Customers’ perspectives on a residential development using the laddering method: Fid-Bau Portal

Customers’ perspectives on a residential development using the laddering method

Lundgren, Berndt A. / Lic, Tekn

Abstract Residential development is closely related to the question why some people buy in certain residential developments and others do not. The reason is obvious: if the product is not appreciated by consumers they will search for another alternative which will decrease the estimated market share for a specific residential project. The main idea in this study is to increase our understanding of how to design and build more attractive residential developments by evaluating buyers’ needs and preferences. Research concerning the means-end chain theory and the laddering technique has been quite extensive in the food industry but examples in residential development are rare. Laddering interviews were made with respondents who visited open house sales of a tenant-owned apartment on sale. We hypothesize that there exists a difference between bidders and non-bidders regarding their beliefs of functional and psychological consequences and abstract personal values. In our study we did not find any major difference in terminal values, but instrumental values do differ. This is true also for abstract product attributes and functional and psychological consequences. Professional developers and planners were able to use the beliefs of bidders and non-bidders to decide on a re-design of specific locations in the residential development of Frösunda, north of Stockholm, Sweden.