Shoppers focusing more on quality and durability
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, November 23, 2003
Sarasota, Fla. — Consumers have dramatically changed their feelings about furniture buying in the past five years, according to study commissioned by the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn.
It showed that people are "nesting" more — focusing on their homes — for feelings of security of safety than they did in 1998, and are emphasizing quality and durability more when they buy furniture.
Michael Cohen, whose Michael Cohen Group conducted the study for Oglivy Public Relations Worldwide and the AFMA, presented the findings at the association's annual meeting here. Cohen, whose study used focus groups and in-home interviews in Atlanta and Chicago, offered several key findings, comparing this year's results with 1998:
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Consumers feel like that while the government's numbers might indicate an economic recovery, "that has not gotten back to the average Joe," Cohen said. "People don't feel that the country has gotten out of the recession, they're quite worried, and that affects their buying decisions."
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Life is no longer predictable because of events like 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Home is more important because it is predictable and safe. Nesting that started in the bedroom has moved to every part of the house, and consumers are thinking think more critically and emotionally about their furniture purchases.
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There's more emphasis on quality, durability or comfort. In 1998 price was more important. "When money was flowing, furniture was almost disposable," said Cohen. "Now they're buying it for a longer period."
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Women are nesting five years earlier than before. They're getting married earlier and having kids, and returning to more traditional and conservative lifestyles.
Speaking after Cohen was House Beautiful Publisher David Arnold, whose magazine did a study that came to many of the same conclusions.
"People want their homes to tell the story of their lives, and if they don't like their lives they can go to Ralph Lauren and purchase someone else's life," he said.
More men are taking an active role in decorating decisions, as are children because they're exposed to it through television and other media. Parents are more willing to listen to their children's ideas about decorating, he said, "because parents want their kids to stay home."
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