Products consisting of materials based on renewable resources: Drivers of purchase intention, consumers' information needs and target groups

by Victoria-Sophie Osburg
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:2015-05-13
Date of issue:2015-05-20
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Waldemar Toporowski
Referee:Prof. Dr. Waldemar Toporowski
Referee:Prof. Dr. Lutz M. Kolbe
Referee:Prof. Dr. Margarete Boos
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-5080

 

 

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Abstract

English

This thesis is about consumer acceptance of products consisting of materials which are based on renewable resources. The focus is on wood-based materials, including solid wood but also by-products and wood waste, as only the combination of these materials facilitates resource efficiency. The thesis differs between traditional (e.g., solid wood, particleboards) and innovative (e.g., Wood-Polymer Composites (WPCs)) wood-based materials, with different research questions arising while depending on the material’s novelty. Three studies address the derived research questions. Considering traditional wood-based materials, current research points to environmental certification as an approach to promote eco-friendly consumer choices. However, as consumers increasingly become confused by the high amount of certification labels they are confronted with every day, a traceability system-based provision of detailed wood product information is suggested as an approach to ensure consumers’ product trust and purchase intention. Results from study 1 reveal that ten out of 18 investigated wood product information items should be conveyed to consumers and that three out of four consumer segments value the information provision (an environmentally oriented, an environmentally and quality oriented, and a quality oriented segment). With regard to innovative wood-based materials, consumer acceptance is first examined and target groups are identified. Consumers’ choices of WPC products are assessed in relation to the competing materials of solid wood and full plastics. Study 2 and study 3 show a clear preference for solid wood over full plastics, while the choices of WPC are around the center. While previous research questioned whether WPC products are accepted by eco-friendly consumers due to the synthetic component, the studies reveal that consumers with a high environmental concern and innovativeness show a higher WPC acceptance than the average. Finally, factors influencing consumer acceptance of WPC products are investigated in study 3 based on a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) framework. The intention to buy WPC products is determined by the attitude towards environmental and innovative product aspects as well as the subjective norm with the latter being the most important predictor. Consumers’ choices are assessed with a choice-based conjoint analysis and predicted by purchase intention and perceived behavioral control. Overall, the results from the three studies provide important implications for the marketing of wood-based materials, for business information science to design a traceability system providing consumers with valued product information and for material sciences which aim at a further development of traditional and innovative wood-based materials based on consumer requirement.
Keywords: Wood product; WPCs; consumer acceptance; product information; conjoint analysis; consumer behavior; green marketing
 
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