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A consumer's post‐purchase product usage behaviour influences future decision making. Particularly, for fashion products, in which usage behaviour is highly observable, impacts of usage behaviour on future purchases and other consumers are more conspicuous. This study investigated usage behaviour for clothing fashion products. Behavioural aspects (use frequency and use variety) of usage behaviour were considered with psychological aspects (use satisfaction). The study focused on the differences in usage behaviour (use frequency, use variety and use satisfaction) by product types (fashionability and classification). Data was collected from a questionnaire survey. The results revealed that product types affected the post‐purchase usage behaviour of fashion products. There were significant differences in the use frequency by the product classification, in the use variety by the product fashionability and in the use satisfaction by the product classification and fashionability. Further, significant differences by product types were discussed.

This chapter considers warranty policies involving two attributes, such as the time elapsed since sale of the product and product usage at a given point in time. Examples of such policies are found for automobiles, where warranty may be invoked by the consumer if both time and usage are within specified warranty parameters when a product failure occurs. Here, we assume that usage and product age are related through a random variable, the usage rate, which may have a certain probabilistic distribution as influenced by consumer behavior patterns. Furthermore, product failure rate is influenced by the usage rate and product age as well as research and development expenditures per unit. It is assumed that, in production, there is a learning effect with time. The attained market share of a product will be influenced by the warranty policy parameters of warranty time and usage limit and also by the product price and product quality. An integrated model is developed to address multiobjective goals such as attainment of a specified level of market share and net profit per unit when manufacturing and warranty costs are taken into account. The impact of the goal priorities are investigated on the attained warranty policy parameters.

Two-attribute warranty policies are considered that incorporate, for example, the time elapsed since sale of the product and product usage at a given point in time. Such policies occur in consumer products, such as automobiles, where warranty may be exercised if both time and usage are within specified warranty parameters when a product failure occurs. In this chapter, it is assumed that usage and product age are related through a random variable, the usage rate, which may have a certain probabilistic distribution as influenced by consumer behavior patterns. Product quality is modeled through the product failure rate, which is influenced by unit research and development expenditures as well as the usage rate and product age. The attained market share of the product is modeled as a function of the warranty policy parameters of price, warranty time, and usage limit, with product quality also having an influence. Attainment of single and multiple objectives are explored. Such objectives encompass expected total unit costs as a proportion of unit product price and market share.

For certain consumer durables, such as automobiles, warranty policies involve two attributes. These could be the time elapsed since sale of the product and usage of the product at a given point in time. Warranty may be invoked by the consumer if both time and usage are within specified warranty parameters when a product failure occurs. In this chapter, we assume that usage and product age are related through a random variable, the usage rate, which may have a certain probabilistic distribution as influenced by consumer behavior patterns. Additionally, product failure rate is influenced by the usage rate and product age. The integrated model includes expected unit warranty costs, expected unit research and development costs, and expected unit production costs. It is assumed that in production, there is a learning effect with time. A multiobjective model is incorporated with the objectives being market share and proportion of expected warranty costs relative to total manufacturing expenditures per unit. The goals could be conflicting in nature. The problem then is to determine the warranty policy parameters while attaining certain desirable values of the two objectives.

Some consumer durables, such as automobiles, involve warranties involving two attributes. These are time elapsed since the sale of the product and the usage of the product at a given point in time. Warranty may be invoked by the customer if both time and usage are within the specified warranty parameters and product failure occurs. In this chapter, we assume that usage and product age are related through a random variable, the usage rate, which may have a certain probabilistic distribution as influenced by consumer behavior pattern. Further, product failure rate is influenced by the usage rate and product age. Of importance to the organization is to contain expected warranty costs and select appropriate values of the warranty parameters accordingly. An avenue to impact warranty costs is through research on product development. This has the potential to reduce the failure rate of the product. The objective then becomes to determine warranty parameters, while constraining the sum of the expected unit warranty costs and research and development (R&D) costs per unit sales, under a limited R&D budget.

The growing volume of consumer transactions in used products markets has given rise to strategic decisions made by sellers in the amount of information disclosed on usage‐based attributes – product attributes that quantify the degree by which a product has been used. This paper seeks to address this issue. Based on the phenomenon referred to as the dilution effect, it is proposed that sellers would have less desire to disclose usage‐based attribute information in product advertisements for older products. The effects of usage‐based attributes on asking prices of used products are also examined and profiled across time and contrasted across three countries: Britain, Canada, and the USA.

Used product advertisements were obtained for 1995 (USA) and 2010 (USA, Canada, and Britain). The ratio of ad content dedicated to usage‐based attributes was then computed and profiled across various conditions, and variations were tested using statistical methods.

The results indicate that a dilution‐based strategy, whereby usage‐based product information is less likely to be disclosed for older products, was evident in 1995 as it was in 2010. Furthermore, cross‐country variations were observed in the use of this strategy.

The research presented can be expanded to cover other product categories where used products are exchanged and usage‐based attributes constitute a fundamental consumer consideration in such exchanges. The research can also be extended to cover a wider range of countries for analysis.

This paper extends traditional pricing theory to consider the effects of usage‐based attributes on used product prices and associated consumer communications. Given the growth in the volume of consumer transactions in used product markets, this line of inquiry is relevant not only from an academic perspective but can also inform public policy and potential regulatory measures.

Warranty policies for certain products, such as automobiles, often involve consideration of two attributes, for example, time and usage. Since consumers are not necessarily homogeneous in their use of the product, such policies provide protection to users of various categories. In this chapter, product usage at a certain time is linked to the product age through a variable defined as usage rate. This variable, usage rate, is assumed to be a random variable with a specified probability distribution, which permits modeling of a variety of customer categories. Another feature of the chapter is to model the propensity to execute the warranty, in the event of a failure within specified parameter values (say time or usage). In a competitive market, alternative product/warranty offerings may reduce the chances of exercising the warranty. This chapter investigates the impact of warranty policy parameters with the goal of maximizing market share, subject to certain constraints associated with expected warranty costs per unit not exceeding a desirable level.

The study addresses the effect of product usage, satisfaction derived out of the same and the brand switching behaviour in several product categories while looking at the product involvement level in the Indian marketplace. A fair amount of work has been done in the area of customer satisfaction and loyalty and many customer satisfaction indexes are available in the market using different variables and characteristics. The study attempts to understand the brand switching behaviour of the customers and its relation not with just satisfaction derived out of the product but also connects to the usage pattern of the customers and product involvement. Five categories (vehicles, television, soap, hair oil, and ice cream), involving varying levels of involvement were chosen. Cluster analysis was used to understand the grouping of the characteristics across the categories and their effect on brand switching behaviour in correlation with satisfaction and involvement level. It was observed that product usage and related level of satisfaction fail to explain the brand switching behaviour. Product involvement was found to have moderate impact on readiness to switch. The study emphasises that marketers will have to keep a constant eye to understand the usage pattern associated with their products and the satisfaction derived out of it and also at how customers involve themselves with the product to lessen the brand switching behaviour among their customers.