Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
International Comparison of Criteria for Buying Furniture
Susumu Matsuda
There are a lot of reports on general customers’ behavior, but I think that there are not so many
reports about it focusing on furniture. My research questions are “What criteria are important
for people when they buy furniture?” and “Do those criteria vary depending on the kinds of
furniture?” I investigated these issues by delivering questionnaires to Japanese and Australian
people. The results suggest that important criteria are different between the two populations,
but some piece of furniture had the same results. Finally, I hope that my study will be useful
for Japanese furniture shop.
世間には、数多くの消費者行動論について書かれた文献が存在するが、家具を購買する
際の消費者の行動について書かれたものはあまり存在しない。 そこで私は家具購買時
の消費者行動に興味を持ち、人々が家具を購買する際に何を重要視し、意思決定をする
のか。どのような要因が重要で、またそうでないのか。 加えて、家具の種類などで、
その重要視される要因は変わるのか。例えばイスとテーブルでは重要視される要因は違
うのか。これらの点に疑問を持ち、日本とオーストラリアでアンケート調査を実施し、
その傾向を明らかにした。 結果、全体として日本人とオーストラリアの人とでは重要
視される要因に相違が生じ、又その家具によっては同じ結果が出たものもあった。 最
後に、この研究が日本の家具店などの参考になることを望む。
Introduction
Companies try to sell their own merchandise to make a profit. Making a profit
is their main purpose and to maximize profit, they collect data to know the market.
They analyze the data and extract various criteria from the statistics.
Like this,
companies have a need to do marketing research and to check the customer behavior.
In my study, I investigated the important criteria when people buy furniture. There are
a lot of reports on general customer behavior, but I think there are not so many reports
about it on furniture.
Thus, studies like this will be useful for companies of furniture
as marketing research.
Background
My research is a study of customer behavior and I will first describe about the
connection between customer behavior and marketing.
According to Ikeo (1991),
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Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
many companies conduct marketing research to promote the sales. For marketing
research, there are needs to combine the measure of marketing like 4Ps (product, price,
promotion, and place), and to distribute money to these measures properly.
Then, in
order to appropriately distribute money, companies need to grasp the customer behavior.
Namely, companies need to study the customer behavior by conducting marketing
research.
In addition, international marketing is relevant when a company wants to expand
its market. Tauchi (1994) claims that, if a company advances aboard, it has to search
the chance of market in the global market and to connect to it their merchandise. To
do so, the company needs to know many things like the customer behavior, the market,
rivals, and so on.
My study shows the difference of ideas between Japanese and
Australians, so the results will be discussed in terms of international marketing.
Looking up the word “furniture” in a dictionary, it is defined as a kind of tool that
people use in daily life and fit up in a house. These are comparatively big things and
are further divided into two types.
the “built-in” type.
variety.
One is the “fit in a house” type and another one is
It is difficult for me to study the built-in type because of its wide
So in my study, I studied only the movable type.
My research questions are how people choose furniture and what criteria people
use when they buy one.
When we buy something, we use some criteria that we think
are important. There are a lot of criteria but I will focus on three representative criteria:
price, design, and brand.
First, thinking about price, if merchandise has a low price, do people always buy
it?
I don’t think low price is always good.
Sometimes high price merchandise gives
something to us. According to Michael (2003), the number of people who buy high
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Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
price merchandise is recently increasing. Some people buy it to treasure themselves
and others. They buy it as a present to family or others for the connection with them.
Like this, low price isn’t always appealing.
The brand is also important because it enables us to picture easily what the
merchandise is like.
Seimaru (2003) claims that people can infer a lot of things like
quality, price, safety from the brand name. For example, in the case of NISSAN, they
put their logo to all their cars.
brand.
By doing so, they try to unify the image of the NISSAN
Like this, it is important for companies to establish their brand to promote the
sales. In addition, if people have a good image of a brand, they will also have a good
image of the company.
As the result, their merchandise become good sellers.
According to Caron (1998), among the four elements of design, color, shape,
letter, and number, shape is the most important.
about mileage, safety, and other criteria.
seller depends mainly on its shape.
thanks to its unique shape.
When people buy a car, they think
However, whether a car becomes a good
For example, Volkswagen’s Beetle succeeded
Like this, design of the shape is very important.
Among the world of furniture, there are various kinds of furniture like bed, chair,
and table. Criteria that people think important will be different with each type of
furniture. In my main question, I compared differences about ten kinds of furniture,
bed (bedroom) bed (kids room), chair (dining room), table (dining room), table (living
room), table (kids room), sofa, bookshelf, cupboard, and wardrobe.
The reason why I compared the differences between Japanese and Australian
people is mainly because I had a chance to collect data from Australian local people.
This summer vacation, I went to Melbourne to study English and to get data for my
study.
For getting data from local people there, I had to speak English, so it was
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Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
“killing two birds with one stone.”
Data collection procedure
I conducted research by delivering questionnaires because I would like to know
the ideas of customers.
furniture.
I would like to know what people think when they buy
My study was on the behavior of consumers, so I would not be able to
understand consumers’ behavior only by interviewing shop assistants or by observing
customers.
I asked 50 Japanese and 50 Australian people to answer my questionnaires.
I can divide my questionnaires into two sections.
In the first section, I checked
the basic view of the two groups of people. I asked them three questions in this
section. First, I asked whether they are interested in furniture or not.
whether they do home carpentry or not.
Second, I asked
And the last question is a little complicated.
I asked them whether they would choose buying or making furniture when they found a
favorite piece whose construction is simple and whose price is a little high.
They
choose each opinion, and then they choose a reason. Using these three questions, I
compare the basic view of them.
After I checked people’s basic view, I asked them what criteria are important
when they buy the ten kinds of furniture in the second section.
I prepared the ten kinds
of criteria and furniture, and they put their importance in order, first, second, and third.
The reason why I asked about so many different kinds is because I think important
criteria will be different depending on the type of furniture.
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Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
Results
I will present the results of the first section. Question 1 is about their personal
information.
I would like to gather the same number of answers from each generation.
However I didn’t have so much time to collect data in Australia, so it was impossible for
me.
In stead, I tried to make the distribution comparable between Japanese and
Australians.
Figure 1. Age groups (Australia)
10
male
female
8
6
4
2
61
+
51
-60
41
-50
31
-40
20
-30
0
Figure 2. Age groups (Japan)
10
male
female
8
6
4
2
61
+
51
-60
41
-50
31
-40
20
-30
0
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Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
In question 2 and question 3, I asked whether they are interested in furniture and
they make furniture themselves.
I gathered the answers, and then I noticed that most
people in both countries are interested in furniture but they don’t make one.
Figure 3. Interests in furniture
Australia
Japan
0%
20%
yes
no
yes
no
40%
60%
80%
100%
Figure 4. Do you do home carpentry?
Australia
yes
no
yes
no
Japan
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
In question 4, I asked if they choose buying or making furniture when they found
a favorite piece whose construction is simple and whose price is a little high. After
they chose an opinion, they chose the reason.
The results are on the next page.
From Figure 5 and Tables 1 and 2, many people chose buying and the main reasons
were “Making is troublesome.” and “There is a possibility of failure.” Australian
people who chose making outnumbered the Japanese counterpart, but the tendency of
both groups was similar.
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Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
Figure 5. Make or buy?
make
Australia
buy
japan
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Table 1. The reason for making
Australia
10%
10%
8%
4%
5
5
4
2
make
(1) It is cheaper.
(2) To get an original one.
(3) know how to make
(4) other
1
2
1
0
Japan
2%
4%
2%
0%
Table 2. The reason for buying
Australia
38%
19
22%
11
8%
4
buy
(1) troublesome
(2) possibility of failure
(3) other
Japan
25
50%
19
38%
2
4%
From these results, I noticed that the basic view of Australian people toward
furniture is similar to that of Japanese people. So I can compare easily the difference
of ideas between the two groups of people when they buy furniture.
In the second section, I asked them what I really wanted to know.
buy furniture, what criteria do they think are important?
furniture for the reason stated above.
When they
I asked about the 10 kinds of
I presented two beds (one is for the bed room,
and the other is for the kid’s room), a chair (dining), three tables (one is for the dining
room, another is for the living room, and the other for the kid’s room), a sofa, a
bookshelf, a cupboard, and wardrobe.
The figure in the top of the next page is the
result of the total.
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Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
Figure 6. Important criteria in total
Australia
Japan
0%
Price
Brand
20%
40%
Design
Function
60%
Safety
Material
80%
100%
Using feeling
Produced nation
Australian people think that design is the most important, price is the second, and
safety is the third. I think that this is related to their sense of beauty. Speaking of the
Japanese people, they think that price is the most important, design is the second, and
using feeling is the third.
I think that Japanese people are concerned more about cost.
I will discuss this later.
Moreover, there is a similarity.
Both groups of people think that safety is the
most important criterion when they buy children’s furniture. Look at Figure 7.
Figure 7. A bed for the kid’s room
Australia
Japan
0%
Price
Brand
20%
40%
Design
Function
60%
Safety
Material
80%
100%
Using feeling
Produced nation
Like this, I can understand the difference and similarity between the two groups.
Discussion
I found that a lot of Japanese and Australian people were interested in furniture
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Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
from the result of question 2.
Before I asked some people using the questionnaires, I
expected that about 50% of people were interested in furniture. However, the result
shows that much more people were interested in it.
Next, according to the result of question 3, I found that not many people do home
carpentry. I anticipated that a lot of Australian people made furniture by themselves
because the country of Australia has a lot of natural resources and many building
materials seem to be cheaper than those in Japan. However, my expectation was
completely opposite.
From question 4, I found their view about buying furniture.
If they find
furniture which they want to get, although its price is a little high and construction is
simple, they would buy it.
The main reasons are “making is troublesome” and “there
is a possibility of failure.” I expected that 50% of both Australian and Japanese people
would make it themselves, but it was not correct.
From the last question, I found that how people choose furniture. Australian
people think that design is most important when they buy almost all kinds of furniture.
I think that this is due to their sense of beauty.
For example, there are a large number
of graffiti on the wall of buildings or houses from place to place.
station is filled with graffiti.
The platform of each
In addition, most of them have a high sense.
they are very cool and beautiful.
I think that
A lot of Australians may have a high sense. That is
probably why people are particular about the design of furniture.
Moreover, Japanese people think price is most important in general. I think this is
because Japanese people have a particular idea about money. Sometimes high price is
good, and sometimes low price is good. According to Michael (2003), Japanese people
sometimes buy high price merchandise for showing it off.
I sometimes buy high price
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Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
merchandise that I don’t want to get. For example, I think that any watch is O.K. if it
works.
However, I would like to get the Rolex’s watch for showing it off now.
In
reverse, I want to get low price merchandise, too. When I buy some food, I would like
to get them as cheaply as possible. Like this, Japanese people have unique idea about
money, so they first think about price.
Then, only when they buy furniture for the kid’s room, they think that safety is
the most important criterion.
I think they place emphasis on safety as parents love
their children, which affects their decision to purchase.
important criterion.
As a result, safety is the most
I think that this is a universal idea.
Conclusion
Both groups of people have the same view in basic point but have different ways
of thinking about criteria like Japanese think price is important whereas Australian think
design is. In addition, I can understand that they have same ideas when they buy
furniture for the kid’s room.
Like this, I can realize the difference and similarity of
both countries.
References
Ikeo, kyouichi(池尾 恭一) . (1991). 『消費者行動とマーケティング戦略』東京：
千倉書房.
Tauchi ,Kouichi (田内 幸一)&Horide, Ichiro（堀出 一郎）. (1994). 『国際マーケ
ティング』東京：中央経済社
Michael J. Silverstein, Neil Fiske & John Butman(2003). 『なぜ高くても買ってしま
うのか。』東京：ダイヤモンド社
Seimaru, Keizaburo(清丸 恵三郎). (2003). 『ブランド力』 東京：PHP 研究所
Caron, Geraral (1998) 『メッセージするデザイン』 東京：主婦の友社
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Student Papers in Business Administration, No. 1 (2006)
Appendix A
This is the questionnaire that I delivered to 50 Japanese and 50 Australian people.
Questionnaire about furniture
Susumu Matsuda, Hokkai Gakuen University student
１,Please tell me about yourself.
‹
‹
Gender
Age
(Please circle the appropriate description.)
Man or Woman
20-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
60+
２、Are you interested in furniture? （Please circle.）
Yes
or No
３、Do you do home carpentry?（Please circle.）
Yes
or No
４、Next, I would like to ask about your view of furniture.
Image you go to a furniture shop and found a piece that suits your taste at the shop. Its
construction is simple and price is a little high. Will you still buy it? Please choose (1) or
(2) below and then one of the reason.
（１）You will make it by yourself because
It is cheaper.
You want to get a original one.
You knew how to make it.
other（
）
（２）You will buy it because
Making is troublesome.
there is a possibility of failure.
other（
）
５、When do you buy the following types of furniture, considerations are important to you. Many
types of furniture are in vertical line, and many considerations are in side line. The example is given
on the top. (When I buy a car, I think Safety is most important, Design and color is 2nd, and
Function is 3rd.)
Please place below in turn which you think important, and write your order
until 3rd. In addition, if you have another factor, please write your order in “other”.
notation of the room （L）→Living room
Price
Car（Ex.）
Design
Safety
２
１
(D)→Dining room （B）→Bed room (K)→Kids room
Using
feeling
Brand
Function
Material
Produced
nation
３
Bed (B)
Bed (K)
Chair (D)
Table (D)
Table（L）
Table (K)
Sofa（L）
Bookshelf
Cupboard
Wardrobe
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Other
Faculty of Business Administration, Hokkai-Gakuen University
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