Westlake Village, Calif. —Consumers who recently bought a TV said picture quality and size were the primary selection reasons, according to the J.D. Power “2014 High-Definition Television Satisfaction Report.”
“Customers purchasing a smaller HDTV tend to be more price-conscious than those purchasing a larger HDTV,” said Christina Cooley, director in the diversified services industries practice at J.D. Power. “Yet, we find that customers who buy larger HDTVs are more likely to research brands and features before making their purchase compared with customers purchasing smaller HDTVs.”
The report measures satisfaction with HDTVs among customers who purchased one in the past 12 months. Satisfaction is evaluated across seven factors: performance; reliability; ease of operation; style/appearance; features; price; and warranty.
Among the key findings:
Overall customer satisfaction with an HDTV smaller than 50 inches was 844 (on a 1,000-point scale).
Overall customer satisfaction with an HDTV 50 inches or larger was 870.
Among customers who purchased an HDTV that was 50 inches or larger, picture quality and price were cited most often as the reasons for their selection (62 percent). Among customers who purchased an HDTV smaller than 50 inches, price (73 percent) was the leading reason, followed by screen size (53 percent).
The report found that among customers who purchased a 50-inch or larger HDTV, 32 percent visited the retailer’s website, compared with 26 percent among those who purchased an HDTV smaller than 50 inches.
Both groups of customers indicated that the in-store display was their primary source of information during the shopping process, with approximately half indicating they relied primarily on the in-store displays.
The report found that 72 percent of customers with HDTVs 50 inches or larger and 37 percent of those with HDTVs smaller than 50 inches had a smart TV. In comparison, 35 percent of customers with HDTVs 50 inches or larger and 11 percent of those with HDTVs smaller than 50 inches had a 3DTV.
In addition, Samsung ranked highest in customer satisfaction with both smaller than 50-inch and 50-inch or larger televisions. (See chart.)
The “2014 High-Definition Television (HDTV) Satisfaction Report” is based on the responses of more than 4,000 customers who purchased an HDTV in the past 12 months. The study was fielded in June.