American Customer Satisfaction Index

ACSI began in 1994, developed by researchers with the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan, in cooperation with the American Society for Quality and [https://cfigroup.com CFI Group, Inc]. The model was originally designed in 1989 for the Swedish economy (the Swedish Customer Satisfaction Barometer (SCSB)). Both the Swedish version and the ACSI were developed by Claes Fornell, Donald C. Cook Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, and chairman of CFI Group.

A company's ACSI score is derived from three manifest variables (i.e. survey questions) within the ACSI questionnaire, each rated on a 1-10 scale by the respondents interviewed for that company, government agency, or other organization:American Customer Satisfaction Index, Methodology Report, by Barbara Everitt Bryant, Ph.D., and Professor Claes Fornell; April 2005.

The 0-100 ACSI score is estimated using the mean for each variable from the n responses for that company (X1, X2, X3), along with the weights for each question as calculated within the ACSI structural equation model (W1, W2, W3):

(((X1*W1)+(X2*W2)+(X3*W3))-1)/9*100

ACSI data show that certain sectors, industries and companies have consistently high customer satisfaction, while others are almost always below average (with the National ACSI score reflecting the average). At the sector level, manufacturing — including both durable and non-durable goods — typically

Some industries that are measured performed well over the years in ACSI include: e-commerce, personal care products, soft drinks, beer, consumer electronics, automobiles and household appliances. Cable television, airlines and telecommunications usually have lower ACSI scores.

One set of findings discovered by academic researchers involve predictions of macroeconomic growth as functions of changes in aggregate customer satisfaction. For example, ACSI is predictive of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) growth.Fornell, Claes, Roland T. Rust and Marnik Dekimpe. (2010) "The Effect of Customer Satisfaction on Consumer Spending Growth." Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 47, 28-35

In a 2006 paper published in the Journal of Marketing, it was shown that a portfolio of stocks chosen based on their customer satisfaction outperformed the market.Fornell, Claes, et al. (2006), "Customer Satisfaction and Stock Prices: High Returns, Low Risk," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 70, 3-14Aksoy, Lerzan et al. "The Long Term Stock Market Valuation of Customer Satisfaction," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 72, 105-122 A 2016 article in the same journal,Fornell, Claes, Forrest V. Morgeson III and G. Tomas M. Hult (2016), "Stock Returns on Customer Satisfaction Do Beat the Market: Gauging the Effect of a Marketing Intangible," Journal of Marketing, Vol. 80, 92-107 examining returns from a fund trading exclusively on ACSI data, found that strong satisfaction companies significantly outperformed the S&P 500 (518% to 31%) during the study period (2000-2014).

Research groups, quality associations and universities in several countries are using the ACSI model to create customer satisfaction indices for their own national economies. The list of governments that have adopted the ACSI model include India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,Sipher-Mann, Leah. [http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/ArticleDisplay.asp?news_id=12351 "Ross Professor Recognized as Top Influential Scholar."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509204425/http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/ArticleDisplay.asp?news_id=12351 |date=2009-05-09 }} Dubai, Kuwait, South Africa, Honduras,[http://www.marketing-total.com/CACSI/ "Central American Customer Satisfaction Index (CACSI)."] Puerto Rico,[http://www.andersonresearchpr.com/ "The Customer Satisfaction Index of Puerto Rico (CSIPR)."] and Colombia.Wong, Alice. [http://www.todayonline.com/articles/247162.asp "Warming up to better service."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410133655/http://www.todayonline.com/articles/247162.asp |date=2008-04-10 }} The development of an international system of customer satisfaction measurement founded on a common methodology allows for comprehensive cross-national satisfaction benchmarking.Morgeson III, F.V. et al. (2011) "An Investigation of the Cross-National Determinants of Customer Satisfaction." ''Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 39, 198-215

In addition to ACSI LLC, CFI Group LLC is licensed to apply the methodology for individual companies. ACSI Funds, which manages an exchange-traded fund (ETF), uses ACSI data for trading under the ticker symbol "ACSI".Cowan, Gerrard. "An ETF That Tracks Happy Customers," Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2017.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190109134621/https://www.theacsi.com.au/ The Australian Customer Satisfaction Index]
• [http://www.theacsi.org The American Customer Satisfaction Index]
• [http://www.bus.umich.edu/FacultyResearch/ResearchCenters/Centers/Nqrc/nqtcSite.htm National Quality Research Center] (self-description, includes the ACSI)
• [http://www.nbrii.com/products/customer-surveys/customer-satisfaction-surveys-2/ National Business Research Institute]
• [https://www.consulta.co.za/products The South African Customer Satisfaction Index]

Category:1994 establishments in Michigan

Category:Public opinion research companies in the United States