Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 38 > Issue 1

Branding Wooden Multi-storey Construction – Real-Estate Agents as Gatekeepers for Enhancing Consumer Value in Housing

Katja Lähtinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland, katja.lahtinen@luke.fi , Liina Häyrinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland, Jaakko Jussila, Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland, Charlotta Harju, School of Marketing and Communication, University of Vaasa, Finland, Anne Toppinen, Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland, Ritva Toivonen, Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
 
Suggested Citation
Katja Lähtinen, Liina Häyrinen, Jaakko Jussila, Charlotta Harju, Anne Toppinen and Ritva Toivonen (2023), "Branding Wooden Multi-storey Construction – Real-Estate Agents as Gatekeepers for Enhancing Consumer Value in Housing", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 38: No. 1, pp 37-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/112.00000538

Publication Date: 15 Mar 2023
© 2023 K. Lähtinen, L. Häyrinen, J. Jussila, C. Harju, A. Toppinen and R. Toivonen
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
Binary logistic regressionBusiness ecosystemsConsumer choicesDifferentiationHousing expectationsMarketing
 

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In this article:
1. Introduction 
2. Literature Review: Construction Businesses and Roles of Real-Estate Agents in Housing Markets 
3. Theoretical Framework: Branding in the Housing Markets 
4. Methods 
5. Results and Discussion 
6. Conclusions 
References 

Abstract

Understanding of consumer value expectations in the Finnish multi-storey construction (MSC) markets is limited. Even less information exists on branding in the MSC businesses. Real-estate agents are powerful actors in the housing markets through their intermediary role between construction sector businesses and home purchasers. Despite this, their perceptions on the consumer value expectations or branding possibilities in the MSC markets has not been previously addressed. In our pilot study, by employing data gathered from real-estate agents from Finland in 2018 (n = 65, response rate 14%) we address the following questions: Based on real-estate agents’ perceptions, what are the housing value expectations of consumers in the Finnish multi-storey housing markets? Are there branding possibilities in those markets? Could wood be a source for branding in the MSC businesses? The quantitative and qualitative analysis show that branding opportunities exist. However, branding requires enhancing differentiation above traditional product-service thinking, which currently dominates MSC businesses.

DOI:10.1561/112.00000538

Companion

Journal of Forest Economics, Volume 38, Issue 1 Special Issue - Wooden Multi-storey Constructions in the Growing Bioeconomy: Articles Overiew
See the other articles that are part of this special issue.