This post was originally written for WeMakeItSafer. You can read it in its entirety on the WeMakeItSafer blog.
It’s a bold statement that needs some qualifying, but the evidence is mounting – over-coverage of product recalls may damage recall effectiveness, putting consumers at greater risk for injury. It is a problem referred to as “recall fatigue,” and it occurs when a consumer quite literally gets tired of hearing about recalls.
With the passing of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in 2008, the media has covered more and more stories about recalled products. From bikes to refrigerators, cribs to snowmobiles, we hear news stories every week, if not every day, about something that has been recalled.
One might expect that all this coverage makes consumers more aware of product recalls and, to some extent, that is true. Consumers are now more aware than ever that there are many, MANY product recalls. Unfortunately, they also may be growing LESS aware that something they actually own has been recalled as the barrage of messaging causes them to simply stop listening.
Read the full story and learn what can be done about recall fatigue on the WeMakeItSafer blog.
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