Stressed-out consumers want comfort food and comfortable clothes at the right price, and the fact that they're relatively satisfied overall with what they're getting may boost holiday shopping.

In the third quarter, the American Customer Satisfaction Index fell 0.1 percent -- to 76 out of 100 points -- compared with the previous three months. The score is up 1.4 percent from the same quarter in 2008.

That means consumers are more willing to spend than they were a year ago, even if gains slowed since earlier this year, said Claes Fornell, founder of the index based at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a professor of business administration. "So far it's not quite as dreadful as expected."

The H.J. Heinz Co. hung onto its seat atop a list of food company competitors for the 10th year in a row, with a score of 89 out of 100 putting it two points higher than its nearest rival. The Pittsburgh company is a solid enterprise, said Dr. Fornell, but Heinz also might be benefiting from a bias toward the reliable and the known. "You see the familiar names doing exceptionally well."

The quarterly index tracks satisfaction with different industries by interviewing customers about how they liked certain products. In the third quarter, the index looked at food, apparel, beer, cigarettes, pet food, soft drinks, athletic shoes and personal care product companies.

In the previous quarter, the index results predicted consumer spending would rise 3.25 percent in the third quarter. Actual third-quarter spending growth hit 3.35 percent, Dr. Fornell said. Government efforts, such as incentives to promote car buying, contributed to that gain.

At this point, Dr. Fornell expects fourth-quarter spending to grow between 2 percent to 3 percent, as employment and consumer confidence remain shaky.

But even that would mean retail spending would be above this time last year, when the financial crisis was fresh and scary. "The mystery is, of course, where the money's coming from," he said, noting consumer credit remains tight or expensive.

In the food category after Heinz, cereal maker Quaker was tied at 87 with two chocolate makers, Hershey and Mars, both of which saw their scores improve. Nestle came next with an 85, a 2 percent improvement, to tie with Kellogg and Sara Lee.

Overall, customer satisfaction with food companies was flat. ConAgra Foods' score dropped 7.1 percent to 78, a shift that could have something to do with price increases on Banquet frozen dinners, elimination of certain product varieties and smaller portion sizes. Regular users notice even small changes, said Dr. Fornell, and they're particularly sensitive to price changes at the moment.

A big gainer on the apparel portion of the index was Levi Strauss, which saw its score go up 6.4 percent to 83 to tie with Jones Apparel. While the Levi team has added outlet stores and changed marketing, Dr. Fornell said the comfort factor might have played a role there, too.

"After all, Levis Strauss has been around for a long time and may well represent something familiar, trusted and American," he wrote in his analysis. Overall, satisfaction with apparel makers was up 2.5 percent.

Beer drinkers are getting more satisfaction, too. The industry score rose 1.2 percent to 84 out of 100, and Anheuser-Busch, in particular, was up 3.7 percent to a score of 85. One exception, Coors, fell 2.4 percent to an 81.

In the pet food category, the overall industry score was flat, but Del Monte Foods Co., which has an administrative facility on the North Shore, posted a 3.6 percent drop to 80 out of 100.

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