THE AMERICAN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX - NATURE, PURPOSE, AND FINDINGS

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a new type of marke t-based performance measure for firms, industries, economic sectors, a nd national economies. The authors discuss the nature and purpose of A CSI and explain the theory underlying the ACSI model, the nation-wide survey methodology used to collect the data, and the econometric appro ach employed to estimate the indices. They also illustrate the use of ACSI in conducting benchmarking studies, both cross-sectionally and ov er time. The authors find customer satisfaction to be greater for good s than for services and, in turn, greater for services than for govern ment agencies, as well as find cause for concern in the observation th at customer satisfaction in the United States is declining, primarily because of decreasing satisfaction with services. The authors estimate the model for the seven major economic sectors for which data are col lected. Highlights of the findings include that (1) customization is m ore important than reliability in determining customer satisfaction, ( 2) customer expectations play a greater role in sectors in which varia nce in production and consumption is relatively low, and (3) customer satisfaction is more quality-driven than value- or price-driven. The a uthors conclude with a discussion of the implications of ACSI for publ ic policymakers, managers, consumers, and marketing in general.