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Hershey, Nestle, Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne and Anheuser-Busch Improve Customer Satisfaction; Philip Morris, Reynolds American, ConAgra and Colgate-Palmolive Plunge
Jump to full article: Business Wire, 2009-11-17
Intro: After a surge through the second quarter, aggregate customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) stalls. The ACSI loses 0.1% for the third quarter, which brings the Index to a score of 76.0 on a 100-point scale. . . .
Cigarettes: New Federal Taxes Make It Costly to Smoke
A new tax increase on cigarettes, from 39 cents a pack to $1.01, has led to a sharp downturn in customer satisfaction, falling 7.7% to 72, an all-time low. No company is immune from the effects of the new tax. Philip Morris drops 9% and Reynolds American 8%, both to 72.
"In the past, a 10% price increase in tobacco products contributed to about a 4% decline in consumption," Fornell said. "The ACSI model suggests the most recent tax hike will have a similar effect."
Customer satisfaction with tobacco products, largely made up of cigarettes, has never quite matched other nondurable products in customer satisfaction. Price has been an issue for a long time, and it also seems that there might be less differentiation than the advertising budgets imply.
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