Certifying third-party repairs retains customers, signals utility left in goods

Certifying a third-party repair service can help companies retain customers by signaling that there's value, or "unused utility," left in broken products, according to a team led by Penn State researchers. The researchers, who were raised by parents and grandparents with what they called a "fix it" mindset, said they had noticed a trend toward disposable consumption over recent decades. This trend leads consumers to replace—rather than repair—broken goods, which end up in landfills. The team wanted to see if brand repair services increased repair rates for durable goods like laptops and stand mixers while addressing two major concerns: that repairs would eat into sales numbers, and the cost of hosting an in-house repair service.