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—The Economic and Statistical Significance of Stock Returns on Customer Satisfaction

Author

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  • Claes Fornell

    (Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109)

  • Sunil Mithas

    (Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742)

  • Forrest V. Morgeson, III

    (National Quality Research Center, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109)

Abstract

According to Jacobson and Mizik [Jacobson, R., N. Mizik. 2009. The financial markets and customer satisfaction: Reexamining possible financial market mispricing of customer satisfaction. (5) 810–819], excess stock portfolio returns for firms with strong customer satisfaction are small and statistically insignificant, and if there is any above-market performance at all, it is due to a small set of firms in the computer and Internet industries. But their data seem to suggest the opposite. The returns are actually both exceptionally large and significant. Using monthly data, their portfolio consisting of strong American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) firms outperformed the market by 0.0053, corresponding to 6.4% cumulative risk-adjusted above-market returns on an annual basis over a 10-year period—a performance that would beat at least 99% of all large-cap U.S. stock funds tracked by Morningstar. Using a different treatment of risk, their annualized risk-adjusted return is a whopping 8.4% better than market. After eliminating computer, Internet, and utility companies, they find that the monthly risk-adjusted abnormal returns drop to 0.0045, which corresponds to an annual above-market return of 5.4%. This too is better than 99% of all actively managed stock funds in the population. Yet Jacobson and Mizik conclude that these returns are not statistically significant and that there is no evidence that stock returns from firms with strong customer satisfaction outperform the market over the long run. The failure to reject the null hypothesis is probably due to a lack of statistical power in Jacobson and Mizik's analysis. We discuss why this is likely the case and then present new data updating the results from our original article [Fornell, C., S. Mithas, F. Morgeson III, M. S. Krishnan. 2006. Customer satisfaction and stock prices: High returns, low risk. (1) 3–14]. The above-market returns persist and are both economically and statistically significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Claes Fornell & Sunil Mithas & Forrest V. Morgeson, III, 2009. "—The Economic and Statistical Significance of Stock Returns on Customer Satisfaction," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 820-825, 09-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:28:y:2009:i:5:p:820-825
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1090.0505
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Jacobson & Natalie Mizik, 2009. "The Financial Markets and Customer Satisfaction: Reexamining Possible Financial Market Mispricing of Customer Satisfaction," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 810-819, 09-10.
    2. Lewellen, Jonathan & Nagel, Stefan, 2006. "The conditional CAPM does not explain asset-pricing anomalies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 289-314, November.
    3. Y. Peter Chung & Michael J. Schill, 2006. "Asset Pricing When Returns Are Nonnormal: Fama-French Factors versus Higher-Order Systematic Comoments," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 923-940, March.
    4. Laurent Barras & Olivier Scaillet & Russ Wermers, 2010. "False Discoveries in Mutual Fund Performance: Measuring Luck in Estimated Alphas," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 179-216, February.
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    6. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    7. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2004. "The Capital Asset Pricing Model: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 25-46, Summer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunil Mithas & Jonathan Whitaker & Ali Tafti, 2017. "Information Technology, Revenues, and Profits: Exploring the Role of Foreign and Domestic Operations," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 430-444, June.
    2. Ayat Zaki Ahmed & Manuel Rodríguez-Díaz, 2020. "Significant Labels in Sentiment Analysis of Online Customer Reviews of Airlines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Michael A. Wiles & Shailendra P. Jain & Saurabh Mishra & Charles Lindsey, 2010. "Stock Market Response to Regulatory Reports of Deceptive Advertising: The Moderating Effect of Omission Bias and Firm Reputation," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 828-845, 09-10.
    4. Jiban Khuntia & Raveesh Mayya & Sunil Mithas & Ritu Agarwal, 2021. "Managing Cellphone Services for Customer Satisfaction: Evidence from the Base‐of‐the‐Pyramid Markets," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(2), pages 438-450, February.
    5. Eric T. Bradlow, 2009. "Does Everything Being Resolved Equal Nothing Gained? Bringing in the Wisdom of the Academic Crowd," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 809-809, 09-10.
    6. Robert Jacobson & Natalie Mizik, 2009. "—Customer Satisfaction-Based Mispricing: Issues and Misconceptions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 836-845, 09-10.

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