This article examines the effect of political identity on customers’ satisfaction with the products and services they consume. Recent work suggests that conservatives are less likely to complain than liberals. Building on that work, the present research examines how political identity shapes customer satisfaction which has broad implications for customers and firms. Nine studies combine different methodologies, primary and secondary data, real and hypothetical behavior, different product categories, and diverse participant populations to show that conservatives (vs. liberals) are more satisfied with the products and services they consume. This happens because conservatives (vs. liberals) are more likely to believe in free will (i.e., that people have agency over their decisions) and therefore to trust their decisions. We document the broad and tangible downstream consequences of this effect for customers’ repurchase and recommendation intentions and firms’ sales. The association of political identity and customer satisfaction is attenuated when belief in free will is externally weakened, choice is limited, or the consumption experience is overwhelmingly positive.

本文考察了政治身份对顾客对他们所消费的产品和服务的满意度的影响。最近的研究表明，与自由主义者相比，保守派不太可能抱怨。在这项工作的基础上，本研究探讨了政治身份如何塑造对客户和公司具有广泛影响的客户满意度。九项研究结合了不同的方法、主要和次要数据、真实和假设行为、不同的产品类别以及不同的参与者人群，以表明保守派（与自由派相比）对他们消费的产品和服务更满意。发生这种情况是因为保守派（相对于自由派）更有可能相信自由意志（即人们对他们的决定有代理权），因此相信他们的决定。我们记录了这种影响对客户回购和推荐意图以及公司销售的广泛而有形的下游后果。当对自由意志的信念从外部削弱、选择有限或消费体验非常积极时，政治认同和客户满意度的关联就会减弱。