J.D. Power: Appearance Plays Large Role in Satisfaction With Kitchen and Laundry Appliances

Consumers are becoming more conscious of how appliances look in addition to how they perform, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Kitchen and Laundry Appliance Satisfaction Studies.

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While white and gray continue to dominate, homeowners are opting for more innovative appliances, technologies, and more.

Courtesy Adobe Stock/Dariusz Jarzabek

Homeowners are increasingly concerned not only with how well appliances perform, but also how they look, according to the J.D. Power 2019 Kitchen and Laundry Appliance Satisfaction Studies. The emphasis on looks will likely increase as HGTV diehards and Pinterest enviers work to improve their living spaces and as manufacturers expand their offerings in terms of aesthetics, according to J.D. Power.

“Staying at the forefront of appliance design trends while maintaining performance and effectiveness is key to customer satisfaction,” said Christina Cooley, At Home Intelligence Lead at J.D. Power. “If appliance manufacturers can keep a good balance of both, they will not only start to edge out the competition, but also gain more loyal and satisfied consumers.”

The Kitchen Appliance and Laundry Appliance Satisfaction Studies measure consumer satisfaction in nine segments of major home appliances, including washers and dryers, dishwashers, ranges, over-the-range microwaves, and refrigerators.

According to the study, LG ranked the highest in customer satisfaction for side-by-side refrigerators, French-door refrigerators, top-mount refrigerators, and dishwashers and ranked highly in satisfaction for over-the-range microwaves as well. Samsung ranked the highest in customer satisfaction for freestanding ranges and over-the-range microwaves and highly in the side-by-side refrigerator and French-door refrigerator categories.

Samsung also ranked the highest in customer satisfaction across the board in the three laundry categories: front-load washers, top-load washers, and clothes dryers. LG ranked the second highest in customer satisfaction in all three laundry appliance categories.

The Kitchen Appliance Satisfaction Study was based on 1,519 dishwasher customer evaluations, 1,461 freestanding range customer evaluations, 1,216 over-the-range microwave customer evaluations, and 3,863 refrigerator customer evaluations. The Laundry Appliance Satisfaction Study was based on 2,336 washer customer evaluations and 1,701 dryer customer evaluations.

About the Author

Vincent Salandro

Vincent Salandro is an associate editor for Builder. He covers products for the Journal of Light Construction and also has stories appearing in other Zonda publications. He earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.S. in economics from American University.

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