K.M’s SURVEY:WIDESPREAD PRINTER CONFUSION

[Anonymous]

Konica Minolta Survey Highlights Widespread Printer Confusion
. Only half of printer users recycle cartridges
. Most are unaware of printing costs
. Many don’t know a laser from an inkjet
The
latest frontline survey from Konica Minolta reveals that printer users
are not recycling, and do not know true financial and business benefits
of colour lasers…
July
2006 – A new survey conducted on behalf of Konica Minolta Printing
Solutions has found that printer users are still not recycling their
cartridges and are frequently unaware of the differences betweeninkjet
and laser printers!
The survey, conducted in central London,
discovered that almost half of respondents (47%) admitted that they do
not recycle their ink cartridges.When asked whether an inkjet or laser
printer was more expensive to print documents, a mere 20% of
respondents answered correctly. On average, it costs around eight times
more to print a colour document with an inkjet compared to a laser
printer. Bearing in mind the enormous impact this disparity would have
on the bottom line of any size of business, it is even more astonishing
that one-in-ten people questioned had no idea whether their printers
were lasers or an inkjets Respondents were also unaware that laser
printers offer significantly faster printing times than inkjets. Only
11% correctly guessed that ten copies of a full-colour A4 photo image
could be printed off in less than 60 seconds on a laser device, with
nearly half incorrectly guessing that it would between three and seven
minutes!Surprisingly few people understood the benefits of printing
various documents in colour. Just 9% said they would consider printing
an invoice in colour, despite clear evidence that colour invoices
regularly attract faster payments. Equally, only half said they would
print brochures in colour, and less than 40% said they would use colour
for presentation handouts.According to a recent study carried out by
the University of Loyola in Maryland, use of colour can increase brand
recognition by up to 80%, and numerous studies have shown that use of
colour in printed documents increases the likelihood of them getting
read and greatly improves information retention in readers.”It’s
astonishing that so many still people don’t realise just how much money
they could save by using a cost effective colour laser instead of an
inkjet. It’s also surprising that businesses aren’t aware of the
realfinancial benefits that could be achieved through printing things
like brochures and invoices in colour. This is a real wake-up call to
the industry. We all have to do a better job of letting printer users
know that colour matters.” said Oscar Rook, UK Marketing Director,
Konica Minolta printing solutions.”What was shocking in this survey
however, was the low number of people that recycle their cartridges. In
next quarter’s survey we plan to ask this again and find out why people
don’t recycle. We have an industry-leading recycling program for our
customers, providing them with a facility to return used cartridges
free of charge for recycling, to save them from creating additional
landfill. Other vendors offer similar schemes and I can’t understand
why people wouldn’t just take advantage of them.”

[Author]

July 13, 2006 at 11:37 AM