Abstract
Consumer acceptance of new bio-based products plays a key role in the envisioned transition towards a forest-based bioeconomy. Multi-storey wooden buildings (MSWB) exemplify a modern, bio-based business opportunity for enacting low-carbon urban housing. However, there is limited knowledge about the differing perceptions consumers hold regarding wood as an urban building material. To fill this gap, this study explores Finnish students’ perceptions of MSWB relative to their familiarity with wooden residential buildings, and then connects these perceptions to ‘consumption styles.’ Data were collected in the Helsinki metropolitan area via an online questionnaire (n = 531). The results indicate that the aesthetic appearance of MSWB are appreciated most by frugal and responsible consumers, whereas the comfort, environmental friendliness, and longevity of MSWB are important to consumers who identify themselves as ‘thoughtful spenders.’ The study suggests that both environmental and hedonic young consumers already familiar with the use of wood in housing contribute to a successful bioeconomy in the urban context.
Highlights
Because of increasing urbanization, the demand for sustainable urban homes is on the rise
Based on the results of these studies, we suggest five propositions1 for the analysis: two of the propositions stem from the research stream of consumer perceptions of wood as a building material and three are based on the previous studies on consumption styles
The results indicate that proposition 1 (Perceptions of students on the use of wood in multi-storey wooden buildings (MSWB) differ in terms of technical and aesthetic factors) is supported, as students either appreciate MSWB for its aesthetic qualities or for qualities related to wellbeing, environment, and longevity, including technical factors
Summary
The demand for sustainable urban homes is on the rise. Because timber is a sustainable building material showing promise for innovative technical applications in building construction (see e.g., Ramage et al 2017; Pelli and Lahtinen 2020; Toppinen et al 2019), it is re-claiming popularity among policymakers and within the construction sector (Sposito and Scalisi 2019). MSWB sequester carbon for several decades (Mahapatra and Gustavsson 2008), and support a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy transition more than other shortlived timber products, like bioenergy or paper (Nayha 2019). Amidst these positive possibilities, policy support was instrumental in the diffusion of MSWB in Finland (Vihemaki et al 2019).
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