MARKET METRIX FOUNDERS RECEIVE "BEST PAPER AWARD" FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PUBLICATION IN CORNELL QUARTERLY

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Oct. 26, 2004 -- Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for the hospitality industry, today announced that the Company's founders, Jonathan Barsky and Lenny Nash, have received a "Best Paper Award for 2003" from the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. The Barsky/Nash article, "Customer Satisfaction: Applying Concepts to Industry-Wide Measures," was recognized as one of the top three papers for conveying insightful and relevant research and was chosen from more than 250 articles submitted for publication during 2003.

"We are pleased to honor the Market Metrix paper, as it provides useful information on the relationships between customers' emotions and their loyalty. This paper is a great example of quality and applicable research, and it builds off of a long and valued stream of research by the authors previously published in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly," said Michael Sturman, editor of the journal. "Not only did I recognize the quality of this paper's contribution, but also it was recognized by the journal's editorial board and the advisory board of Cornell's School of Hotel Administration Center for Hospitality Research. This work exemplifies the type of work we seek to publish in the Cornell Quarterly: rigorous research of value to practice in the hospitality industry. I am very happy to be able to bestow this award to the authors."

The article highlights research findings obtained in the past two years of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index, a quarterly report of customer satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000 in-depth consumer interviews. Article highlights include an overview of customer satisfaction trends, recent insights regarding the emotions that effect the guest experience, an overview of a customer segmentation model of the U.S. hotel industry, and insights into hotel loyalty programs and customer-loyalty behavior. (To read the entire article, log on to www.marketmetrix.com.)

"Given the stature of the Cornell Quarterly as the preeminent journal in the hospitality industry, we are delighted that our research, summarized in this article, has received this distinction," says Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., Market Metrix co-founder and partner and University of San Francisco marketing professor. "Clients continue to affirm the importance of our approach to customer satisfaction measurement and improvement. This award confirms the value and contribution of our research focus."

About Market Metrix

Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 by partners Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., and Lenny Nash to provide the hospitality industry with better customer and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. Market Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey systems and strategic services, as well as publishes the Market Metrix Hospitality Index. Market Metrix also operates the Consumer Research Center, which provides focus group services, data entry services and a state-of-the-art specialty call center. Based in San Rafael, Calif., Market Metrix is partner-owned and has 50 employees. For more information, log onto www.marketmetrix.com or call 1-800-239-7515.