Consumer satisfaction with round wood utilization in residential buildings

Abstract

Ugandan natural forests are greatly encroached and various native species are endangered. On the other hand, Uganda’s artificial forest cover has greatly increased and there is an increased production of round wood production. The utilization of round wood in residential buildings is still minimal since people have continued to cut down the native species for timber. One of the ways to reduce the destruction of natural forests is by promoting the utilization of the artificial forest products like round wood. The purpose of this study was to assess consumer satisfaction with round wood in residential buildings so that to trace out its significance in conservation of natural forests. Specifically, the study investigated the current uses of round wood in building construction; determined which specific tree species are mostly used and assessed the level to which consumer’s quality expectations are met by round wood on five attributes (quality, durability, workability, finish and prices).Using a questionnaire survey a total of 100 respondents were purposively sampled in Kabonera and Nyendo sub counties of Masaka District. The results indicate that: Consumer’s expectations were only met on durability and price, 83 % of the surveyed consumers were satisfied. The logistic regression model revealed that consumers’ partial satisfactions on design, finish and durability explained up to 18 percent of their overall satisfaction with round wood. The highest influence is exerted by durability of the product (β = 2.788) and price (β = 1.807). The study concludes that for round wood producers to attain and maintain higher satisfaction, there is need to employee market intelligence in understanding the differences in consumer behaviour for this will be helpful in that high quality round wood will be always produced suiting consumers’ preferences and this in the long run will help in preservation of the native species.

Keywords: Round wood, consumer satisfaction, consumer expectations, product attributes