How Customers of Small and Medium Wood-processing Slovak Enterprises Perceive a Green Product

Abstract

Differentiating and ecologizing of products have gained an increasing amount of importance, and green logistics has achieved an irreplaceable position as an important tool for competitiveness. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in this case wood-processing enterprises, can achieve this position through the innovation of green products. Based on the results of research focused on finding out how customers perceive green wood products, the objective of this work is to propose possible ways to implement green products in wood-processing SMEs in Slovakia, while taking into account the requirements of customers related to green products. The research was evaluated by methods of testing the statistical hypothesis (binomial test, Chi-square test, Friedman test, and Wilcoxon test), descriptive statistics, and data visualization. The survey revealed that primary reasons why customers of wood-processing SMEs do not buy green wood products is their high price and an insufficient amount of available information about them. In addition to the price, respondents mainly take the quality and safety of the products into account when making purchases. Based on the analysis performed, three basic green strategies focused on product innovation are proposed for consideration by wood-processing SMEs in Slovakia and elsewhere.