Customer satisfaction rating for soft drinks, beer

ANN ARBOR, Michigan – Amongst categories that saw sales spiral in the US this year, sugary sodas and beer were on the list. But factors such as high quality and product innovation keep these segments afloat, with consumers reporting high satisfaction for new products, says the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

According to the report, the soft drink industry maintains a high level of customer satisfaction in 2012, even as it fell 1.2% to 84 on a scale of 0 to 100. Many consumers replaced their sugary colas and other carbonated beverages with noncarbonated ones like ready-to-drink teas. In response, major producers have released products that are based on changing consumer choices, and this has maintained the level of satisfaction amongst drinks buyers this year.
 
“Overall, carbonated soft drink consumption declined 1% in 2011, but this has less to do with customer satisfaction than with a shift in consumer preference prompted by growing health concerns about sugary sodas,” says Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and author of The Satisfied Customer: Winners and Losers in the Battle for Buyer Preference. “The New York City ban on large-size sugared drinks may be a harbinger of things to come for the soft drink industry, but major firms are responding by investing in other types of beverages in apparent recognition of the market challenges that lie ahead.”

For three consecutive years, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are deadlocked for customer satisfaction, and show 1% dips to 84. The aggregate of smaller manufacturers matches the market-share leaders, up 1% to 84. They are outdone by Dr Pepper Snapple, which is the number-three soft drink producer, after gaining 6% to 87.

“Nearly two decades of ACSI data show that companies with high satisfaction tend to do better in terms of profit and stock value compared with those with lower ACSI scores,” explains Fornell. “At 87, Dr Pepper Snapple is close to the top of the Index overall, concurrent with its stock price reaching an all-time high over the past year.”

Craft beers move ahead
The smaller craft and specialty beer segment is the bright spot in the beer brewing industry which suffered a slump of 2% in overall consumption last year due to the weak economy and higher prices. The ACSI report shows that the aggregation of smaller niche brands remains in the lead for 2012 with a score of 83. This year, the combined U.S. operations of SABMiller and Molson Coors, known as MillerCoors, earns an ACSI score of 81. Anheuser-Busch InBev ties MillerCoors at 81.

About ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. The ACSI uses data from interviews with roughly 70,000 customers annually as inputs to an econometric model for measuring satisfaction with more than 230 companies in 47 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as over 100 services, programs, and websites of federal government agencies.

ACSI results are released on a monthly basis, with all measures reported using a scale of 0 to 100. ACSI data have proven to be strongly related to a number of essential indicators of micro and macroeconomic performance. For example, firms with higher levels of customer satisfaction tend to have higher earnings and stock returns relative to competitors. Stock portfolios based on companies that show strong performance in ACSI deliver excess returns in up markets as well as down markets. And, at the macro level, customer satisfaction has been shown to be predictive of both consumer spending and gross domestic product growth.

The Index was founded at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and is produced by ACSI LLC. www.theacsi.org.