American Customer Satisfaction Index

Background

Since 1994, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has served as a national indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of goods and services available to U.S. residents.

The ACSI produces indices of satisfaction, as well as the causes and effects of customer satisfaction, for seven economic sectors, 29 industries, approximately 180 private sector companies, two types of local government, the U.S. Postal Service, and a substantial portion of federal government.

The index started as a private sector measure, adding 32 government agencies in 1999. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and several other agencies were added in 2001.

The ACSI is the only uniform, cross-industry/government measure of customer satisfaction. It allows benchmarking between the public and private sectors.

The models used in producing the ACSI were developed at the National Quality Research Center of the University of Michigan Business School.

NRCS data are based on a survey of people who received conservation technical assistance during 2000. Researchers from Market Strategies, Inc., working for the University of Michigan, conducted 260 interviews by telephone during March 2001.

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