Marketing Strategies for Certified Wood Flooring in China: The Gap in Manufacturers’ and Developers’ Perceived Benefits
Keywords:
wood flooring manufacturer, housing developer, perceived benefit of forest certification, CoC Certification, ChinaAbstract
With the development of finished houses in China supported by the government, housing developers
play a critical role in the purchase of flooring products. On the other hand, wood flooring
manufacturers know the importance of forest certification for export, but pay less attention to the
domestic market. This study evaluated both housing developers’ and wood flooring manufactures’
perceived benefits of forest certification in China, using a survey. For manufacturers, the three most
important benefits of adopting forest certification were to “meet foreign customers’ purchasing
requirements,” “support sustainable forestry and protect the environment,” and “meet corporate
social responsibility goals.” For housing developers, the most important benefits of using certified
flooring were to “acquire new consumers from domestic market (e.g., green consumer),” “achieve
product differentiation,” and “brand the house with high-end image.” The largest perception gap
between the two groups of respondents was with respect to “gain financial aids (e.g., tax and loan).”
The findings suggest that there is an increasing demand for forest certified products from housing
developers in China, which requires manufacturers to enhance their marketing strategies to meet
the domestic demands for certified flooring.
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