Why is the University of Michigan's study about "consumer sentiment" so relied on? why are they so accurate?

Question

How do they come up with their "report" over consumer confidence?

why are they the ones?

why do people pay them so much attention?

Answer 1

They are the ones to come up with this report because they developed a model that has historically been pretty accurate. People pay attention to this report because it generally gives a leading indication of where the economy will be going in the future. If consumers fear that the economy is going to tank, this would be reflected in the number. This would lead to lower investment and spending, which would slow the economy.