%0 Research article
%T Satisfaction and company loyalty as expressed by non-industrial private forest owners towards timber procurement organizations in Finland
%A Kärhä, Kalle
%A Oinas, Sami
%D 1998
%J Silva Fennica
%V 32
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.698
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/698
%X The satisfaction and company loyalty as expressed by non-industrial,  private forest (NIPF) owners towards timber procurement organizations  were clarified via a mail questionnaire. The results denoted that there  is a positive correlation between the levels of forest owners’  expectations (EXP) and perceived performance (PERF). In addition, the  lower EXP and the higher PERF were, the greater was the overall  satisfaction index (SAT). About two thirds of forest owners were  characterized by a negative SAT value or then they were dissatisfied  with the performance of the procurement organization in their last  timber-sales transaction. Furthermore, the results obtained indicated  that the SAT index significantly influences the company loyalty  expressed by NIPF owners – their willingness to give favourable reports  of the company to the others, and their willingness to engage in future  timber-sales transactions with the same company. Nonetheless, the SAT  index did not affect the market share of a particular company, and this  could be partly accounted for by the similar level of performance among  the companies and the lack of competition in the timber trade. Finally,  the results revealed several dimensions of timber procurement, and some  seller segments to which companies could pay more attention to in order  to be able to achieve better satisfaction levels and the loyalty of NIPF  owners in the future. One approach to successfully addressing these  challenges could be the adopting of a satisfaction decision support  system (SatDSS).