MARKETING INNOVATION, MARKET FOCUS, BUILDING CONFIDENCE TO CONSUMERS AND THE QUALITY OF PRODUCTS THAT AFFECT THE SUCCESS OF THE BUSINESS OF FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS, EXPORTERS OF THAILAND

Abstract Encouraging entrepreneurs in Thailand's furniture exports is a response to the market trends in the global furniture business. Thailand's top five furniture export destinations are the United States, Japan, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. The exports to these countries have been continuously conducted during the recent periods of time. At present, the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused furniture exporters in Thailand to face many problems, as well as lack of competitiveness at both regional and global levels where there has a greater number of competitors. The furniture export business is therefore inefficient. The objectives of this research were to: 1) study levels of marketing innovations, market focus, establishment of consumer confidence, product quality, and the success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters; 2) examine influences of marketing innovations, market focus, establishment of consumer confidence, and product quality on the success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters; and 3) develop a model for the success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters. This research employed a mixed research methodology combining quantitative and qualitative methods. For the quantitative research part, the research sample consisted of 380 Thai furniture exporters. The sample size was determined based on the criterion of 20 times the observed variables. They were selected via stratified sampling. Data were collected with the use of a questionnaire and analyzed with a structural equation model. As for the qualitative research component, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 key informants including executives and experts in Thai furniture export business. The findings showed that:1)product quality, establishment of consumer confidence, market focus, marketing innovations, and the success in the operation of Thai furniture exporters were rated at a high level; 2) product quality, establishment of consumer confidence, marketing innovations, and market focus had an influence on success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters, with a.05 level of statistical significance; and 3) the model for the success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters, developed by the researcher, was called QCIFS Model, consisting of Q (referring to product quality), C (referring to building consumer confidence), I (referring to marketing innovations), , F (referring to market focus), and S (referring to success in the operation of Thai furniture exporters). In addition, the qualitative research findings also revealed that in creating the success in the operation of the Thai furniture exporters, the entrepreneurs should study both formal and informal customer requirements in each country, synthesize the findings, and use them to design the products to meets with the needs of the majority of customers in the countries which were the export destinations. These research findings can be applied as the guidelines in formulating a policy to support the operation of the Thai furniture exporters. Quality of the products should be used to build consumers’ confidence by utilizing marketing innovations and market focus which serve as the pull factors in the consumers’ purchasing decisions. Besides, marketing competitiveness of the Thai furniture export business can also be developed through the quality of products and services