How economic growth affects customer satisfaction

Changes in customer satisfaction are usually linked to a firm's performance in satisfying its clients or to developments within its direct competitive environment. In order to correctly interpret such changes in corporate consumer surveys, managers should also account formacroeconomic influences on customer satisfaction. Using data from national consumer barometers in Germany, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States, this study reveals that economic growth positively affects customer satisfaction. Based on correlation analysis andGranger tests, these results challenge recent studies claiming that, conversely, there is a unidirectional impact of customer satisfaction on economic growth. With more comprehensive data from Germany, structural equation modeling shows that economic growth drives customer satisfaction via the expansion of the average consumer's budget and via an increasing perceived value of offerings. The effect is stronger in high-tech industries, industries with rapid innovation cycles, and industries with fierce price competition.