Consumer Expectation Test
Definition
A design-defect test asking whether the product failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable way.
- Field
- Product liability engineering
- Question asked
- Did the product perform as safely as an ordinary user would expect
- Applies to
- Design-defect claims
- Use condition
- Intended or reasonably foreseeable use
Common questions
How does the consumer expectation test differ from the risk-utility test?+
The consumer expectation test asks a jury to judge the product against ordinary user expectations, without requiring expert testimony on alternative designs. The risk-utility test instead weighs the product's risks against its benefits and often requires an engineer to show a feasible, safer alternative design existed at the time.
When is the consumer expectation test hard to apply?+
It struggles with complex products where an ordinary consumer has no intuitive baseline for safe performance, such as industrial machinery or pharmaceutical formulations, which is why many jurisdictions default to risk-utility analysis for technically complex products and reserve consumer expectation for simpler, everyday goods.
Related terms
- Design Defect
- A flaw present in every unit of a product because the product category itself was conceived in a way that made it...
- Failure to Warn
- A claim that the manufacturer failed to provide adequate instructions or warnings about a non-obvious risk, such that a user could not...
- Foreseeable Misuse
- A use of a product that the manufacturer could reasonably predict, even though it differs from the intended purpose. Courts may hold...
- Manufacturing Defect
- A deviation in a specific production unit from the manufacturer's approved design specification, occurring during manufacturing, assembly, or handling before sale. The...
- Risk-Utility Test
- A design-defect test that weighs the probability and severity of harm, the burden of adopting a safer alternative design, and the utility...