Consumer preferences for wood surfaces – a latent variable approach

Only a few studies have been published examining consumer preferences for wooden surfaces (interior cladding). The purpose of the study was to develop and test measures for three four variables: preference, perceived harmony, reaction to complexity and perceived social status. For doing this, we used an experimental design where subjects were exposed to different sets of wooden surfaces. A total of 313 persons took part in our survey. Due to missing values, 35 questionnaires were discarded and we were left with 278 forms which amounted to 834 evaluations of wood surfaces. We estimated a revised measurement model. This study has concluded that preference for and perceived social status and perceived harmony of wood surfaces can be measured with satisfying reliability and validity. The study also found that several questions that have been used earlier had to be discarded as measures of the core constructs