August 29th, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
In the modern marketplace, where an endless array of products vies for consumer attention, purchase decisions are swayed by more than the gloss of advertising and allure of features and price points. The promise of lasting value and a sense of security against potential post-purchase uncertainties have become a pivotal part of a consumer's decision-making process. A recent YouGov Surveys: Serviced poll of 18 international markets explores the importance of a product's warranty or maintenance plan in a consumer's purchase decisions across various product categories.
Data from the survey reveals that three out of four consumers globally say a warranty plan plays an important role when it comes to purchasing appliances like refrigerators and washing machines (76%) and vehicles (75%). Nearly two-thirds of global respondents say the same about power tools and equipment like generators and lawnmowers (64%) while slightly more than half say so about health and wellness products like fitness equipment (52%).
A closer look at some key polled markets – Great Britain (GB), Denmark, United States (US), United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India – reveals some interesting differences.
Much like in the case of the global average, appliances and vehicles appear to be the top product categories where a warranty plan is important across Great Britain (72% for both) and Denmark (69% for both). However, this spot is occupied by mobile phones in the UAE (76%) and India (86%).
Consumers in India are the likeliest of all to consider a product’s warranty plan when in the market for electronics like laptops and TVs (82%) compared to less than two-thirds of consumers in the US (58%) and GB (65%).
While three out of four consumers in India say warranty is important when purchasing power tools (74%), this proportion falls significantly among Britons (55%) and Americans (52%).
Similarly, while more than three quarters of Indian consumers say a maintenance plan plays an important role in the purchase of home furnishing (76%), just two out of five Americans agree (40%).
Interestingly, more than twice as many consumers in India give importance to a health and wellness product’s warranty or maintenance plan (81%), compared to Americans (38%), Britons (34%) and Danes (31%).
A look at how gender impacts the importance of a product’s warranty or maintenance plan in its purchase reveals that women are significantly likelier than men to consider such plans across almost all given product categories - except power tools (64% and 63% respectively) and health and wellness products (53% and 51% respectively) where an almost equal proportion of men and women share the same opinion.
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YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 1,999 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in May 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.