Strategic Design Approaches for Eliciting the Perception of ‘Prestige’ in Housing Consumers

Abstract

In the current real estate landscape, there is a growing trend to focus on adding value to products to address the customer’s affective/emotional perspective, his/her perceptions of the ‘Prestige’ of properties being crucial for his/her final assessments of the products. This study delves into the design elements that shape perceptions of ‘Prestige’ using Kansei engineering in 235 participants who evaluated various real estate promotions through: (1) a set of 60 adjectives and (2) reason for purchase (residence or investment). A first factor analysis of the set of adjectives yielded 15 independent axes. A subsequent linear regression indicated that the ‘Prestige’ axis was among the four most important factors in/drivers of property purchase decisions. In the second phase, 62 design elements (and their respective categories) of real estate promotions were identified to establish 16 groups. A linear regression determined that Information presentation and Building were the groups of elements with the greatest impact on subjects’ perceptions of ‘Prestige’. A subsequent Univariate General Linear Model analysis identified the design elements significant for each group, such as Development type and Building shape, respectively. Finally, a Bonferroni post hoc test identified the important categories in each identified design element as Facing blocks and Stepped.