Foreword Dr. Claes Fornell, Founder of the ACSI
Chapter 1 Introduction to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI),
Plus an Interview with Claes Fornell
Chapter 2 Customer Expectations - Or, "What do your Customers Expect?"
2.1. Are Expectations Racing Upwards?
"'Rapidly rising customer expectations' are often referenced as a warning to marketers; failure to meet these lofty and ever-rising new expectations could mean doom. But have customer expectations really been spiraling out of control, constantly racing upwards and forcing firms to always strive for new, perhaps unachievable heights?"
2.2. Who Expects the Most, and Why?
"Customer expectations vary significantly across industries. For some industries, consumers think they will get little, while others expect the world. Which industries have the least and most demanding consumers walk through the door, where do the differences come from, and why do they matter?"
2.3. The Expectations-Satisfaction Gap
"While consumers tend to have "rational" expectations, and thus expectations tend to be roughly aligned with perceived quality and customer satisfaction, some consumers have expectations far above delivered satisfaction, while other companies and industries tend to exceed expectations."
2.4. It's a Trap! Avoid the "We Always Exceed Expectations" Promise
"Always exceeding expectations is, at least in the aggregate, somewhere between extremely difficult and downright impossible; very few companies consistently exceed expectations, as we examined above. Rather, firms should set strong but realistic expectations, strive to meet these expectations every time, and exceed them when possible."
Detailed Table of Contents (Continued)
Chapter 3 Perceived Quality - Or, "Does Performance Matter?"
3.1. Has Quality Improved?
"'Total quality management' and process improvement initiatives - along with related customer-centric principles - have been the focus of engineers and marketers for several decades now. But have these principles translated to action and change? Has quality actually improved over the last 25 years?"
3.2. Products vs. Services
"Selling products and providing high-quality customer service are very different activities. Why do consumers find products of higher quality than services? In our service-centric economies, will services ever be delivered that match or even exceed products in consumer-perceived quality?"
3.3. What Matters Most? It's Quality, Stupid
"Many companies market largely on price as the core customer value; discounting and price incentivization still holds a position of prominence among the traditional "4Ps" as a marketing strategy. But what has a bigger impact on customer satisfaction, price or quality?"
3.4. Customization Trumps Reliability
"As elements of overall quality perceptions, customization (goodness of fit) and reliability (durability) are key. But which is more important to consumers in driving their satisfaction?"
Chapter 4 Perceived Value - Or, "Is it All About Price?"
4.1. Are Consumers Seeing Better Value?
"In some ways, companies are more efficient than ever before, squeezing savings and improving profitability throughout the value chain. But have these efficiencies trickled-down to the customer? Have customers' perceptions of value improved over the past 25 years?"
4.2. Who are the Value Leaders?
"Some companies, like subscription television service providers, offer very poor value propositions. Some companies wow their customers with an exceptional price-to-quality ratio. Who are the value leaders and laggards across the American economy?"
Detailed Table of Contents (Continued)
4.3. Where does Value Matter Most?
"While quality tends to trump value (and expectations) in driving customer satisfaction, a select few industries are value-centric, with consumers seeking competitive pricing as the source of their satisfaction. Where does value matter most?"
Chapter 5 ACSI - Or, "Is Satisfaction Guaranteed?"
5.1. Are Consumers Happier?
"In many ways, customers are more powerful than ever before. Firms have recognized this fact by becoming more customer-focused than ever before - at least in word, if not always in deed. But has aggregate customer satisfaction increased over the last 25 years as a consequence?"
5.2. Customer Satisfaction as a Macroeconomic Indicator
"The 25 years of ACSI data have revealed myriad interesting relationships between aggregate customer satisfaction and traditional macroeconomic indicators. Examining these relationships - including measures like gross domestic product, consumer spending, and unemployment - reveals that customer satisfaction tells us about much than just the health of a firm, but also about the state of the economy as a whole."
5.3. Gainers and Leaders, Losers and Laggards
"Who are the best and worst companies at satisfying their customers over the last 25 years? Which companies have improved the most in satisfying their customers, and which have lost the most?"
5.4. The Customer Satisfaction 'Death Rattle'
"Customer satisfaction data is not always without interpretational difficulties. In fact, sometimes companies that are in the midst of financial collapse see dramatic improvements in their customer satisfaction. A warning to market researchers, here we explain the appearance of the customer satisfaction 'death rattle' and highlight this as a cautionary tale against naïve interpretations of satisfaction performance."
5.5. Mergers and Acquisitions and Satisfaction
"Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are more common than ever before, representing a ubiquitous strategy for firms seeking growth. But how does M&A activity impact the customer's relationship with the firm?"
Detailed Table of Contents (Continued)
Chapter 6 Customer Complaints - Or, "Learning to Love Your Angry Customers?"
6.1. Are Customers Speaking-Up More?
"With the rise of the Internet, it is easier than ever for consumers to lodge complaints - both formal and informal - to and against companies when they are unhappy. But has this transformed landscape impacted customer complaint behavior - and the frequency with which customers complain - over the last 25 years?"
6.2. Which Customers Complain Most, and Why?
"Complaint behavior varies widely across industries, and while customer satisfaction alone is a strong predictor of complaint rate, other factors - such as competitiveness, barriers to complaint, price, and potential for redress - matter as well. Which industries have the highest complaint rates, which the lowest, and why?"
6.3. Do Dissatisfied Customers Always Complain?
"Dissatisfied customers don't always complain. In fact, some of the least satisfying industries have very low complaint rates. A warning to market researchers not to conflate complaint behavior and satisfaction, sometimes dissatisfied customers just 'shut up and leave'. The preferability of complaints over 'silent defection' is discussed."
6.4. Is Complaint Management Improving?
"While the changed consumer landscape has made complaining by unhappy consumers easier, there are ample reasons to posit that it should have made firm complaint management better as well. But has complaint management improved?"
Chapter 7 Customer Loyalty - Or, "Hey, Stick around for a While!"
7.1. Is Brand Loyalty Dead?
"Consumers have more choices than ever before. The Information Revolution has brought with it virtually limitless alternatives for consumers. But has this proliferation of choice resulted in the 'death of brand loyalty,' or has customer loyalty actually improved over the last 25 years?"
7.2. The Service Recovery Paradox is Real!
"Complaining customers are not toxic. In fact, ACSI data shows that when complaints are handled very well, complaining customers actually become more loyal than non-complaining customers."
Detailed Table of Contents (Continued)
7.3. Who Can Charge Their Loyalists More?
"For most companies, more satisfied customers are also more loyal, and those loyalists will endure even if prices go up. But not all companies benefit from greater price elasticity as satisfaction increases."
7.4. Expectations, Quality or Value?
"While customer satisfaction is almost always the most important driver of customer loyalty, the relationship between loyalty and expectations, quality and value can vary across industries."
7.5. Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Recommendation are Different!
"'Likelihood of recommendation' questions have been lauded as an alternative to customer satisfaction metrics, exemplified in the popularity of the so-called "Net Promoter" score. But customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer recommendation are different phenomena and should not be conflated into any single metric."
Chapter 8 Financial Consequences of Having Satisfied Customers
8.1. The Customer Satisfaction-Financial Performance Interface
"Does customer satisfaction really matter? Or is it just a marketing and public relations tool? The link between customer satisfaction, stated customer loyalty, actual future loyalty behaviors, and firm financial performance is real, and really important for companies. This is even more accurate today than it was 25 years ago, as both consumer options and access to information about these alternatives have skyrocketed."
8.2. Customer Satisfaction and Stock Returns
"Studies using ACSI data have found that more satisfying companies outperform less satisfying companies in stock performance, and by a wide margin. Evidence of this above-market-performance is so striking that it sometimes strains belief. Given this, most companies (and CEOs) cannot afford to ignore customer satisfaction."
Chapter 9 On the Future of Customer Centricity and Satisfaction in a Globalized Economy
