The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released on July 25th their latest results, showing customer satisfaction with e-business falling 0.8 percent to 74.3%, the first drop in four years. The decline reflects adverse changes on search engines, news and opinion websites, and information websites, with social media unaffected.
Founded in 1994 by Claes Fornell, the Distinguished Donald C. Cook Emeritus Professor of Business at the University of Michigan, the ACSI compiles interviews from approximately 180,000 customers annually, releasing the results monthly as an economic indicator of the quality of economic output. The Index measures the customer evaluation of products and services available on a 100 point scale. The reports cover more than 10 economic sectors, 43 industries, and 300 companies including several federal and government agencies.
While social media sites were stable with an ACSI score of 73, news websites fell 1.3% to a score of 75, with an identical 1.3% decline in search engines and information websites for a score of 76. Part of the trend comes from users now viewing social media as a reliable news source, with some social media platforms such as Twitter and Google+ experiencing an 8% jump to a score of 70 and a 7% increase to 81, respectively.
Claes Fornell spoke about the trends revealed by the report in a press release, saying that, “It is no surprise that opinion beats informational fact in customer satisfaction. As long as there are enough opinion sites available, it is easier to find a match between site and user opinion than it is to match opinion to fact.”
