Gap Analysis: Compare results from satisfaction and importance questions What is gap analysis in snap? Gap analysis in Snap shows the difference between how important attributes/services are to your respondents and how satisfied they are with those attributes/services. It is a really useful way of comparing the results from your satisfaction and importance questions and can be used as a tool for interpretation. By comparing importance and satisfaction scores in your chart you can use gap analysis to identify priorities for improvement. Gap analysis results indicate that if the satisfaction bar is shorter than the importance bar the business may not be meeting expectations. Example Gap Analysis Chart Interpreting the gap analysis chart: In the example chart below a 5-point scale question was used in the Courses Evaluation sample survey for both importance and satisfaction. The ratings are from 1 to 5, where 1= totally dissatisfied to 5= totally satisfied and 1= not at all important to 5 = extremely important. The gap analysis chart: The chart plots how important various aspects of service are to customers, compared with how satisfied customers actually are with that service. The bars indicate the gap which is the mean score for the satisfaction rating subtracted from the mean score for the importance rating. Interpretation The interpretation of the results is as follows: If the mean score of a service is positive (above zero) then respondents rated the service very important, but they are not satisfied with the service. In this instance, action is required. If the mean score of a service is negative (below zero) then respondents rated this service relatively unimportant, but are very satisfied with the service. In this instance no action is required. The closer the gap is to zero the better balance there is between importance and satisfaction. Below is an interpretation of the findings in the example chart above. HelpDesk Service – has a small positive gap therefore, respondents rated Helpdesk as a relatively important feature compared to their low satisfaction rating. This could be seen as an area for improvement. User Guides – has a small negative gap therefore customers have rated this with higher satisfaction than importance. More time could therefore be spent improving other products. E-Newsletter – has a large negative gap therefore respondents have given this service high satisfaction scores when answering this question, but they do not think this it is an important feature. The company needs to concentrate on improving other services and products and leave the E-newsletter as low priority. On time delivery – has a large positive gap therefore respondents think this service is very important, but their satisfaction of this service is low therefore it is a high priority for improvement. Follow the instructions on the next page to create a gap analysis chart. This gap analysis can be found in the Course Evaluation sample survey which you can download on the next page. 1 | 2 If there is a topic you would like a worksheet on, email to snapideas@snapsurveys.com