VOC

Abbreviation with 2 meanings

VOC
Stands forVolatile organic compound
Meanings2
CategoriesScience & Engineering, Business & Finance

VOC has two meanings. It stands for Volatile organic compound (chemistry) or Voice of the customer (marketing & advertising).

Meanings of VOC at a glance

#VOC stands forContext
1Volatile organic compoundScience & Engineering › Chemistry
2Voice of the customerBusiness & Finance › Marketing & Advertising

1. Volatile organic compound

Science & Engineering · Chemistry Abbreviations

Carbon-based chemical that evaporates readily at room temperature, such as benzene, formaldehyde, toluene and the solvents in paints, cleaners and fuels. Outdoors, VOCs react with nitrogen oxides in sunlight to form ground-level ozone smog; indoors they cause the "new paint" smell and can irritate eyes and lungs.

Example: Choose a low-VOC primer for the nursery and keep the windows open while it cures.

Regulatory definitions differ: the US EPA excludes compounds with negligible photochemical reactivity, such as acetone, while the EU defines VOCs by vapor pressure or boiling point. Paint cans list VOC content in grams per liter. Plants emit VOCs too, notably isoprene and terpenes, which contribute to the blue haze over forested mountains.

2. Voice of the customer

Business & Finance · Marketing & Advertising Abbreviations

Process of capturing customers' needs, expectations and complaints through interviews, surveys, reviews, support tickets and social listening, and feeding them into product, service and marketing decisions.

Example: The VOC program showed returns were driven by sizing confusion, not quality.

The phrase was popularized in quality management and product design, notably a 1993 Marketing Science paper by Abbie Griffin and John Hauser. In environmental science, VOC means volatile organic compound.

More chemistry abbreviations

  • AAS – Atomic absorption spectroscopy
  • ABS – Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
  • Ac – Acetyl group
  • aq – Aqueous
  • BPA – Bisphenol A
  • CAS – Chemical Abstracts Service
  • CFC – Chlorofluorocarbon
  • CH4 – Methane

See all 106 chemistry abbreviations →

More marketing & advertising abbreviations

  • 4Ps – Product, price, place, promotion
  • ABM – Account-based marketing
  • ACV – Annual contract value
  • AIDA – Attention, interest, desire, action
  • AOR – Agency of record
  • ATL – Above the line
  • B2B – Business-to-business
  • B2B2C – Business-to-business-to-consumer

See all 111 marketing & advertising abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.