100,000,000 instruction manuals destined for the bin this Christmas
As we enter the season of gift giving, many Brits up and down the country will be opening presents from loved ones, but new research has revealed how many of us will forgo looking at the handy instruction manual.
New research of 2,000 respondents by online electricals retailer AO has revealed that 54 percent of Brits admit to throwing away instruction manuals for gifts in the period that follows Christmas.
It is estimated that after this Christmas alone, 100 million instruction manuals will be destined for the bin.
When quizzed about why Brits were throwing these away, almost half (40 percent) said that they believed they didn’t need to read the instructions as they could figure it out themselves.
A further 20 percent said it was because they find reading them boring, while more than one in six (17 percent) revealed it was down to not understanding the instruction manual.
However, when later asked if they regretted not reading instruction manuals, 43 percent of the survey participants agreed saying they wished they had paid more attention to them.
More than one in four confessed that they also regretted throwing away an instruction manual.
David Lawson, managing director at AO.com, said: “Everyone knows the excitement of opening up a new gift at Christmas and wanting to get it working straight away.
"Often, instruction manuals can be the last thing you want to look at on the big day.
"However, most instruction manuals contain valuable pieces of information that show you the best way to get the most out of your gift.
"Not only that but keeping them means you can self-remedy if there’s a problem in the future!”
“If you do find that it’s too late and the instructional manual has already found its way into the bin, then AO.com has handy guides available to help you find any information you might need.”
In fact, a staggering 16 percent said they’ve ended up putting their Christmas gift in the bin because they couldn’t get it working properly.
Kitchen appliances (30 percent), toys (29 percent) and gadgets (29 percent) were the top items that most people agreed they were not getting the most out of due to not reading instructions properly.
