Consumer acceptance of Wood-Polymer Composites: a conjoint analytical approach with a focus on innovative and environmentally concerned consumers

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWood-Polymer Composites (WPCs) can contribute towards resource efficiency as they mainly consist of wood by-products and/or waste materials. The eco-innovative materials represent a hybrid solution on the 'two-evils' continuum' constituted by the competing materials of wood and plastics; the former being too expensive and resource consuming in mass consumption, the latter cheap but environmentally hazardous. However, consumer acceptance of WPCs is questioned due to the merger of components consumers perceive as being contradictory (wood and plastics). Additionally, it is discussed whether consumers' innovativeness enhances WPC acceptance, while eco-friendly consumers may reject WPCs because of environmental concerns related with the synthetic components.To determine the potential market for products made of eco-innovative materials, two Germanlanguage online studies (n ¼ 198, n ¼ 357) were created to examine consumer acceptance of WPCs in relation to the competing materials. Study 1 introduced a 3 (material: wood, WPC, plastics) Â 2 (appearance: wooden or synthetic) within-subject design. Consistent with the expectations, study 1 showed a clear preference for wood over plastics based on a convenient sample. WPCs remained in the centre position, even for environmentally concerned consumers. Study 2 was conducted to replicate the findings with a representative sample. It additionally considered consumer innovativeness and included further product categories. WPCs only slightly deviated from the centre position in study 2. Mostly important, study 2 proved that the higher the environmental concern and the innovativeness of consumers, the more WPCs were accepted. When taken together, the results point to a greater WPC market than previous research had indicated. In general, premature concerns about innovative materials can be prevented by consumer acceptance studies examining the new materials' position in a surrounding 'multi evils' continuum'.

Indicators of Consumers’ Preferences for Bio-Based Apparel: A German Case Study with a Functional Rain Jacket Made of Bioplastic

“…Thus, hypothesis H6 "Higher innovation-friendly increases consumers' preferences for a high percentage of bioplastic in the fabric of bio-based apparel" is supported. This result is in line with previous studies showing that consumer innovativeness promotes the adoption of innovative green products [13,59,62].…”

“…Innovation-friendly: Consumers' innovativeness is also an important driver for the adoption of environmentally friendly product innovations, as found by Tellis et al [59], Rahman et al [60] and Jansson [61]. Recently, Osburg et al [62] showed that choices for wood-plastic composites over conventional plastics correlated with the respondents' innovativeness. Furthermore, Scherer et al [13] revealed that ecologically sensitive respondents are more innovative.…”

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“…Wood plastic composites (WPCs) are an eco‐innovative material mainly consisting of post‐consumer recycled wood and plastic . They are also relatively low‐cost composite materials with superior or comparable performance to traditionally used materials .…”

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“…It was first developed in 1964 for psychometric studies, and it was used in marketing studies by Green and Rao (). It remains an important research method and has been widely applied in many studies, especially those focusing on products and consumers (e.g., Acosta et al, ; Almli, Øvrum, Hersleth, Almøy, & Næs, ; Arenoe, van der Rest, & Kattuman, ; Bech‐Larsen & Grunert, ; Cai & Aguilar, ; Lima Filho, Della Lucia, Lima, & Minim, ; Lebeau, Macharis, & Van Mierlo, ; Rokka & Uusitalo, ; Osburg, Strack, & Toporowski, ; Zimmermann et al, ).…”

“…Presuppositions are not necessary in cluster analysis, while it supplies ways to apply post hoc, or cluster‐based segments, and the core idea is to let the data speak for themselves for seeking consumer groups who share common trade‐offs, attitude, preference towards products (Green et al, ). Many market research studies have applied cluster analysis based on the outputs of conjoint analysis—importance and utilities of attributes which construct the preferences—carrying out a post hoc segmentation (Annunziata & Vecchio, ; Claret et al, ; Ferreira, Maia, & Boubeta, ; Font I Furnols et al, ; Kim, Son, & Sohn, ; Lopes, ; Osburg et al, ; Picón, ; Rokka & Uusitalo, ; Wu, Liao, & Chatwuthikrai, ).…”