New Product Warranty: Empirical Evidence from Polish and Slovenian Furniture Industry

The aim of the study was to recognize the attitudes towards new product warranty issues in marketing practice of furniture manufacturers. The results of a survey conducted among 75 Polish and Slovenian furniture companies are presented, focusing on whether enterprises use the information concerning the length of warranty period offered for manufactured products in their marketing materials and in which cases they build their competitive strategy and strengthen their corporate identity based on warranty issues. Data collected through direct interviews and surveys was subjected to a comprehensive statistical analysis using statistical grouping method, cluster analysis and correspondence analysis. The results showed that most often the information on the length of warranty period is used commercially by manufacturers of furniture for children and kitchen furniture. The coexistence of variables connected with the offered warranty period for furniture products, the use of information concerning warranty in advertising materials, implementation of a long-term design management strategy, the development of a positive image of the company in the market based on the comprehensive visual identity project and the limited number of years when the company has been operating in the market was showed.