Prof. Roger Beahm featured in U.S. News & World Report

Much of what drives that cost reduction is of the rising cost of raw materials, says Roger Beahm, executive director of the Center for Retail Innovation at Wake Forest University School of Business.

“Competitive and trade pressures keep the manufacturer from raising prices too fast. So manufacturers look elsewhere to find ways of offsetting these raw-material cost increases. These factors reduce product longevity and, relatedly for some products, durability,” Beahm says.

How long should your household purchases last? That’s the question reporter Geoff Williams put to Roger Beahm, executive director of the WFU School of Business Center for Retail Innovation for a story in the May 5 U.S News & World Report Money section:

If you want to know more about the life expectancy of your big-ticket purchases, read the rest of the story…