Kellogg Co., Sara Lee and Pepsi-Cola Co. have improved consumer satisfaction this year, while leader H.J. Heinz Co. dropped to its lowest score in seven years.
So says the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index.
The survey, which scores food and beverage brands each year during the third quarter, predicts fourth-quarter spending will rise 2.6% to 3.2% over fourth-quarter 2005.
Overall satisfaction with food manufacturers rose 1.2% to an index score of 83, the industry’s highest score in 10 years.
Satisfaction rates don’t vary as much for high-turnover consumables as they do for durable goods with longer purchase cycles and higher price tags.
“Nobody sticks with a product they don’t like [when] there’s very little cost associated with switching to another brand,” said University of Michigan Prof. Claes Fornell, who heads up the study, in a statement. “Changing your toothpaste is a lot easier than changing what car you drive.”
Kellogg Co. and Sara Lee each rose 5% to a score of 85. Kellogg’s health-awareness marketing and new health-oriented products, such as Special K-branded water and snack bars, contributed to its rise (PROMO Xtra, June 26, 2006). Sara Lee’s focus on its core business, including the sale of peripheral brands and its first-ever umbrella image campaign, “The Joy of Eating,” helped fuel its increase (PROMO Xtra, Aug. 24, 2006).
Heinz, meanwhile, dropped 4% to a score of 87, its worst showing since 1999. It still tops the list of food manufacturers, but is statistically tied with The Hershey Co., Kraft Foods and Mars, Inc. (all at 86). The university attributes Heinz’s drop in part to its flagship ketchup’s poor showing in blind taste tests conducted over the summer.
Overall satisfaction with soft drink brands rose 1% to a score of 84, thanks to the variety of items that meet a wide range of consumer tastes. Pepsi jumped 5% to a score of 86, thanks in large part to a strategy shift that made Diet Pepsi its flagship brand and doubled its marketing budget; at the same time, Pepsi has backed off price promotions and stepped up product R&D. (Coca-Cola’s score dropped 2% to 82.)
The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business conducts the research each quarter with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group. The index profiles different industry segments each quarter, so each industry is reviewed annually.
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