The Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is launching a new research project to examine why many consumers do not register their household products, in an effort to learn what more can be done to boost registration rates.
The announcement came from the OPSS as it marked its first anniversary on 24 January 2019, which, fittingly, falls on national Register My Appliance Day.
The drive to understand more about consumer behaviour in relation to product registration is based on the fact that registering products enables customers to be more easily contacted by manufacturers if a fault is identified, and that it could ultimately improve the long-term reliability of appliances if an issue is identified or a product is recalled.
At present, less than a third of people have registered their large appliances, according to the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA). The figures are concerning, and ideas such as making registration mandatory will be tested on almost 5,000 product purchases.
The aim? The OPSS intends the new, science-based research programme to enable them to provide guidance to manufacturers and retailers on the best ways to increase rates of product registrations, so watch this space and we will provide further updates as the programme develops.
The full announcement can be found here.
