ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 13, 2024--
The sharp recovery in the quality of U.S. economic output over the past two years as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI ® ) is now stagnating. At the national level, customer satisfaction is down 0.1% in the second quarter of 2024 to a score of 77.9 (on a 0-100 scale). Even though there has been a large increase in customer satisfaction over the past two years, it is not much higher now than it was in 2013.
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While some companies have managed to significantly improve the satisfaction of their customers over the past decade — and benefited from it financially — many have not. Despite large corporate investments in customer experience management, there has only been a marginal increase in the national ACSI score.
There are several reasons for this, but rising customer expectations, an often-suggested culprit, is not one of them. ACSI data show that customer expectations are almost always higher than their subsequent satisfaction, but the gap has remained unchanged over the years. Businesses’ lack of data about consumers is not a problem either. Companies have more data on their customers today than ever before. But data need processing and powerful analytics. Consumer data are noisy, highly collinear, and do not follow standard probability distributions. There are methods for handling this, but they remain mostly absent in company customer data analytics.
“Strong and increasing levels of customer satisfaction improve customer loyalty, which has an exponentially cumulative effect on profit,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and the Distinguished Donald C. Cook Professor (emeritus) of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. “Loyal customers also lower business risk, and low risk/high return leads to long-term profitability. In the aggregate, it also has a positive effect on the economy. Although the national ACSI score is only up marginally from a decade ago, it is nevertheless near record levels. The economy has been strong with solid GDP growth, inflation decline, robust consumer spending, and exceptional employment growth.”
Consistent with the present lack of growth in customer satisfaction, however, there are now signs that household spending is slowing and consumers are becoming more budget conscious. This may well lead to a reduction in consumer spending growth, the largest component of GDP. If so, some industries are now more vulnerable than others.
Just as price elasticity varies across industries, so does quality (satisfaction) elasticity. Companies in industries with high elasticity have the most to gain from positive changes in customer satisfaction but also have the most to lose from negative changes. According to ACSI data, high-elasticity industries include credit unions, banks, subscription TV providers, internet service providers (ISPs), and financial advisors. Gas stations and supermarkets are on the opposite side of the spectrum. It is not that companies in these industries are immune to declining customer satisfaction, but the effect of it would be less dramatic.
As the quality of economic output, as judged by those who consume it, stagnates or deteriorates, consumer spending may follow suit with negative consequences for further economic growth, as well as for labor and equity markets. The U.S. economy is not there yet, but there are warning signals.
The national ACSI score (or ACSI composite) is updated each quarter based on annualized customer satisfaction scores for all sectors and industries. For more, follow the American Customer Satisfaction Index on LinkedIn and X at @theACSI or visit www.theacsi.org.
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data and information in this release without the express prior written consent of ACSI LLC.
About the ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) has been a national economic indicator for over 25 years. It measures and analyzes customer satisfaction with approximately 400 companies in about 40 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various services of federal and local government agencies. Reported on a scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from interviews with roughly 200,000 responses annually. For more information, visit www.theacsi.org.
ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC.
ACSI 1994-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)
SYDNEY (AP) — The rare unfurling of an endangered plant that emits the smell of decaying flesh drew hundreds of devoted fans to a greenhouse in Sydney on Thursday where they lined up to experience a momentous bloom -– and a fragrance evoking gym socks and rotting garbage.
Tall, pointed and smelly, the corpse flower is scientifically known as amorphophallus titanum — or bunga bangkai in Indonesia, where the plants are found in the Sumatran rainforest.
But to fans of this specimen, she’s Putricia -- a portmanteau of “putrid” and “Patricia” eagerly adopted by her followers who, naturally, call themselves Putricians. For a week, she has graced a stately and gothic display in front of a purple curtain and wreathed in mist from a humidifier at the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden.
Her rise to fame since has been rapid, with more than 13,000 admirers filing past for a moment in her increasingly pungent presence. No corpse flower has bloomed at the garden for 15 years.
The plant only flowers every 7-10 years in the wild.
“The fact that they open very rarely, so they flower rarely, is obviously something that puts them at a little bit of a disadvantage in the wild,” said garden spokesperson Sophie Daniel, who designed Putricia's kooky and funereal display. “When they open, they have to hope that another flower is open nearby, because they can’t self-pollinate.”
There are thought to be only 300 of the plants in the wild and fewer than 1,000 worldwide — including those in cultivation. Among them is Putricia, which arrived at the garden seven years ago.
When her flower was spotted in December she was just 25 centimeters (10 inches) high. By Thursday, she was 1.6 meters (5 feet 3 inches) tall -– and her flower spike was slowly opening like a pleated skirt around a majestic central tuber, the yellow-green outer curling to reveal a burgundy center.
As excitement grew in Sydney about the moment of her bloom, garden staff erected crowd barriers, giving the Victorian greenhouse the air of a rock concert. Fans trod a red carpet to view Putricia from behind velvet ropes in a display inspired by Queen Victoria’s funeral, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the oeuvre of the late director David Lynch.
Inside, fans took selfies and leaned in for a sniff — an increasingly perilous prospect as Putricia's odor developed. One young woman raised her hands and bowed as though in worship. On social media, garden staff performed a viral dance to Chappell Roan’s summer hit HOT TO GO! against a backdrop of the stately plant.
It was difficult to say why the regal, mysterious and stinky flower had attracted such a following -– but perhaps the answer lay in the “reverence” viewers felt in the presence of “such an amazing living being,” Daniel said.
Along with her real-life visitors, Putricia’s online fandom has been rapid, global and deeply strange -– if much less smelly. A 24/7 live stream established by the botanic garden drew close to a million views in less than a week and a shared language of memes and inside jokes sprang up.
Frequently deployed acronyms included WWTF, or we watch the flower, WDNRP -- we do not rush Putricia – and BBTB, or blessed be the bloom. “Putricia is a metaphor for my life,” wrote one poster, who did not elaborate.
Commenters on social media made plans to hurry to the garden as the plant opened. In just 24 hours, Putricia’s bloom -– and her stench -– would be gone.
As she unfurled, Putricia would heat to 37 degrees Celsius (100 F) to better spread her scent, Daniel said, attracting flies and carrion beetles to burrow inside and lay eggs. Then, work will begin to hand-pollinate the plant in efforts to ensure the species' diversity and survival.
But first, thousands of Putricians will attempt to get as close as they can to their hero of a week.
“We did have a few conversations early on about whether or not we should have vomit bags in the room," said Daniel, adding that garden staff ultimately decided against it. “I haven’t heard of anyone actually being harmed."
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
A man uses a mop to soak up water from the plants where an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Sophie Daniel poses for a photo next to an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Karen, center left, and Wayne McKay photograph themselves with an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People view an endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink, which is about to bloom at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)