‘Product rage’ is causing stress in households around the UK, new research from document management firm Xerox has suggested.
The term describes the frustration people feel when they are unable to understand instruction manuals, leading to household arguments and potential product breakage.
The YouGov survey sampled more than 2,000 UK adults with one in 10 admitting that inadequate guidelines led to arguments in their household and more than one in 20 survey participants confessed to breaking their device after being irritated by the product’s instructions.
And more than a third (37%) of consumers said confusing product instructions made them angry.
Comparing the sexes, women have higher expectations and less tolerance for confusing instructions than men. In fact 40% of women got angry with perplexing product instructions, compared to 34% of men.
Women were also twice as likely to admit to arguments with people they live with as a result. Conversely, a quarter of men would try to assemble or use items without referring to the instructions, compared to just a fifth of women.
Julie Hesselgrove, group president, Xerox Communication and Marketing Services (CMS)., said: "We have all been guilty of being exasperated when we don’t entirely understand something. However, it is the companies’ responsibility to ensure their customers have a range of tools to completely understand their new product.
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"Having confusing instructions is like having a TV with a broken remote – yes you can still use the product, but it’s harder work, less enjoyable, you can’t use all the functionality, but you still paid full price."
The research reveals the importance of having clear and comprehensible product instruction manuals, which helps reduce customer stress and prevents people from getting angry with their new device.
In fact, one-third of consumers revealed they are less likely to buy products from a company if they know they have unclear instruction manuals. Consumers over 55 years of age are especially discriminating, with 46% factoring the quality of product instructions into their purchase decision.
Despite this, 21% still find instructions difficult to understand with the same percentage believing that they are not detailed enough.
This lack of adequate detail has led to a lack of understanding of the functionality of many common technology devices. 21% replied that they didn’t fully understand how to use their mobile phones and 25% don’t have a complete grasp of their personal computers.
"Brands need to take note that customers are experiencing product rage and should be able to offer a combination of easy-to-follow material, online guides and videos that also appeal to all customers," said Hesselgrove,. "Ignoring this will only affect their brand and bottom line."
