Perceptions of Wooden Multifamily Houses : Applying an Extended Association Pattern Technique

During the past years, wooden one and two family houses showed a higher growth rate on the German construction market compared to conventional material like brick and stone. Wood as construction material became more and more attractive. Furthermore, a growing demand on multifamily houses could be recognized, yet, wood has not been considered as an alternative in this field of application until now. Trying to understand the end-users attitudes towards wooden multifamily houses, this licentiate thesis aims at exploring German end-users’ perceptions of wooden multifamily houses. To collect the necessary data, the Association Pattern Technique (APT) was applied, which is a two-stage method and has its foundations in the Means-End theory. In the first stage, 31 in-depth laddering interviews were carried out, which served as the base for the matrix-survey in the second stage, where 229 answers were received. Extending the existing method in the matrix-survey stage allowed for important additional data to be uncovered. The results show that individuals associate certain product attributes with wooden multifamily houses and that these attributes are thought to entail specific consequences. These consequences are in turn linked with the personal values of the respondents. The most dominant perceptual orientations of different groups of respondents are shown and significant differences could be found in how individuals in German perceive wooden multifamily houses depending on age, income and habitation