How we measure Love

“Love” is the holy grail of the customer experience. Our research shows that true advocacy and brand loyalty begins not when buyers are simply “satisfied,” but when they truly love their experience!

The Customer Love Index (CLI) measures the amount of love that buyers feel toward their new vehicle. It uses almost 200 questions from the New Vehicle Experience Study® (NVES®). It goes beyond a simple rating, showing why a vehicle scored what it did, what that vehicle does well, and how it can improve.

Calculation of the Customer Love Index (CLI)

The Customer Love Index has a top score of 1000. Generally, a score of 350-425 is considered to be average, a score of 425-475 is considered to be good, and a score of 475-525 is considered to be excellent. A score above 525 is exceptional. As some vehicle segments do more to generate a feeling of love for the vehicle than others, the best way to measure the success or failure of a particular vehicle is to compare it to its direct competition.

The index has five parts:

1. Customer assessment of the complete ownership experience (product characteristics including reliability and the dealership experience).
2. Customer assessment of short-term and long-term monetary issues.
3. Customer assessment of the emotional delivery of the vehicle across 24 different ValueEmotions.
4. Overall customer sentiment and emotional involvement with vehicle.
5. Measurement of customer advocacy for the brand and dealership.

The five parts work together to show how well a vehicle is doing on factors that create a feeling of love. Parts 1 and 2 combine to form a little more than half of the calculation, and use the Edwards Commitment Scale® while measuring vehicle attributes. This seven-point ordinal scale uses words and phrases often expressed by consumers as they describe how they feel about an experience:

Scale Point	Rating
7	I love it
6	Delightful
5	Excellent
4	Satisfactory
3	Unsatisfactory
2	A failure
1	I hate it

Parts 3, 4, and 5 all directly measure the strength and nature of the customer's emotional connection to the vehicle.