While the future holds almost unlimited opportunity in the HVAC industry, it is not clear that the independent contractor will be the beneficiary. Manufacturers should also be concerned with declining value of brand identification on the part of consumers. Unless manufacturers are able to generate some point of recognizable differentiation with the consumer, they will find the category continuing to cheapen into commodity status. All players in the industry should be alarmed at overall industry performance levels. Performance in this case means the delivery of the industry s core product, comfort.
Consumers offer a harsh indictment.
According to respondents, more often than not, the industry fails to deliver. Let s start with consumer satisfaction with their HVAC systems. However, this should be small comfort to most contractors. As consumers age, they are much more likely to be satisfied with their comfort systems. One possible explanation is that older consumers have had enough repairs and additions to their comfort systems over the years, that they are more likely to enjoy a satisfactory situation.