Understanding perception of wood household furniture: application of a policy capturing approach

Consumer and retailer perceptions of wood household furniture were modeled using a policy capturing approach. A sample of consumers and retailers evaluated four pictures of wood furniture on eight visual cues deemed representative of the furniture purchasing environment. These cues were then regressed on respondents' judgment of willingness to pay for each furniture piece. The framework for analysis was the Brunswik lens model, which posits that the way an individual sees an object is determined by the cues the individual uses, and the importance of those cues, to process the stimulus. The results suggested that males and females employed different policies for integrating the cues associated with wood furniture, as did consumers and retailers. Species differences between oak and cherry also were detected. An implication of the study is the need for adaptive marketing strategies: to emphasize design quality to both male and females and to focus on character-marks and natural blemishes for males and grain consistency for females. Retailers seemed to use an entirely different set of cues. The findings provide further support for the notion that consumers are at least indifferent toward, and often agreeable to, character-marked products.