Evaluating the impact of expectations on end-user quality perception

In Quality of Experience (QoE) research, the concept of ’expectations’ is frequently used but seldom defined with sufficient clarity and precision. In this paper, we present theoretical and conceptual approaches originating from various research fields that deal with expectations and its measurement. In addition, we also present results from our own empirical work to exemplify how to measure and to evoke expectations in the context of perceived quality for multimedia services. Together these contributions form the basis for an interdisciplinary discussion of the nature of expectations on quality perception as well as its role in QoE research.