Investigating Consumer Perceptions by applying the Extended Association Pattern Technique : A Study on Wooden Multistory Houses

• Main Author: Schauerte, Tobias
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Växjö universitet, Institutionen för teknik och design 2009
• Subjects: Means-End Chain Theory; Means-End Theory; laddering technique; laddering; Association Pattern Technique; end use analysis; wooden multistory houses; timber construction; wood construction; wooden housing; Business and economics; Ekonomi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-6345; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:isbn:978-7636-689-9

During the past years, the usage of wood as construction material in multistory applications has increased. In Germany and Sweden, various activities have been, and are about to be performed, to accentuate and improve the position of wooden multistory houses. In line with that, this thesis tries to contribute to the understanding of how consumers perceive durable products; in the contextual frame of how German and Swedish consumers perceive wooden multistory houses. It was hypothesized that consumers’ perceptions on durable products differ, depending on their age, income, national and within-country habitation. Based on the Means-End Chain Theory, the Association Pattern Technique has been further developed to collect and analyze data for two samples. In Germany and Sweden, 31 respectively 34 laddering interviews have been carried out which formed the base for a survey-study in each country. Here, 229 surveys were received from German, and 503 from Swedish respondents. The results show that age, income, national and within-country habitation have significant impact on consumers’ perceptions of wooden multistory houses. Moreover, the extension of the Association Pattern Technique was validated. It allowed for additional data to be gathered, which can be regarded as rather important, since it appeared in the most dominant Means-End Chains of the respondents in both Germany and Sweden. This helps to understand consumers’ underlying reasons why one product is favoured over another.