“This is similar to what we find in the United States, where the gap in customer satisfaction between full service restaurants and fast food outfits is also shrinking,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and professor at the University of Michigan. “As long as the economy remains fragile, this is a trend that will continue.”
“Not only is the price of a meal becoming more important because of tight household budgets, but the cost of many basic foods is increasing as well. The fast food business is better equipped to handle this than smaller and locally-owned restaurants. Unless full service restaurants can provide significantly higher levels of quality and service, many of them will disappear from the marketplace. This is what’s happening in the US already and we may see more of it in Great Britain as well.”
Nando’s shows the greatest improvement among restaurants (up 6% to 76). Starbucks (+3%) takes the lead over Costa coffee (-1%), 74 vs. 71. McDonald’s improves (+3% to 68) while Burger King slides (-1% to 66).
Customer satisfaction with automakers stalls at a score of 79 for the second year in a row. Audi debuts on the NCSI with the top score of 83. Toyota improves to a score of 82, and Renault falls to the bottom of the auto industry at 74.
