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8
Abstract
Anneli Reisbacka and Arja Rytkönen, TTS-Institute. THE DOMESTIC
APPLIANCE SALESPERSON AS THE CONSUMER’S INFORMATION
SOURCE. LINKKI 2 Research programme on energy conservation decisions and
behaviour. Publication 12/2000.
The aim of the study was to survey the kind of information given to customers by
domestic appliance sales staff and how the staff adapt available information to
customers’ needs. The material was collected by recording on tape – without the
salesperson’s knowledge – test shopping events in 58 stores. These included “shopping
for” 31 washing machines and tumble dryers, 32 fridge freezers, 25 cookers and 29
television sets and videotape recorders.
Most of the salespersons were male (93%) and relatively young, nearly half of them
(44%) under 30 years of age. In most of the stores service was good (53%) or
satisfactory (34%). Poor service was provided by only 15% of the salespersons. Service
varied according to the salesperson. The few saleswomen all provided good service.
The price of the appliance was given in nearly all the test shopping events. Its location,
installation and space demands were discussed in 5–33% of cases, depending on the
appliance. The electricity consumption or energy efficiency of fridge freezers, washing
machines and tumble dryers was discussed in 77% of cases. Electricity consumption
was discussed in 72% of shopping events of the cooker, 46% of the television and 23%
of the videotape recorder. The electricity consumption of entertainment appliances such
as televisions and videotape recorders was generally considered to be low.
The qualities most discussed were the following: washing machine capacity, spinning
speed (92%) and wash result (74%); tumble dryer capacity (97%); fridge freezer volume
(100%); oven capacity (40%), the differences between various types of hotplate (76%)
and heating methods (52%); and the picture and sound qualities of televisions and video
recorders and size of television screen (75%).
The information provided by the sales staff varied from inadequate and misleading to
accurate and practically applied information. Appliance-specific lists of matters to be
discussed in the test shopping events were made for the study. These included the
consumer’s needs, the measurements of the space reserved for the appliance, the
installation space demands, general installation demands, the space required for use of
the appliance, compatibility with other fixtures, environmental impact, performance,
energy consumption and costs, operating properties, operational safety, price, guarantee,
maintenance and the disposal of the old appliance. To raise the level of knowledge of
sales staff, training is required. Consumers need guidelines to choose the right
appliance.
Keywords: domestic appliance salesperson, energy labelling, customer service,
domestic appliance, consumer information