A conjoint analysis of consumer preferences for selected resource-efficient housing building materials

The objective of this study is to investigate the preferences of new home purchasers with respect to combinations of selected resource efficient materials that represent substitutes for the more standardized housing materials currently utilized in Phoenix, Arizona. The nature of this latent or counterfactual market can be analyzed directly via survey instrument. In order to maximize recognition of the substitute products by respondents, and to minimize potential intervening or omitted variables which may influence housing preferences, the materials selected for analysis were confined to structural elements. Recycled steel studs and finger-jointed studs were utilized as the resource efficient components.; Two survey instruments were designed and administered to new home purchasing households within Phoenix, Arizona. Both surveys included two fixed factors at two fixed levels per factor and employed random assignment of respondents to treatments. One survey presented four separate treatment combinations on the basis of varying the source and credibility of the resource efficient information, with two price levels. This survey also began with three leading questions, referencing additional resource efficient versus standard material choices. The second survey presented four treatments with varying standard and resource efficient substitutes with two price levels. The latter survey reflected a repeated measures design congruent with full factorial conjoint measurement. Both surveys also included demographic questions and seven environmental questions adapted from other research.; The two survey instruments provided a convergent methodology for analyzing consumer preferences. While pre-planned specific statistical hypotheses were developed, a broad working hypothesis can be articulated as follows:; Given comparable construction methods and pricing, new home consumer preferences for building materials are related to the resource efficiency of selected recycled building materials.; The results of the first survey revealed meaningful and substantive interaction effect(s), although only the price effect was statistically significant. The repeated measures design in the second instrument proved to be more efficient in terms of statistical power and afforded a basis for discriminant analysis and more extensive conjoint measurement.; The mixed results confirm a connection between resource efficiency and housing preferences. The results also form a basis for further research with implications for housing developers and builders.