Those looking for signs that consumer spending will help ward off a recession will get little satisfaction from the latest quarterly results in an index tracking how Americans are feeling about the companies from which they buy things.

Overall satisfaction dipped in the fourth quarter by .4 percent to 74.9 on a 100-point scale, the lowest level of the year for the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index. That seemingly small dip is significant because it marks the second quarterly drop in a row.

"Falling customer satisfaction has a dampening effect on consumer demand, and household debt-to-income ratios affect consumers' ability to spend," said Claes Fornell, director of the university's National Quality Research Center and founder of the index. "Both are moving in the wrong direction, brewing up a double whammy that may hit the economy hard."

Still, consumers aren't just painting every industry or every company with the same, discouraging brush. When it comes to rating their store experiences or their sentiments about interactions with a business, they know what they like and don't like.

Generally, rising prices do not make customers happy. So anyone who has followed the steady rise in fuel costs might understand why consumers were less satisfied with their gas stations. The same reasoning might apply to lower scores for the health insurance group.

But the supermarket group saw satisfaction rise 1.3 percent even as food prices steadily crept upward. The researchers decided smaller grocery chains, in particular, had been currying shoppers' favor. "It is not that higher prices lead to higher satisfaction but higher satisfaction makes it possible to charge higher prices," wrote Dr. Fornell in his analysis.

More proof that price isn't everything came in the department and discount stores group, which posted its lowest score since 2001.

Discounter Wal-Mart impressed Wall Street with its early recognition that the slowing economy might make low prices key but saw its customer satisfaction score fall 5.6 percent, trailing both the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Sears.

Besides price, customers who rate the nation's largest players for the index may consider everything from cash register waits to store cleanliness to whether the shelves are well stocked and the employees look happy. "All of that good stuff is essential," said David Van Amburg, managing director of the index.

Officials at the Macy's department store chain saw its score rise as much as Wal-Mart's fell, 5.6 percent. While still not the highest rated retailer in the category, the rating shows the chain regaining ground lost as it closed stores and eliminated regional store names such as Marshall Fields and Kaufmann's in the wake of acquiring a major rival.

Such a drop might have been expected. "You will tend to have a dip in satisfaction," said Mr. Van Amburg. "Mergers are notorious for that."

The highest score in the category went to Seattle chain Nordstrom, which will enter the Pittsburgh market this year with a store at Ross Park Mall.

One of the strongest sectors remained e-commerce companies, which scored a 2 percent increase overall. Amazon.com's ongoing investments in customer service and filling orders rapidly have helped the online retailer score higher than most of the other companies on the index, online or offline.

So far the commercial banking industry seems to be keeping customers pretty happy despite the turmoil of the subprime mortgage crisis and shifting interest rates.

The overall score rose 1.3 percent, buoyed in part by smaller banks. Customers are asked to rate satisfaction on only checking, savings and personal loan accounts. The situation could change if more banks start cutting back on services to cope with credit issues, the researchers said.

Health insurance providers are already seeing the impact of market changes that have sent premiums and co-pays up higher than inflation, even as fewer employers are providing group health coverage. Overall the industry's score fell 1.4 percent.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index is run quarterly but checks in on different industries each quarter. The fourth quarter focuses on retailers, financial companies and e-commerce.