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Consumers consider 9 things before buying a housewares product.

2023-05-31

CHICAGO—Trust and quality are the two most important factors in consumers’ perception of value, according to new research presented at the Inspired Home Show earlier this week.Tom Mirabile, principal of Springboard Futures, gave a keynote session, “Consumers in Control: Insights & Imperatives for the New Economy,” to reveal the 2023 Value Equation Index – new research highlighting the most important elements influencing consumers’ purchases of home and housewares products today. The survey of 1,200 U.S. householders was conducted just two weeks ago as a joint project between Springboard Futures, Project Partners Network and The Trend Curve.

Trust emerged as consumers’ #1 consideration when purchasing home and housewares products. When choosing a retailer or brand for those purchases, 22% said trust was extremely important, 37% said very important, 37% said somewhat important and only 2% said not important at all.Reputation for reliability/durability influenced their trust the most (60%), followed by prior personal experience (47%). (Respondents could select two factors.) Recommendations from others came in next (28%) indicating “we’re delegating trust to other people” to some degree, said Mirabile.

Brand remains a significant aspect of trust, with 88% saying brand is extremely, very or somewhat important. For newer companies or even legacy brands looking to mix things up a bit, Mirabile pointed out that brand partnerships and licensing agreements are “an opportunity to reinvent yourself constantly.” These relationships are probably under-utilized in the home and housewares industry, he added.

Quality came in as consumers’ #2 most important consideration when purchasing home and housewares products. Durability (59%) and reliable performance (51%) were by far the top two factors in determining quality, followed by safety (21%), ease of use (19%), minimal care (16%) and material composition (13%).Among the other factors influencing consumers’ perception of value are price, convenience, ratings and reviews, lifestyle benefits, shopping experience, social responsibility, and data privacy, safety and security.

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