American Consumer Satisfaction Index for petfood drops 1% for third quarter

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)  for petfood fell 1% for the third quarter to 83, but remained one of the highest scoring products with no company ever scoring below 79.
After almost two years of stalling scores, the overall ASCI also fell 0.3%, bringing it to 75.7 on a 0-100 point scale. The top scorers among petfood manufacturers were Mars Petcare, whose score rose 2% to 85, and Del Monte Foods, whose score rose 4% to 83. Iam's consumer satisfaction score dropped 6% to 80 with complaints of decreased quality, putting them at the bottom of the industry. The index for Colgate-Palmolive’s Hill’s Pet Nutrition rose 3%, while Nestle Purina PetCare's index fell 5%, resulting in a score of 82 for both companies.
“Periods of stalling ACSI growth have often been followed by weak, and sometimes negative, GDP growth,” said Professor Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer. “Consumer spending is unlikely to exhibit much of an increase unless bond buying by the Federal Reserve leads to more employment, inflation, consumer confidence and higher stock prices. With the drop in ACSI, consumer spending for the final quarter of 2010 does not look like it will improve enough to spur much economic growth.”