Secondary Market Research to Support a New Product Innovation

The Product

The Energy Bar is a mountable wall unit for households that enables them to track their energy usage by providing numbers for electric, heat, and water consumption.

The Energy Bar provides a visual to let you know how much you are using, how much you should be using, and how much you could be saving!

It also compares your usage for the current month to that of the month prior to help homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their homes, while also saving money.

As you see the numbers go up and down, you will intuitively know where you can reduce your consumption and utilities costs, and act on it immediately. Place it near your alarm system and it becomes easy to check before you, and the rest of your family, leave the house. This way, no unnecessary lights will be left on, heat will be kept to a minimum when you are away from the home, and no faucets will be left running by accident.

This unique device addresses the energy shortages and water management problems that we should all be concerned about.

Install an Energy Bar to ensure your future and your wallet!

The Evidence

In a poll conducted by Ipsos for Procter and Gamble, respondents chose "saving money" (64%) and "preserving resources" (56%) as the most important reasons for taking environmentally-friendly measures. When reporting the reasons that prevented people from leading a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, 37% selected "not having enough information" (Franco, 2010).

Historic

North America Consumer Expenditure on: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

US$/ Household Water and Miscellaneous Domestic Services 577 603 630 641 680

US$/ Household Electricity, Gas, Other Fuels 1,934 2,010 2,138 1,975 2,077

US$/ Household Heat Energy 2.5 3.1 4.0 3.5 4.0

(Euromonitor International, 2011)

Note. Adapted from Countries and Consumers, by Euromonitor International, January 2011, retrieved from http://www.euromonitor.com/

Copyright by Euromonitor International.

Consumption by Households: Electricity

Country Year Unit Quantity (in millions)

Canada 2007 Kilowatt-hours 154,740

Canada 2006 Kilowatt-hours 148,531

Canada 2005 Kilowatt-hours 150,986

United States 2007 Kilowatt-hours 1,392,241

United States 2006 Kilowatt-hours 1,351,520

United States 2005 Kilowatt-hours