WGI completes consumer research

From the moment a diamond is entrusted to the World Gemological Institute (WGI) until the moment it is returned to the client with its grading results and report,it is handled and assessed with the utmost care,security and expertise by our team of highly-trained gemologists and support staff. Using state of the art instruments and industry-respected grading procedures,the World Gemological Institute identifies, assesses and grades each diamond according to the strict standards to which WGI is committed.Every diamond examined at our institute proceeds through.

Eli Avidar, Managing Director of the IDI Group of Companies, said that the research was an important element in WGI’s marketing efforts in the United States.

We place tremendous importance on meeting the needs of the U.S. market. We believe that WGI has a great deal to offer in the U.S. Israel exported $3.7 billion in polished diamonds to the U.S. in 2007, which is about half of all polished diamond imports to this market in dollar terms.

We engaged the Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC), the research division of MVI Marketing Ltd. (MVI), to carry out this research because we wanted to insure that our grading reports and services would be useful for consumers as well as retailers, said Barak Green, World Gemological Institute Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for the United States.

Everyone can agree on the importance of providing retailers with the tools they need to increase their business, but we hadn’t seen any mention before of detailed consumer research being carried out to make sure that grading reports and their use at the sales counter were also beneficial to consumers and satisfied what they came to the store expecting in terms of service and information. Just one of many interesting findings from the research was that a majority of people stated that they would like to be presented with diamond grading reports once they’ve narrowed their choices down to 2 or 3 diamonds, rather than only at the very end of the transaction. This runs counter to the practice we have seen in many retail stores to only provide the grading reports once the sale has been completed, Green added.

The World Gemological Institute is currently providing the findings of this research to retailers, as well as a selection from the findings to the diamond trade press and other diamond organizations at industry trade shows and other venues. “The research is interesting, not only because it supports several traditional beliefs about the consumer retail experience but also because it shows how consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their research and purchasing practices, Green stated.

Source : http://www.worldgemology.org/

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