The Relationship Between Warranty and Product Reliability

Consumers tend to use warranty information when making judgments about the reliability of brands. This study examines the nature of the relationship between warranty terms and reliability for a sample of household appliances and electronic products. Overall, results show that warranty terms are poor predictors of brand reliability for the sample under study. However, results indicate that the relationship between warranty terms and brand reliability tends to improve with product age, market penetration, and the amount of variation in the reliability of brands.