What Really Happens Behind the Scenes at Consumer Reports

I’ve teamed up with Consumer Reports and am proud to be one of their paid brand ambassadors; my personal opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports has been a staple in the consumer marketplace for decades and just celebrated it’s 80th anniversary. But, aside from the monthly print magazines and those red circle ratings, what do you really know about the organization? Though I respect and trust Consumer Reports as a reliable resource for big purchases, that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I knew nothing of what the brand was about, how tests and reviews were conducted, or what kind of value it provided to real-world families like mine. Last month, as a Consumer Report Ambassador, I was invited to go behind the scenes at the Consumer Reports headquarters in Yonkers, New York. It was fascinating!

First of all, I had no idea that the organization was non-profit. It’s supported by subscription fees, donations, and grants. From that pool, all review products are purchased outright. This fact, combined with the standing policy of no advertisers, assures readers that all reviews are 100% unbiased.

Getting to Know Consumer Reports

There have been some changes, though. New efforts have been put into place to re-establish the brand, widen relevancy, and to reintroduce CR to a more diverse audience. The organization is focused on shedding the image of a bunch of experts in lab coats, conducting tests that are inaccessible.

The most obvious change is the new branding. Not only is the font and layout different, but now the main color used is a bright green. In many cultures, red is associated with something bad such as to stop or as a warning of danger. However, green has the opposite meaning. You will also notice the shortened “CR” for an easily recognizable logo.

Based on feedback from consumers, rating icons were revamped as well. Ratings now go from left (bad) to right (good), mimic traffic light colors (green, yellow, and red), and make use of a chevron designs for those that are colorblind. I have to say, those funny red circles always confused me and I had to reference the table key all the time. The new icons have a fresh look and make it so much easier to read if a product is recommended and why.

Behind the Scenes of Product Testing at Consumer Reports

Then it was time to see how some of the testing actually goes. Consumer Reports has 50 labs with about 100 employees in them. We didn’t have time to visit them all but we did get to peek in at the labs for food sensory, audio, vacuums, mobile devices, and cars.

Testing food can be tricky. People’s tastes and preferences are different. Plus, one’s opinions can be swayed if leading questions are asked, if items look different, or even due to a person’s age or gender. We experienced this first hand with two cups of gelatin.It was actually the same exact thing but different food coloring for both. Yet, most everyone described them with differing levels of sweetness, sourness, and saltiness. The taste testing team receives ongoing training to remain objective and to reduce bias. Multiple tests are conducted and items such as ovens are often re-calibrated and rotated for the same reasons. To decide what to test, the food sensory team often looks into current food trends and interests.

Test testing samples.

Example setup.

Food Sensory expert.

It was so interesting to see how vacuums are tested. The same number of passes are made on each machine on hard floors, on carpets, and in corners. Testers check the weight of debris collected, look at ease of use, grid patterns (automatic robotic vacuums), emissions of fine particles, effectiveness with pet fur (cat fur, currently from an employee’s Maine Coon, is used), and price to value ratios.

Upright vacuums for testing.

Stick vacuum hard floor test.

Robotic vacuum grid patterns.

For cell phones, some pretty rigorous hardware testing happens. The team tests for speed, for water resistance (in a pressure chamber that mimic being under varying amounts of water), battery life, camera quality and more. Again, no review or pre-production units are used, employees have to purchase phones the way regular consumers do either by pre-order or standing in line overnight. Sometimes, many phones of the same phone (*cough* iPhone) are bought to speed up testing. Also, some phones require a special storage solution (*side eye* Samsung Note).

Cell phone throwback collection.

Testing several devices of the same model to save time.

Samsung phone storage.

The audio department makes use of an anechoic chamber. This room is isolated to reduce vibration, uses quiet lights, keeps constant air pressure, and fiberglass lines the room including the ceiling and floors (with a metal grating to stand on). Everything sounded so strange with ZERO echo in the room. Using special instrumentation without the high-frequency sound, the team tests audio equipment for noise canceling and wind noise.

For automotive reviews, Consumer Reports has a 320-acre facility in Connecticut. About 70 cars undergo some 50 different tests. They don’t test every model of every brand each year. Instead, the team only re-tests a model if it there was a major design change that significantly impacts the performance. Lanes were added in October to prepare for tests for autonomous vehicles. Car accessories, such as car seats, tires, and pet restraints are also tested. For car lovers in your life, make sure you check out and bookmark this list of top-rated products.

To end the day, we sat down with department heads for open discussions on privacy and money. They wanted to know what we liked about some of the current articles, what we didn’t like, what issues currently face our community, suggestions to make the information more appealing, etc. It was refreshing to know that our ideas were being taken seriously and hopefully some of them will be implemented in future articles.

A New, Improved View of Consumer Reports

Whew, that was one jam-packed day of information! I gained a new respect for the organization as well as for the hard-working employees who strive to provide us with better, smarter choices. Also, seeing how the tests are conducted makes me trust the end reviews and ratings that much more.

Before I let you go, here are a few more points as you get to know Consumer Reports.

• Visit the site and poke around.
• For a concise collection of the best products to buy for yourself or your loved ones, check out the 2016 Gift Guide as well as the Daily Gift Guide for more ideas.
• In the coming year, Consumer Reports plan to test more than 4,000 products. You will also see reports on topics such as keeping your money safe, choosing smart healthcare options, making sense of all the new gadgets and technologies, and advocating for the rights and protection of consumers.
• Giving Tuesday is November 29. On this day, tax-deductible donations to Consumer Reports will be doubled.

I’ve teamed up with Consumer Reports and am proud to be one of their paid brand ambassadors; my personal opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Consumer Reports.