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Abstract
The North American nonresidential construction sector has long been identified as a potentially important segment for wood products. This study explored the challenges to wood use in this market from a communicational perspective. Building on previous literature, the study provides an updated overview of the perceived identity of wood among architects in nonresidential construction. When compared to steel and concrete, wood is deemed to be the most environmentally friendly material. Wood products, however, are not perceived to perform as well as concrete, especially in the areas of durability and fire resistance. Using a common brand personality scale as an exploratory technique, this study also sought to provide additional insight regarding the character of wood. In general, architects perceived wood to be a 'sincere' but 'unexciting' structural material. Lastly, the informational needs and challenges that architects may face when designing with wood were identified. The most commonly cited topical areas for which information needs were highest included sustainable design, the environmental footprint of wood, project-costing with wood, and wood suppliers' capabilities. It is proposed that the specification of wood by architects presents a case for better communication on the part of wood producers and that, increasingly, wood products will become inextricably linked to product information.
Most structural wood products are used either in new residential construction or in repair and remodeling activities. Over the past decade, there has been considerable interest in diversifying these traditional markets and in developing applications for wood use in nonresidential building construction. The introduction of new products in the construction sector, however, is generally met with low awareness and high uncertainty in the marketplace; therefore, the communication of information is vital to market success (Malaval 1998). These same marketing challenges can be expected for existing wood products that are introduced into emerging market segments where use is low.
The relationship between marketing communications and wood use in potential markets is not fully understood, and emerging users present special communication challenges (Schultz and Schultz 2004). In the case of wood, examples of communication challenges would include the perception that wood has a low fire resistance (Kozak and Cohen 1999) and is, therefore, risky to adopt. For products that are riskier to adopt, information can serve to enhance knowledge, build awareness...