Manipulating customer loyalty measurement: influence of suggestive design elements on the net promoter score

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of the most relevant instruments for measuring customer loyalty in practice. The NPS has been repeatedly criticised in the scientific community, partly because it is calculated based on a single question and the metric is therefore not very reliable. Against this background, the use of suggestive design elements in data collection poses a particular challenge. For the first time, this paper examines how the colouring of the scale in the style of a traffic light and the placement of an arrow on the scale like a speedometer affect the NPS. The results show that the use of suggestive design elements has a significant effect on the survey results. The paper provides important insights for marketing managers who use the NPS to measure customer loyalty.