Customer is always right.

This article reports on increase in customer satisfaction research in the U.S. Customer satisfaction research has grown to an estimated $100 million business as marketers which include telecommunications, airlines, fast-food, financial services, healthcare and lodging among others focus on quality to keep hard-won customers. They project doing 37% customer satisfaction research this year. They spend anywhere from $40,000 to $5 million a year for customer-oriented research. The growth is driven by the emphasis toward quality spurred in part by the Malcolm Balridge Award. The research field also benefited from the recession that hit consumers.