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One of the most important considerations to make when renovating an old kitchen, or perhaps just replacing the appliances, is the type of range to have installed. Not only is it likely that this appliance will remain a part of the home for up to ten years or more, but the way in which it is intended to be used will have a great deal of impact on the type of range that will best suit the homeowner’s purposes. Ranges are typically considered to be a high-end purchase for homeowners and require a great deal of consideration to ensure the correct range is discovered. In this evaluation, the general standards to be evaluated are value to price ratio, safety features and appearance. The item to be evaluated is the KitchenAid KERA807P (KA) which falls into the general category known as large kitchen appliances.
The range will first be evaluated based upon expert criteria. Expert criteria refer to the standards set by experts in the field. These experts are well aware of the available features and performance standards for a given product or service and can provide highly informed opinions of the product or service as a result. They will often look at features that the average consumer would not normally consider, or perhaps not consider to such a great degree. Features such as safety issues may be considered by the consumer, but they may not know what they’re looking for. Experts provide this information in their reviews of products such as the kitchen range.
The KA range has a safety feature called Sabbath Mode. Sabbath Mode is a built-in safety feature that automatically shuts off the oven after 12 hours or so to prevent it from starting house fires (McFedries, 2005). This is a sensible feature that most experts recommend, but it has proven to be a problem for Jewish people who want to keep kosher on the Sabbath and on specific holidays. This is because they’re forbidden to turn ovens (or any electrical appliances) on during that time, but it is permissible to use electrical appliances that are already on. Experts suggest that ovens such as this provide a feature that keeps an oven on at a specified temperature for a specified length of time, rather than turning the oven off automatically. With this type of feature, the cook could prepare a meal prior to the Sabbath or holiday and then leave it in the always-warm oven until it is ready to be eaten (McFedries, 2005). However, since the feature is not available at this time, McFedries and others seem to feel that this safety feature is an important addition to the range and should be considered as a value additive for the larger consumer group.
Group criteria refer to the characteristics that the majority of people seeking this product or service are looking for. These criteria may include issues covered by the experts but they usually tend to put more weight on other elements of the product or service. These elements might include the degree of usability they will get out of the product for the price they are paying. In addition, this usability might be measured by different standards according to the individual group members, such as number of features offered that the individual will be able to make use of or length of service the product can be expected to provide. While these specific elements fall more into the definition of the personal criteria, they can be grouped together under the general heading of value as criteria sought by the consumer group.
The KA range is retail priced at around $1350, but this information alone does not indicate it is a good value. One way to determine value is to compare the product with other similar products. The KA range is a ‘built-in’ range with four element burners, is self-cleaning, has smooth tops and a single oven. Two other similar products were discovered which were the Frigidaire PLES389D (FR) listed at $1350 and the Maytag MES5870A (MA) at $1325. There is a $25 difference in price that would make the MA range the better value if price alone determined value. Other factors can be considered to contribute to value such as the size of the single over. Oven Capacity in cubic feet for all three ranges are 3.6 (FR), 4.0 (MA) and 3.9 (KA), showing the Maytag model to have the greatest capacity of the three and again indicating it might be the better value by a slight degree. The MA range and the FA range share the additional features of storage drawers, glass ceramic cooktops, oven lights and oven door windows that are not listed as options on the KA model, again seeming to reduce its overall value.
What ultimately decides a purchase decision, though, is the personal criteria that a shopper enters the market with. While value may be measured by a series of cold facts and product features stacked up side by side, there is also another element that is much more personal to the individual. This is illustrated to some degree in understanding how the group criteria may include a number of different considerations in determining a product’s value but are all grouped under the same heading of value. Personal criteria are those elements of a product or service that directly address the individual needs of the person making the purchase. As with group criteria, many of these elements may overlap with the interests of the group or the expert. One element that is most likely to fall into the range of the personal criteria is the appearance of the product. While one person may prefer the color blue, another may like green. Some people like things taller while others like them smaller. The look and feel of the kitchen will have an effect on the look of the product the individual person is looking to buy.
Although the KA range offers strong safety features and has been shown to potentially meet less group criteria than other models, it has other options that tend to appeal more to personal criteria of consumers. For example, the range is not offered in brushed chrome construction, which is popular but difficult to keep clean. With three color choices for exterior surfaces, the KA range enables customization with the rest of the kitchen appliances. The KA range is also taller in the back than most other models and would blend in better with most countertop backing. Appearance is the main factor separating the KA range from other similar models but is sold more because it easily fits in with existing kitchen decoration.
There are a number of reasons why one product may be selected as the best product or service over others. Experts will frequently narrow down the options available by providing informed opinions regarding which products are the leaders in those areas that they deem are important. These are frequently safety issues or quality of materials used in building the product. In this area, the KA range met all the same requirements that other similar products had but this was still determined to be somewhat less than what could be hoped for from a small segment of the potential consumer group. Group criteria refer to those elements of the product that appeal to a large number of people. This may be something like perceived value which is not just the price but also includes the features and durability of the product. The KA range is slightly more expensive than a similar product that advertises more desirable features. However, the KA range is preferred in this particular case because of personal criteria in which the look of the kitchen outweighs these small value additions in other areas. While a storage drawer might be nice, it is often judged more important to have a range that blends in with the look of the individual’s kitchen.
Works Cited
McFedries, Paul. “Sabbath Mode Definition”. Wordspy and Logophilia Limited. (2005). Web.
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