Customer expectations refer to the base assumptions that customers make about a brand, its products and services, and the overall customer experience. These expectations can be influenced by various factors, including the customer’s past experiences with the brand, industry norms, and marketing messages. When customer expectations are not met, it can lead to either positive or negative surprise, depending on the specific circumstances. For businesses, understanding customer expectations is important, as it can help them to develop strategies and tactics that align with customer needs and preferences, and ensure that they are meeting the expectations of their target audience. By meeting or exceeding customer expectations, businesses can build stronger relationships with their customers and increase the likelihood of making successful sales. The following are illustrative examples.

Sensory Perception
A customer who tastes a confection such as a macaron is expecting a smell, taste and texture.

Quality
A customer of a luxury hotel may be expecting interior designs finished with high quality materials. A customer of a budget hotel may be expecting a clean, comfortable and quiet room.

Fee Structure
A customer of an airline may expect meals and drinks to be free on an international flight.

Security & Privacy
A customer of a messaging app may expect that their messages to friends and family are private.

Customer Service
Customers of a hotel may expect staff to be courteous, amiable, professional and diligent.

Usability
Customers accustomed to touch screen interfaces may expect a tap zone around each element such that things don’t need to be tapped with unreasonable precision.

Terms
A customer who purchases a product that is delivered with quality defects may expect that they are entitled to a refund if they return it in a reasonable period of time.

Personalization
A customer who returns to the same hotel frequently may expect the hotel to remember their room preferences.

Performance
A customer expects their bank’s website to load within seconds.

Availability
A customer expects their bank’s website to be available 24/7 with minimal downtime.

Reliability
An airline expects aircraft to be 100% reliable in the air.

Sustainability
A customer expects solar panels to be fully reused and recycled at end-of-life.