What Do Consumers Like More: A Mercedes Benz or an Apple Computer?

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--Aug. 2, 20043, 2004--

Latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) from University of Michigan/ASQ Shows Which Manufacturers Deliver the Quality and Service Levels Their Customers Want

A report to be released Tuesday will detail consumers' ratings of some of Americans' biggest-ticket purchases--cars and light trucks, personal computers, major household appliances, and e-business companies.

The findings show how well these companies have delivered the quality and service their customers want. The report will include ten years of findings for most companies, showing which are improving and which are declining. At the macro level, it also is an important indicator of consumers' willingness to spend more money.

Satisfaction levels are produced through a sophisticated formula based on more than 15,000 interviews each quarter. The measurement is effectively the voice of the customer--ratings that reflect what consumers say matters most to them, and not simply a beauty-contest.

Accordingly, it is a strong predictor of future consumer behavior and spending--and is an early-warning sign of whether consumers will switch brands.

Companies rated in tomorrow's report include:

Autos: BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC Truck, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Lincoln Mercury, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo

PC's: Apple, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, HP

Appliances: General Electric, Kenmore, Maytag, Whirlpool

Portals: AOL, MSN, Yahoo!

Search Engines: Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves, Google

News/Information Sites: ABCNews.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, NYTimes.com, USAToday.com

About the ACSI

The ACSI is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. It is updated each quarter with new measures for different sectors of the economy replacing data from the prior year. The overall ACSI score for a given quarter factors in scores from about 200 companies in 40 industries and from government agencies over the previous four quarters.

The index is produced by the University of Michigan Business School in partnership with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group, and is supported in part by ForeSee Results, corporate sponsor for the e-commerce and e-business measurements, and by Market Strategies Inc., a major corporate contributor.