Today the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released its latest results on customer satisfaction. You can read the full commentary here. Covered in this quarter's results are some of my favorites - Beer and Chocolate. The categories covered in the Manufacturing Nondurable Goods Sector include Apparel, Athletics shoes, Breweries, Cigarettes, Food Manufacturing, Personal Care & Cleaning Products, Pet Food and Soft Drinks.
If you follow the American Customer Satisfaction Index or ForeSee Results, you know that Customer Satisfaction as measured by the ACSI at a macro level is a leading indicator for economy (Consumer Spending, GDP Growth, etc.) and at an individual company level is a leading indicator for financial success. The ACSI was founded at the University of Michigan.
So, what does the future hold?
Overall, the National ACSI score dipped ever so slightly from 76.1 (the all time high) last quarter to 76.0 this quarter, a very minor 0.1%. And it is up a significant 1.3% from Q3 2008 when it had a score of 75.0. The Q2 ACSI results predictive model pointed to an increase of consumer spending of 3.25% , much higher then most others were projecting and actual Q3 consumer spending growth turned out to be 3.35%. With a flattening of the score this quarter it is projecting consumer spending to be between 2% and 3% in Q4.
Some of the companies that really excelled in these results include Levi Strauss rising 6.4% to a score of 83, Anheuser-Busch rising 3.7% to 85, Mars, Hershey and Nestle all seeing increases between 1.2% and 2.4% with scores between 85 and 87. So, America is going back to basics - "non-designer" Jeans, Anheuser-Busch and Chocolate! Not a total surprise, when the economy is tough we tend to gravitate back to what is familiar and what gives us simple pleasures.
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