Last month, KID conducted a survey with Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT) for a workshop on consumers and recall effectiveness PAT presented at ICPHSO’s annual meeting in February 2020. Thank you to everyone who took it! The survey looked at what consumers thought about product safety and recalls. Questions spanned a variety of topics including behaviors towards product registration and product safety concerns. The results were surprising.
Two-thirds of those surveyed knew what registration cards were used for and would participate in a recall if a product they owned was recalled, yet 54% surveyed do not register their products. By not registering products, individuals who would participate in a recall are at risk of not hearing when a recall occurs.
When asked how they hear about product recalls, 3 out of 4 people surveyed say that they see recalls on social media. It is clear that social media is an effective way of promoting safety information and spreading news about recalls. Though effective, more than one-third (37%) of those surveyed would prefer to be emailed about a recall versus just under one-third who would prefer to see recalls via social media.
The majority of those surveyed stated that they meant to register their products but simply forgot to fill out the cards. Nearly half said that they would be more likely to fill out a registration card if it were emailed to them and another one-third said they would register their products if they could do so at checkout. An alternative to traditional registration cards that is already mandated is online product registration. KID has a directory of online product registration pages to provide a “one stop” resource for consumers.
This survey provided some key insights into thoughts and behaviors surrounding product recalls. By learning more about what the public wants, KID can continue to fight for improvements in the recall system so recalled products are removed from homes.
What you can do:
- Register your products here
- Share recall notices on social media
- Sign up for our monthly recall digests
- Sign up for recall alerts from CPSC
Our full findings:
