U.S. Customer Satisfaction Growth Stagnates, ACSI Data Show
13 Agosto 2024 - 7:01AM
Business Wire
The sharp recovery in the quality of U.S. economic output over
the past two years as measured by the American Customer
Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) is now stagnating. At the national
level, customer satisfaction is down 0.1% in the second quarter of
2024 to a score of 77.9 (on a 0-100 scale). Even though there has
been a large increase in customer satisfaction over the past two
years, it is not much higher now than it was in 2013.
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ACSI 1994-2024 (Graphic: Business
Wire)
While some companies have managed to significantly improve the
satisfaction of their customers over the past decade — and
benefited from it financially — many have not. Despite large
corporate investments in customer experience management, there has
only been a marginal increase in the national ACSI score.
There are several reasons for this, but rising customer
expectations, an often-suggested culprit, is not one of them. ACSI
data show that customer expectations are almost always higher than
their subsequent satisfaction, but the gap has remained unchanged
over the years. Businesses’ lack of data about consumers is not a
problem either. Companies have more data on their customers today
than ever before. But data need processing and powerful analytics.
Consumer data are noisy, highly collinear, and do not follow
standard probability distributions. There are methods for handling
this, but they remain mostly absent in company customer data
analytics.
“Strong and increasing levels of customer satisfaction improve
customer loyalty, which has an exponentially cumulative effect on
profit,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and the
Distinguished Donald C. Cook Professor (emeritus) of Business
Administration at the University of Michigan. “Loyal customers also
lower business risk, and low risk/high return leads to long-term
profitability. In the aggregate, it also has a positive effect on
the economy. Although the national ACSI score is only up marginally
from a decade ago, it is nevertheless near record levels. The
economy has been strong with solid GDP growth, inflation decline,
robust consumer spending, and exceptional employment growth.”
Consistent with the present lack of growth in customer
satisfaction, however, there are now signs that household spending
is slowing and consumers are becoming more budget conscious. This
may well lead to a reduction in consumer spending growth, the
largest component of GDP. If so, some industries are now more
vulnerable than others.
Just as price elasticity varies across industries, so does
quality (satisfaction) elasticity. Companies in industries with
high elasticity have the most to gain from positive changes in
customer satisfaction but also have the most to lose from negative
changes. According to ACSI data, high-elasticity industries include
credit unions, banks, subscription TV providers, internet service
providers (ISPs), and financial advisors. Gas stations and
supermarkets are on the opposite side of the spectrum. It is not
that companies in these industries are immune to declining customer
satisfaction, but the effect of it would be less dramatic.
As the quality of economic output, as judged by those who
consume it, stagnates or deteriorates, consumer spending may follow
suit with negative consequences for further economic growth, as
well as for labor and equity markets. The U.S. economy is not there
yet, but there are warning signals.
The national ACSI score (or ACSI composite) is updated each
quarter based on annualized customer satisfaction scores for all
sectors and industries. For more, follow the American Customer
Satisfaction Index on LinkedIn and X at @theACSI or visit
www.theacsi.org.
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data
and information in this release without the express prior written
consent of ACSI LLC.
About the ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) has been a
national economic indicator for over 25 years. It measures and
analyzes customer satisfaction with approximately 400 companies in
about 40 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various
services of federal and local government agencies. Reported on a
scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from interviews with
roughly 200,000 responses annually. For more information, visit
www.theacsi.org.
ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer
Satisfaction Index LLC.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION Denise DiMeglio 610-228-2102
denise@gregoryfca.com