.
.
The full document is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view it. The Adobe Reader is a free product.
Download 
Consumer Group Discussion on Purchasing Major Household Appliances with Reference to TVs and ICT (506 kB) - E3 Report 2008/06.
If you are unable to access this document, please contact the The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to organise a suitable alternative format.
A nondirective group discussion with a cross section of twelve consumers was conducted by Winton Sustainable Research Strategies (WSRS) on Wednesday 19 December 2007 in Melbourne, to explore the information needs of consumers when they are seeking to purchase various appliances including consumer electronics such as home entertainment systems, television sets and computers. Nine industry and government people observed the discussion from behind a one way mirror.
The purchase decision process in relation to a television set or a home computer is fundamentally different from the decision process for a refrigerator (and whitegoods in general) in a number of ways, and these differences need to recognised and taken into account in the provision and communication of information about these appliances.
Whereas consumers are very confident in their decision making concerning the purchase of a refrigerator, they are less confident about purchasing a television set and far less confident about purchasing a computer. This is partly due to the perceived simplicity of a refrigerator versus the complexity of a computer and the changing environment regarding televisions. It follows that whereas consumers are generally confident about making their own refrigerator purchasing decisions with perhaps a little help from family, friends and the retail salesman, they are far more likely to seek advice and to rely more heavily on the opinions of others in terms of televisions and computers and particularly air conditioners. However, the variety of sources available, and the range of advice given, often serve to confuse consumers as much as to inform them.
Most consumers think about energy efficiency at some stage in the refrigerator purchase decision process, but almost none in our group do so in terms of televisions or computers. They are simply not aware of, or concerned about, the magnitude of power consumption of televisions or computers, generally assuming that as these appliances are operated only on for limited times and are relatively small, they do not consume much power at all. It is also generally assumed that there would be little difference in power consumption across different models of about the same size or across different technologies. Especially with plasma TVs (and to some extent LCDs), emotional needs often dominate the purchase decision, conflicting with practical considerations.
The situation regarding consumers' lack of knowledge or understanding of issues to do with energy consumption and energy efficiency concerning television sets and home computers is similar to that which existed with refrigerators (and all other household appliances) several decades ago before energy efficiency labelling was introduced.
At an appropriate point later in the group discussion, an information sheet (see Appendix 1) was provided to participants which indicates that (a) the energy consumption of new technology televisions and their peripherals is likely to result in a marked increase in the energy consumption of televisions, (b) that there is a factor of 2 or 3 (or more) between the lowest and highest energy models of the same technology and size of TV, and (c) some models consume more that a small family sized refrigerator. Most participants expressed surprise and concern, with discussion leading to the consensus that consumers should be made aware of this information before purchase, with general agreement that energy labelling would be appropriate in this situation.
As discussed earlier, consumers generally look at a broad range of factors when purchasing major appliances, with the factors differing somewhat both in nature and order of importance across appliance types. They search for this information in diverse ways, ranging from conversations with family and friends, looking at newspaper and magazine ads and articles, searching ("Googling") the internet, visiting retailer showrooms, talking to tradespeople or other specialists, seeking out other expert advice, etc.
Whereas people are fairly confident about making good decisions when buying a refrigerator or other whitegoods, they are less confident about buying televisions and not very confident at all about buying computers. Thus, the sheer quantity of diverse information from many diverse sources can often lead to confusion and indecision. Importantly, except where the purchase is urgent (eg, an existing appliance fails or gives signs of failing), the search process often takes place over an extended period of several weeks or more, with consumers tending to need different pieces of information at different times as they proceed through the various stages in the search and decision process.
At any one time there are many people at each stage in the process. Hence in order to reach anyone at the right time for them, all information needs to be available at all points at all times. Once off or short term campaigns will reach only those people who are ready to receive and process that particular piece of information at that particular time.
Although it is appropriate to provide information that people are expecting and wanting to find via the usual methods and media, this had created a plethora of individual sources and pieces of information. After much discussion in this group, the consensus emerged for some form of centralized, simple (plain English), credible and independent information source that would most likely be internet based and/or information shop front based, and likely to be run by the government or an independent entity. If well promoted, it was thought that this kind of resource could also be an effective vehicle for communicating important new information that people are not expecting and/or are not aware of, such as energy ratings.
However, most thought that the basic information (eg, price, brand, dimensions, features, and particularly the energy rating) still needs (also) to be displayed on the product or at least prominently displayed at the retail store. In fact several participants suggested that a label was the most important mechanism of all, being one of the last things a customer sees before committing to the purchase.
This page last modified 15 July 2008 Comments to Contact | Copyright & disclaimer | Privacy | Accessibility
© Commonwealth of Australia
Website credits
