. The original classification process is based on a “Kano questionnaire”, which is constructed through pairs of customer requirement questions (Kano et al., 1984). Recently, various authors have suggested alternative approaches to the classification of quality attributes such as (a) Five-level Kano questionnaires, (b) Three-level Kano questionnaires, (c) Classification through direct questions and (d) Classification via importance.
After modest beginnings, characterized by significant interest but few published articles, the theory of attractive quality is now the subject of increased research activity. Several papers on the theory and application of the Kano model have been published in a wide range of scientific journals. Most of these papers are conceptual or report from case studies applying the theory of attractive quality in new ways. With this special issue we want to encourage research on the theory of attractive quality to enter a new phase of development. We especially encourage empirical investigations of the use and application of the Kano model and theoretical development of the theory of attractive quality.
Topics
• The historical roots of the theory of attractive quality
• Dynamics of quality attributes
• Classification of quality attributes
• Case studies of the use of the theory of attractive quality
• Surveys of the use of customer methods
• The Kano Model and related methods
• The use of Kano surveys in product and service development
• The theory of attractive quality and services
• An alternative method for classification of quality attributes
• Validation of the theory of attractive quality
• What is an attractive quality attribute?
• The Kano Model and Customer Satisfaction
• The life-cycle of quality attributes
Submission instructions
All papers will go through the standard double blind review practice of TQM Journal. However, contributors proposing papers may contact the guest editors with an abstract to get a quick response of the fit of their topic to the special issue. More information on format of the paper can be found on the web page for the journal.
http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=tqm
Submissions should be sent directly to Lars.Witell@kau.se.
Deadline
Submission deadline 10 January 2010
Guest Editors
Associate Professor Lars Witell, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden and the Division of Quality Technology and Management, Linköping University, Sweden.
Lars.Witell@kau.se, phone number +46-13-282722
Assistant Professor Martin Löfgren, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden.
Martin.Lofgren@kau.se, phone number +46-54-7001975
Professor Anders Gustafsson, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden.
Anders.Gustafsson@kau.se, phone number +46-54-7001556