Insights into consumer preferences and purchasing behaviour for wooden bed furniture in Slovakia

Abstract

Currently, all furniture including beds and mattresses, need to reflect the changing anthropometric parameters of the population. These facts must be considered in furniture marketing – when designing new products and preparing marketing strategies for product placement and promotion. The paper focuses on the evaluation of consumer preference data that would reflect the current offer of bedroom furniture on the market. It also evaluates customer preferences from the point of view of the country of origin, the ecological production of furniture, and the sufficiency of the offer on the market considering the anthropometric dimensions of the adult population. Preferences were evaluated based on a questionnaire survey on a sample of 1000 respondents. The selection of respondents was carried out by a renowned agency in a stratified manner at the turn of 2022 and 2023. Results confirms that in overall, consumers are satisfied with the product portfolio of furniture and, specifically, beds and mattresses on offer. Our research has also shown that consumers with above average weight and height require and support changes in the standardised sizes and weight limits of beds. The results of the correlation analysis in show that with the increasing height, the support of two statement increases: 1) The currently standardised furniture dimensions should be changed and 2) The standard bed length of 200 cm should be increased.