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TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES—FOR THE BENEFIT OF CONSUMERS OR PRODUCERS?
Author(s) -
ASSUM TERJE,
DAHL ROLF
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of consumer studies and home economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 0309-3891
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.1979.tb00573.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , business , marketing , product (mathematics) , new product development , philosophy , linguistics , geometry , mathematics
Two hypotheses are presented on the basis of the consumerist and private enterprise points of view of technical development of household appliances: H 1 : maintaining or increasing sales of household appliances by product development can be done regardless of, or even conflicting with, consumer needs. H 2 : maintaining or increasing sales of household appliances can only be done by developing products that satisfy consumer needs. To test these hypotheses the concept of utility has to be defined operationally. Assuming that household appliances are bought to be used according to their functions, utility is defined as use frequency and way of using. Using data from a Norwegian survey on the purchase and use of electric ranges and sewing machines, it is shown that all equipment studied is used frequently and correctly by too many respondents to declare them generally without utility. But for each device there was quite a large share of the respondents who did not use it. The hypothesis that products cannot be sold to consumers who do not need them, is thus rejected. The causes of the problem as well as possible means of solving it are discussed.