consumer report

consumer report

The Importance of Consumer Reports

1. Introduction

An organization provides a service like this report primarily because there is a need for it. In today’s society, it is difficult for consumers to purchase a product without later regretting it. Often, when consumers shop for an item, they feel overwhelmed by salespersons pushing and promoting products they may not want. Consumers may spend hours researching various products only to find that there is little information available. They may have even purchased a slightly cheaper product, only to discover that its quality is poor and it needs to be replaced much sooner. This makes the time and money spent on the original product a sunk cost, as opposed to purchasing a higher-priced product the first time. With an expert report on a product, consumers can know which product is the best from the start. The report provides ratings that are easily understood through symbols, so consumers do not have to spend excessive time searching for the best product in a given category. This is a great advantage that many people can benefit from, and the information obtained saves time and money.

Consumer Reports is an organization that provides consumers with information they can trust to make informed decisions about products and services. It offers independent, expert reviews of various goods, from electronics to sports utility vehicles. This report is influential and helpful in the decision-making process of purchasing a product or service, even covering topics such as the best dentist for kids. The importance of these reports is evident in the continued support from consumers, companies, and the government. The report provides information to help make better purchasing decisions, allows companies to understand what consumers want, and contributes to creating a better marketplace. By providing accurate and reliable information about products, it saves time and money for everyone involved.

2. Benefits of Consumer Reports

Helps consumer make better buying decisions. When purchasing a product or service, important considerations are quality, cost, and value. As a practical matter, the consumer usually has less information about these considerations than the seller. Consumer Reports provides comparative information on products that is unbiased and unclouded by advertising or other promotion with the intent to sell the product. Information is gathered from many sources, including government agencies, which often have different areas of expertise in evaluating products. The information is then integrated and reported in a clear, easy to understand format. Consumer Reports tests products in its own labs, and often conducts special tests designed to reflect the real way products are used, e.g. it will test a vacuum cleaner on several types of flooring. This information is valuable in making a decision to purchase a product, as often there are many competing brands that a consumer must choose from. The better the information the consumer has on a product or service, the more likely a good decision can be made and a satisfying purchase can occur. High quality decisions result in greater satisfaction with a purchase and often, money is saved because the true cost and/or quality of the product is actually less than what was expected. The difference in cost between products is also important. If it can be established that a lower cost product is equal in quality to a higher cost product, than money is saved. This information can often be found out through Consumer Reports, as they frequently test a mannequin of a product that has identical function and differing costs.

3. How Consumer Reports Influence Decisions

There are three ways stated in the text on how Consumer Reports get consumers to switch from the inferior product to the better-rated product. The first method is the provision of expert product information. The second method is the simplification of the choice process, and the third is the increase in the motivation to make a better decision. According to the text, all three of these methods are actually successful. This section of the text also states the risks and counterproductive evidence of how Consumer Reports are making consumers change their minds. Although it is proven that when a consumer is sick about a decision he/she has made about a product, it does better their motivation and helps them to make a better decision, but it is scary to state that Consumer Reports can also cause regret on certain purchases. An experiment was conducted to see how Consumer Reports affect more experienced consumers. This experiment also shows a correlation between reading Consumer Reports and thinking that there is better information out there. All of these methods prove that it is likely that there will be a product switch. There are many inferences and statistical data to prove these influences are true, and therefore these results are very convincing.

The text mentions that Consumer Reports help consumers in making decisions. The text analyzes and provides statistical evidence on how Consumer Reports get consumers to change their minds over different products. Studies are also done to compare past experiences of consumers before and after Consumer Reports. The resources that Consumer Reports provide are proven to make consumers rethink their purchase. A very intriguing statement that is made in the text is if Consumer Reports can make an inferior product actually become superior. This specific statement holds my attention, which provides the idea that Consumer Reports are very influential in the world today. Studies have shown that companies who have bad ratings on their product through Consumer Reports will stop and try to improve the ratings of said product.

4. Criticisms of Consumer Reports

An organization as influential as Consumer Reports is by no means going to be free of criticism, and over the years the publication has been subject to much of it. Consumer Reports maintains that its policies are in the best interest of the consumer, but some believe that the testing and evaluating methods are unfair to manufacturers. Most often an evaluation will report that no statistical difference between a premium and generic product exists, with results favoring the cheaper item. The reason for this is that a product is evaluated based on how it performs given its price, which often results in downgrading of more expensive products. Manufacturers of these products claim that they are not being evaluated fairly, stating that a product that performs equally as well to another is not necessarily an equal product. This also brings up the issue of product testing based on price alone. High-cost items such as vacuum cleaners are tested more thoroughly than cheaper ones, making the cost effectiveness of Consumer Reports methods quite arguable. Step up or step down products with marginal price differences are also hard to evaluate, and often a low price will mistakenly suggest a product as a good value. Simulation tests are sometimes done using a formulated substance to see how a product compares to another in long-term conditions, satisfying a token of safety, economy, or efficiency. These things can often have subjective measures and never actually be compared, making these tests a waste of time. An example of this would be an expensive imported car and cheap domestic one, as one may say a vacuum test on the former left a lot of dirt, but it picked up the dirt of the other vacuum.

5. Conclusion

Next, it is important to note the benefits of consumer reports on another level. Any information available to consumers is equally as useful to producers and service providers themselves. By gauging the nature of consumer reports on their products, companies will receive feedback in the most objective way possible. It provides them with incentives to stick to the claimed quality of their products, and it also gives them insight into how they may improve products to better serve consumer needs. This constructive feedback serves to better the marketplace on both ends and can only benefit both producers and consumers in the long run.

Having examined the wide range of consumer purchases and decisions, it is quite clear that people need to be better informed about how to spend their money. The deceptive and unfair tactics of sellers are only growing in sophistication, and are becoming ever more difficult to discern. Consumers need resources in order to level the playing field and help them distinguish between a fantastic purchase and a disastrous one. The consumer reports are such tools. They offer consumers objective information about products or services and a chance to weigh the cost and benefits in order to make better buying decisions, whether buying a car, hi-fi equipment, a pet, or a major appliance. This type of information will foster marketplace competition based on quality and value, ensuring that consumers get the most for their money and make purchases that they will be satisfied with.