Consumer preferences for secondhand furniture
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2021
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Information and Service Management (ISM)
Language
en
Pages
83
Series
Abstract
With globally growing environmental concerns, consumers increasingly consider sustainability when they make purchase decisions. The market for secondhand furniture is increasing due to environmental concerns, economic reasons, and the increasing availability of secondhand furniture. However, the recycling rate of furniture items remains low. This thesis examined consumer preferences towards secondhand furniture - what makes such furniture desirable, and identified various consumer segments with different preferences and thus motivations to choose secondhand furniture over new furniture items. The study was divided into three main parts: first, attributes of secondhand furniture were identified through a literature review. Secondly, focus-group interviews were conducted to further define the list of attributes. Finally, an online survey utilizing the best-worst scaling methodology was used to measure preferences for different attributes for secondhand furniture, using a dresser as an example. It also measured the respondents’ attitudes towards sustainability and interest in secondhand furniture. The results revealed six consumer segments with differing preferences through Latent Class Analysis. The “Condition” segment prefers secondhand items to look new, and is not motivated by sustainability. They might choose a secondhand product in good condition if they can get a higher quality item. The “Quality” segment values high quality the most, and is not very price sensitive. They are somewhat interested in sustainability, so they are likely motivated by both quality and sustainability. The “Story” segment is motivated by the item having an interesting history, while the “Sustainability” group chooses secondhand due to environmental reasons. The “Sustainability” section also has the highest interest towards both sustainability and secondhand furniture. The “Uniqueness” segment chooses secondhand to get something unique, and the “Price” segment is mainly motivated by a lower price, and has the lowest interest towards both sustainability and secondhand furniture.Description
Thesis advisor
Halme, MerjaKeywords
consumer preferences, secondhand furniture, best-worst scaling, maxdiff, clustering