The Brother Company had a study conducted in a controlled environment to determine consumers’ reaction to promotional materials and the influence of printed material. It has been  found that the printing on A3 format usually provides a competitive advantage, and, moreover, allows small companies to produce the impression of larger companies.

The study was conducted by Professor Richard Wiseman, one of Europe’s top human behaviour psychologists and a best-selling author.

The results show that companies using the wide format A3 printing for marketing materials look 21% more successful, 13% more competent and 12% larger than companies printing on A4 paper.

Commentign on the results, Professor Wiseman said that they were impressive, and they suggest that people make important conclusions about the company in few first seconds by viewing the promotional materials.

Professor believes that people probably don’t realize that they associate more wide-printed materials with more successful companies, and thus more inclined to deal with such organizations.

According to annual research of FORTUNE magazine in the field of business reputation, Xerox was named the most admired company in computer industry in 2008. Xerox hit the top from its 5th position it hold previous year.

FORTUNE magazine in association with Hay Group consulting firm have surveyed CEOs, directors and analysts of several organization to assess 1400 companies for such criteria as innovation, long-term investment and global competitiveness. Xerox has been ranked No. 1 in computer industry for the use of corporate assets, quality of management and social responsibility.

Click the picture to view Xerox’s rating at FORTUNE.com

Anne Mulcahy, CEO and Chairman of Board, Xerox, says it is the team, the brand and the innovation being the most valuable assets that the company was ranked so high. She also noted that Xerox invests heavily into these resources, develops them, and is aware that every company employee contributes to the reputation of the company on the market.

“We are tremendously proud to receive such an assessment from the business community. It reflects Xerox’s old traditions of providing high quality services, developing global technologies and responsibility for the employees and the society”, adds Anne Mulcahy. “It is also important that recognition of Xerox as the most admired company in the industry raises the bar in our future work.”

“A company that effectively works and keeps its good name for 75 consequent years, in times of stability and in times economic slowdowns, is respected a lot more than a company that succeeded during economic boom.” And there are grounds for that”, says Geoff Colvin, chief editor of FORTUNE, in his review of the survey. “The harder a reputation is earned, the more valuable it is.”

In Toner Cartridge Depot store you can find over 500 toner cartidges for Xerox laser printers.

In a study on reliability in 2008 made by PCWorld magazine, printers were found slightly more reliable than desktops or laptops. About 3 in 10 respondents reported having one or more significant hardware or software problems with their printers during the preceding year. That figure correlates neatly with customer satisfaction: Two-thirds of users said that they were either very satisfied or extremely satisfied with their printers.

Canon is to printers what Apple is to desktops and laptops: Simply put, our readers love their products. Like last year, the vendor garnered high marks in eight of nine categories, missing only on the “Problem was never resolved” measure.

Meanwhile Hewlett-Packard, which earned five below-average scores, stays on the schneid. Indeed HP’s printer grades in 2008 are worse than they were last year, when it collected subpar marks in just two areas (“Any significant problem” and “Average phone service”). Readers deemed HP printers average–up from below average–in usability this year. In any event, despite its poor showing, HP retains a commanding share of the market: Of the 16,000-plus readers who participated in the printer assessment, half use an HP inkjet or laser printer.

Lexmark didn’t fare much better than HP did, though it did improve on last year’s results. Our readers slapped it with it four subpar grades, down from six last year. Specifically, our readers indicate that Lexmark still needs to upgrade its printers’ usability and reliability; its phone support is improving, however, as is its ability to resolve customer problems.

Kodak dropped a bit this year, too, slipping to a below-average score (for three total) in ease of use.

If you work in an office, chances are you don’t change the copier or printer cartridge because it’s too messy or you just don’t know how to do it. That’s according to a new Zogby survey, commissioned by Xerox, of more than 2,000 office workers across the U.S. aimed to better understand some of the reasons behind office printing habits.

Of those surveyed, more than 1,000 respondents said they have experienced a mess when changing a printer/copier toner cartridge.

The mess, plus a lack of knowledge on how to change a printer cartridge, is why more than 10 percent of respondents typically put off printing until someone else changes the toner cartridges.

And though environmental stewardship is on the rise, not everyone knows exactly what happens to the empty printer cartridges once they are removed. Nearly one in five respondents said the old office printer/copier cartridges simply get thrown in the trash.

Enter Xerox’s Phaser 8560 and 8860 Solid Ink printers and MFPs – devices that are easy to use, produce incredible color prints, and are great for the environment. At the heart of these devices are non-toxic, crayon-like sticks of mess-free, solid ink. Users simply unwrap the recycled packaging and place the stick into slots on the top of the device (This can be done even while the machine is on). The packaging goes into the office recycle bin, and the ink sticks are melted and sprayed onto a drum, which is rolled and pressed onto the paper for crisp, vibrant prints.

Gone are the days of having to roll up the sleeve and change bulky, messy toner or inkjet cartridges.