D.troian Case Study-libre

8/12/2019 D.troian Case Study-libre

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This paper aims to analyze the

characteristics of world and Italian

furniture sector. It defines the factors

that influence consumers choice of the

product and analyze the furniture

preferences in the different cultural

environment.

Furniture

industryThe consumers furniture

preferences in different

markets

Daria TroianMaster in International Management

2009-2011

UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO


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Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 2

Furniture market outlook ................................................................................. 3

1.World furniture market outlook ................................................................................................. 3

2.Italian furniture market .............................................................................................................. 5

Factors that ifluece cosuers furiture choice......................................... 10

3.Factors that shape consumer preferences ................................................................................ 10

4.Role of the appearance ............................................................................................................ 12

5.Role of the culture ................................................................................................................... 14

Different furniture preferences among the countries ...................................... 16

6.Product appearance and design ............................................................................................... 16

7.Different furniture preferences among the countries ............................................................... 18

Conclusions .................................................................................................... 25

Bibliography ................................................................................................... 26

Appendix ........................................................................................................ 27


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Introduction

Manufacturers and retails are continuously expanding their business horizons. The aim to go with its

o podut aoad is usuall aopaied the seies of itealizatio halleges: diffeet

distribution chains, adaptation of communication strategy and different sectors can usually face a

necessity of their product adaptation. The degree to which local consumer accepts the standardized

product can be explained by their geographic origin and cultural affiliation.

So, it is therefore important to fully understand and conceptualize the influence of the culture on

consumption behavior.

This paper looks on furniture business, its structure, organization and competitive forces. The main

characteristic of the good is a high dependence on consumer esthetic preference. Appearance,

design and quality apart from price are the main competitive filed for the producers.

Therefore, while considering the internalization of the furniture businesses is it always a dilemma to

which extent their standardized product could be offered unchanged and whether they need to be

adapted to the local market tastes.

This work is aiming to define the how the modern furniture market look like, what are the main players

and the main destination. In further step, we would like to analyses what are the factor that actually

influence the consumer choice of the furniture and to see whether the external look is among the one

of the major ones that influence consumer choice of the furniture and how cultural origin of the

consumer would affect their choice of the furniture style and in particular whether the geographic

origin can influence the perception of the aesthetic beauty and external features preferences in the

furniture. As the example of the analysis we are considering in closer the Italian manufacturing

companies. Made i Ital fuitue is positioed i the aeage ad high aeage osues ioe

segment. This allow to mostly concentrate on the exteriors factor of the product and neglect the price

range to evaluate the differences between consumers of different countries in their choice of the

furniture. For this reason , I was analyzing the interior design of the houses in several countries and

had an opportunity to interview sales representative of the Italian manufacturing companies of a

matter of challenges and strategies on doing business abroad.


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Furniture market outlook

1. World furniture market outlook

Starting the discussion of the furniture sector it is important to understand the market structure,

main competitors and major geographic export destinations. Furniture purchase has been steadily

growing the priority item in the household spending all over the world. By 2011 the market share of

the furniture is growing up to the US$ 347 billion for the 70 most important countries. The market

value is increasing despite the sharp shortcut seen in 2009, thus it has been amounting to the US$

267 billions1

Figure 1: Percentage breakdown of world furniture production

(CSIL, 2010)2

The dominant markets of higly developed countires encounter for the production of the 52% of the

furnitre where the production share of lower income countries is steadly growing, bringing own

1(, 2010)

2

(CSIL, 2010)

Germany

7%Japan

4%

United States

15%

France

3%

Canada

2%

United Kingdom

2%

Other high

income

15%

Brazil

2%

Vietnam

2%

Poland

2%

China

34%

Other low and mid

income countries

12%


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diversity in the prodduct apperence, price and quality to the markets. This is explained by the highly

incresed production lines investment into the new palnts outsourced to the developing countries.

However, this tend to support the needs of price sensetive consumers who would define their

choice based on price, and the price inelastic ones, who would look for quality and particular design.

One of the tendencies of the furniture markets is an opening of the new markets and stead

consumption grows of the furniture goods. Words trade has grown from US$ 95 billions dollars in

2009 to US$ 207 billions in 2011.3 The traditional furniture manufactroing countries are still hoilding

the dominance in the ther hands, taking use of name, tradition, quality, design and unique immagies

in different furniture niches.

The consumption path would look like quite predictable. The developing, big economies under the

force of globalization, investment and trade open and are turning into the destination of the

exporters.

Figure 2: Forecast of consumersyearly changes 2011

(CSIL)

The new emerging markets, like Russia, India, China, Brazil are nowadays major clients of the

exporters.

3

(CSIL)

0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0%

Western Europe

North America

South America

Central Easter Europe and Russia

Middle East and Africa

Asia and Pacific

World

% Growth

% Growth


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2. Italian furniture market

In this paper we are going to look mostly at the issues and challenges raised by Italian furniture

manufactures, about their history of development, major specialization, their talent and design,

distribution and marketing strategies while doing business abroad.

The Italian furniture producers have been dominating the market for a considerable amount of time.

The ade i Ital sols ee the sig of ualit, uiueess ad outstadig desig ad ee

appreciated and recognized on the old markets and now progressively winning the consumers

preferences on the developing markets. The unique district organization, worldwide reputation,

premium niche positioning are getting the furniture exporter on the leading places among the first

class furniture clientele.

Italian furniture sector is in top five export sectors, with being second biggest in Europe and fifth

biggest in the world, having 10,3% of the World market by 2009.Based on the huge market capacity,

the Italian producers are mostly concentrating on the foreigner markets. Due to this particularity, the

Italian furniture manufacturers are well familiar with the with foreign markets on its earlier stage of

globalization and now when the international trade linearization is demanding new strategies and

product adaptations

The major markets of the interest of the Italian exporter were changing with time path, initially they

were France, Germany United States, but recently with economic, political and social development of

Eastern Europe the situation has changed. We all go to Eastern Europe and East: as ould sa

Ginacarlo Nieddu, and sales representatives of many other small and middle furniture producers in

Cerea, in one of his interview. Despite the fact that western European markets in their total are themajor dominants of the Italian Exporters, I have been given a feeling that the greatest interest is

shown in the Ukrainian and Russian market, based on their demand, size and Made on Italy brand

loyalty.


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Figure 3:Italian Export structure

(CSIL)

Describing the Italian furniture market, it is worth mentioning its structural organization- industrial

district clustering. The structural characteristic of the Italian woodenfurniture industry is a

concentration of the manufactory in the industrial districts. The major concentration of which is spread

in the North-East, which together with Lombardy, Toscana and Marche are the major regions of the

national furniture manufacturers. This type of organization is formed by tight cooperation and

presence of many small companies that are specialized in a particular furniture segment. That regional

concentration of the industrial entities has enriched the specialization, labor work, high attention to

design and know how thus stimulating the sophisticated internal demand.

Those districts have major regional classification: in Lombardy 23% of the manufactories, Veneto (18

%), Tuscany (10, 2%) and Friuli (4, 5%)4.

There are big amount of the districts among which the most important in design and furniture sector

could be considered the following:

1. Bassa Veronese e Bassa Padovana

2. Brianza

3. Pesaro

4. TrevisoPordenone

4

(Minutella)

France

Germany

UK

Russia

US

Switzerland

Spain

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%

Export

Export


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5. BariMatera

6. Forli'

These industrial districts were born to add maximum value to the zone with determinant economic

characteristics, to concentrate their activities in particular sectors in which with a time path have

developed their competitive advantages. The necessity to always satisfy growing standards in quality e

security has brought the companies to concentrate their forces and attention in the markets niche 5

This structure enables manufacturers to produce each piece with a great quality and high degree of

differentiation, e greater process orientation due to very lean organization of small entities, thus

providing a more incentives for innovations. High advanced technology used in the furniture industry is

due to close co-operation with machine manufacturers, but also a close of investment of the owners of

small companies, furthermore they contribute to the engineering of new machines. Machine

producers in turn co-operate in the creation of new furniture plant. There are several product group

can be determined in the furniture sector.

Upholster furniture

Dining and living room

Kitchen furniture

Office furniture Hotels

Upholds furniture is the largest product group in Italy at , illio ad epesetig at 9% of the

market. This is the main sector in which the Italian industry is the world renowned so most

upholstered products are currently domestically produced. Dining and living furniture was the next

lagest podut goup ad alued , illio. Muh of that has ee taditioal i stle. This seto

has been declining while more contemporary styles have been becoming more fashionable.6

5(Camera dei deputati)

6

(CBI Market Information Database)


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Figure 4: Production of furniture in Italy 2005, as % of total value

(CBI Market Information Database)

Retail and wholesale distribution in Italy is centered primary on small family-owned businesses.

Because of this mark-ups on products tend to be among the highest in Europe. Because of the

fragmentation of retail outlets, the use f agents and distribution is widespread.

The distribution model in Italy could be grouped in the several classes:

Independent sales representatives

Associated sales

Modern distribution7

The major characteristic of the distribution channel is strong presence of sales agents who represent

different manufacturers. This sales channel is accounting for more than 80% of sales both on national

and international level. The future however is seen in the hand of the big retailer, who can provide

7

(Minutella)

18.8%

8.1%

12.2%

7.8%13.6%

8.1%

31.0%Parts

Other

Bedroom

Dining and living

Kitchen

Non-upholstered

Upholstered


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space for representatives of different furniture segments, styles and other participants of home dcor

channel.

Globalization and intensive opening to the foreign markets is takig plae i the s. Both with it

opportunities and risk, Italia companies are losing low and average cost furniture markets in the top

export countries. In details, French and German markets became the major targets of the newly

industrialized markets with affordably low margins. As the result of the new tendency the Italian

manufacturers are repositioning themselves in the high income niche of the market. This switch was

further assisted but the rapidly developing fashion industry and stabilizing Made in Italy brand. The

adaptation strategy of many companies was recon centration on quality and design, or specialization in

particular segments like furniture for hotels, or directing themselves for the cooperation only with

particular countries.8

8

(Gradinetti, Chiarvesio and Guerra)


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Factors that influence consumers furniture choice

3. Factors that shape consumer preferences

As the result of the internationalization of the companies, manufacturers were faced with a need to

analyze and understand the new markets they are going to enter. Regarding of product, the main

challenge is to ga the osues spath, attetio, ath thei pefeees and buying habits. To

do so, it is important to split the consumers buying habit into several factors and carefully study and

understand the possible differences of those in the markets.

In overall there have been many research papers published on the topic what are the factors that

influence purchase motives and frequency. The literature classifies and structures these factors in

different ways. For instance division into inner and outer factors, distinguishing three basic categories:

personal psychological and social factors to which Kotler adds the cultural factors as an independent

category. One of the major issues is to understand the osuesbehavior. In consumers behavior we

consider not only why, how and what people buy but other factors such as where, how often and

under what conditions the purchase is made. The major factors that influence the behavior can be

grouped in the following:9

Psychological- motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes

Personal -age and life cycle stage, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality and

self-concept

Social -reference group , family , roles and statuses

Cultural-culture subculture and social classes

All of those factors can influence and create the certain rules in the sphere of consumer choices. Those

rules once determined, should contribute to the business ability to catch the scene of the new markets.

In our cases, we would like to concentrate on factors that are considered to be the crucial while

choosing furniture.

One of the important points in furniture selection is usually individual taste. However, furniture must

meet several criteria for a satisfactory selection: it should be comfortable and appropriate for its

9

(Arowosoge and Tee)


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purpose, it must be functional for possible multipurpose use, there must be enough space for the

furniture; it must have a long physical and psychological life, it must be easy-to-maintain, finally, it must

be affordable. Furthermore, individuals must have enough knowledge about the product specifications

of furniture while making their selection. Factors such as being functional, durable aesthetic, usable

and economic reflect the product value of the furniture.10

In parallel with technological, economic, social and cultural changes; differences arise in both

idiiduals attitudes and behaviors and in their adaptation process to the changes in their

environment. Thus, preferences of consumers with different socioeconomic and cultural characteristics

differ as well.

Besides that factor it is worth mentioning that position and importance of those factors is the subject

of social demographic and economic characteristic of the potential consumers. On the other side

taking into consideration of the Italian furniture exporters, we have to lessen the importance of the of

cost factor and keep in mind the non-price elastic consumer.

Figure 5: Factors influencing consumersfurniture choice

10

(Oztop and Erkal)

Durability

Apereance

Beingfashionab

le

Functionality

Economy

Compatibility with

the other

objects athome

Suitabilityfor the

area


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Among the following factors that influence consumer buying decision, literature highlights the

importance of aesthetic factor. On a stage where price is no longer the most important, person

would follow its personal perception of beauty and aesthetic taste. Several studies would define that

appearance factor is positioned among the top 3 considered by the buyers in the furniture choice.

Thus, fo eaple, i the eseah of osues hoie of duig fuitue i Nigeia the

color/design factor is placed on the second important stage, mentioning around 80% of the positive

answers form correspondents.11

The same type of the research hold among the consumers in Turkey

would identify the aesthetic role on the 3rd

important place.12

In addition to the literature review, the professionals form the field while refereeing to the Italian

business usages would always mention the importance of design and quality combination with

rather common in Italy personal (sales agent) approach as the main foe ad ad eleet i

selling the furniture abroad. The Italian furniture consumers are the people design oriented and

brand minded buyers.

4. Role of the appearance

Therefore in our further discussion we will to concentrate on the appearance factor of the

product. The appearance is the external visual characteristic of the piece of the furniture, it

always transpose some message to consumers. Based on a literature review, six different roles of

podut appeaae fo osues ae idetified:

Table 1: The Six Roles of Product Appearance for Consumers

Appearance role Influence on consumers

Attention drawing Draw consumer attention in-store

Categorization Influence ease of

categorization

Offer possibility for

differentiation from the product

category

Functional Show features/functionalities

Serve as a cue for features/

11(Arowosoge and Tee)

12

(Oztop and Erkal)


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functionalities

Serve as a cue for technical

quality

Ergonomic Show parts for consumer-

product interaction

Show consequences of use of

overall appearance aspects (e.g.,

size, roundedness)

Aesthetic Serve as a basis for aesthetic

appreciation

Fit with home interior and

other products owned

Symbolic Serve as a basis for symbolic

product associations

Communicate brand image

(Creusen and Schoormans)

According to the research the aesthetic and symbolic roles were mentioned most often. The

preferred shape (e.g., rounded or angular), color, or size were found to differ depending on the

way in which product appearance played a role for subjects. For example, bright colors may be

valued from an aesthetic point of view but may diminish the impression of quality (i.e., functional

value). This makes it difficult to optimize all roles and illustrates that the product value that is

most important for consumers when purchasing a specific kind of product should be the starting

point in the design of the product appearance. Furthermore, the influence of shape, color, or size

on a certain kind of product valueaesthetic, symbolic, ergonomic, or functionaldiffered

between subjects. 13

13(Creusen and Schoormans)


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Figure 6: Percentage of subjects that mentioned each of the different appearance roles

(Creusen and Schoormans)

5. Role of the culture

To understand whether the Italian manufacturing companies entering foreign markets would face the

different aesthetic perception of their product, it is important to realize whether the influence of the

culture on consumer choice is a vehicle to consider.

It obviously subject to a question whether in the period of high speed of globalization the cultural

factor can play its role on shaping consumer tastes the way it did before. The personal comment of

the professionals, working in the business of several years, would notice the quite difference of the

market structure for the last 10-15 years. The general tendency under growing speed of information

flow exchanges, and access to new business representative, have to some extent the importance and

the influence of the culture on the consumers choice. There are fewer choices based on geographic

location, and more choices based on the fashion tendencies, and personal perception of the beauty.

However, taking into consideration that individuals taste and preferences are the subject of culture

formation of personality, nowadays culture would play a role of unconscious instrument in taste

formation, would create or contribute to the pesoal likes ad dislikes.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Aestetic Symbolic Ergonomic Fuctional Attentional Categorization


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Culture is the complex of values, ideas, attitudes and other meaningful symbols that allows human to

communicate, interpret and evaluate as members of society .It is the primary reason behind a

pesos ats ad ehaio. Although, diffeet soietalgroups have their own culture that affects

consumers buying behavior, the extent to which it influences the behavior might vary from country to

country. Each cultural group can be divided into groups consisting of people with common life

experiences and situations, also known as subcultures, such as nationality, racial groups, religion, and

geographical areas. The third cultural factor is social class, which is constituted of other variables:

occupation, income, education, and wealth.

CULTURE- Cultue is the ost fudaetal deteiat of a pesos ats ad ehaio. The

growing child acquires a set of values, perceptions, preferences, and behavior through his or her

family or other key institutions.

SUB-CULTURE- Sub-culture includes nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographical

regions. Many sub-cultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design

marketing programs tailored to their needs.

SOCIALCLASS- Social classes are relatively homogenous and enduring divisions in a society, which

are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behavior. Social

classes do not reflect income alone but also other indicators such as occupation, education, and area

of residence.

Every culture has smaller groups with shared values and beliefs due to common life experience

and situations. These groups are very important to marketers since many of these subcultures

make up important market segment. Every society has some form of social class structure; this

class system is different for every country in point of distribution and ratio. Income point of view,

every society is divided into three classes; rich, poor and middle.

Following the different source of the information, we can make a conclusion that cultural identity of

the person is indirectly influencing his taste and preference formation; contribute to the subjective

vision of a beauty and harmony. Through the environment, the person develops it tastes and

preferences in the objects that surround his daily life. In addition to that being subject to social

influence and general opinion, the individual would tend to accept the common thought of what

might be perceived more stylish, of a better taste of a in accordance with a fashion tendencies.


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Different furniture preferences among the countries

6. Product appearance and design

Starting the conversation about the appearance, we should switch to the lower level on the

definition, and move to the fact of design. Design is a fundamental, creative instrument on the

final look of the goods. Therefore saying about appearance we intuitively mean the design of the

piece and would ungroup this to the level of the design elements. This would give as a broader

picture of the countries difference or similarities of a particular look of the object.

There have been many discussions on what of design is, and very few precise answers can be

gathered on that. According to the Wikipedia source Designdescribes fundamental ideas about

the practice of good visual design that are assumed to be the basis of all intentional visual design

strategies. On the other hand, design is Design could be viewed as an activity that translates an

idea into a Blueprint for something useful 14

Finding out what the customer wants is the first stage of what designers do. The designer then

builds on the results of that inquiry with a mixture of creativity and commercial insight. Although

gut instinct is part of the designer's arsenal, there are more scientific ways of making sure the

design hits the mark. Different designers use different methods - combining market research,

user testing, and prototyping and trend analysis.

In our case we are going to speak not on design level, but on the elements levels. Firstly, because

specific characteristic of the furniture which can be the great mix of styles colors, line ad shape,

and therefore it makes difficult to identify pure style preferences. Instead of that we are going to

use the design elements in order to find similarities.

Form follows function is known as the 3 f's of Design. Form refers to what something looks

like, and function refers to how it works.

14 What is design


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Design Element Description

Shape Area that stand out of the space. It can

be geometric or organic, natural

Line Continuous movement of the point, basic

component of the shape. Lines in design

form the shape of the object, couldcreate geometric(straight lines )forms or

abstract( curved lines)

Texture Is a perceived surface quality

Form Form is a three dimensional object. There

are two types of forms geometric and

natural.

The choice of the furniture design is a cycle event. The idea is brought from the designer,

which, in it turns, is influenced by design traditions and environment he has grown. His ideas go

to the markets and those by their feedback, buying tendencies, markets preferences come back

to the producer/designer with what is most liked form those proposed to the consumers in

particular markets. This close cycle of information interchange slowly educates the designer to

osues tastes ad osues tastes to the diffeet desige ideas. At this poit the goods

are getting integrated to the new markets and being recognized in the new markets.

Figure 7:The value chain of the furniture sector-role of the design

Italian furniture is highly recognized in the world by its design. In the recent period some companies

are strengthening their forces and capabilities in appearance attribute of their products, using it as a

competitive advantage element in the differentiation strategies.

Row materials, Initialworks, DESIGN

Furntureproducers

Intermediateagents

DIstributorsFinal

consuemrs

Goods flow

Information flow


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7. Different furniture preferences among the countries

Alessandro Zamarco, sales representative of Francobruno Group with over 20 years of

experience, in his interview, in the discussion about cultural difference would mention that back

10-15 years the differences among countries could have been noticed with a greater extent.

However the ease and free access of the consumers to the different information sources made it

rather simple for the new information to be enquired and shared. For now due to the widespread

access to Internet any consumer can directly purchase from any producers from internet. The

increasing number of showroom present in different countries can influence consumers taste,

educate or change the perception of beautiful to what is fashionable. Therefore in the same

country it is easily to find people like both modern and classic, or other furniture styles.

o toda, it is had to sa aout the etee diffeees ad ough appoah fo opas

adaptation is taking to face new consumer tastes. It would be rather suitable to say about

dominant tendencies in furniture stiles, particular design element like color, forms, materials and

ornaments that are more commonly preferred on the particular market.

Concerning the adaptation strategies of the company, here as in many other sphere the

modularity approach is taking place. Besides that the tight collaboration between the companies

in the furniture industrial districts made it possible to simply adapt the product on its final stages

to the consumer preferences.

Thus, while visiting the production warehouse of one of the furniture company in Cerea,

Franco Mario, I could have seen a huge amount of row furniture, which then after clients desire is

going to be colored, finished with accessories and other techniques to the conditions that

consumer wants. Besides, taking into consideration that in such district company decides to

specialize on particular furniture type, in order to satisfy the diverse need of the client

companies, for instance textile producers and dining room producers, would cooperate to

propose a client individual set of furniture which includes the elements of two sector players.

Thus having possibility to propose individual solution to each osues Italian furniture

manufacturers can remain competitive on different markets.


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However, despite the evident smooth in tastes across the countries, we can still catch some

differences an interesting moments in how people decorate their homes and what for what kind

of furniture they still have a high demand.

Besides the expertise opinion, articles and studies I have decided to look inside the homes and

apatets people liig i diffeet sides of the old i seek fo diffeees ad siilaities

national wise. This became possible due to the two rather recent web page, one of which is

AirBnb.com15

and Normalroom.com16

. The first one house and room database for the sub renting

purpose, on this website I have found photos of rooms in different locations and downloaded first

of the ase o ost popula criteria. Where the Normal room.net is a database for

pictures uploaded by the average user for the sharing of experience noncommercial purpose

I have tried to study the pictures on the several criteria:

Line(curved, straight)

Pattern (geometric, floral, abstract)

Form (smooth, angled)

Materials(wood, plastic, metal, glass, ceramic etc)

Color(brightness, temperature)

Quantity of accessories and furniture styles

As the result of this analysis and other resources available including the personal observation

and opinion of expertise in the sector, I would like state some evident attributes noticed in

different design of several markets.

For example Sweden, Norwegian and Finish apartments would be characterize by bright mild

colors, simple lines furniture and natural materials used. The motto of the Scandinavian design is

natural simplicity, rationality and spaciousness. There quite common furniture is simple

geometric forms form the light natural colored woods. Concerning the furniture style there you

can mostly find country styles or modern furniture. Classical design is considered as the desire to

15(AirBnb)

16

(Normal Room)/
http://www.normalroom.com/http://www.normalroom.com/http://www.normalroom.com/http://www.normalroom.com/


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Figure 8:Norwegian and Finish apartments

highlight you financial status and therefore is not appreciated by national traditions and social

rules. Other common feature is sympathy to worm but mild colors that are closely mirror the

color of the nature and bring sun during the long winters. To continue the discussion about it is

worth mentioning the most favored materials are wood, glass and sometime chromed metal. In

the picture bellow you can see the typical examples of the interior of the Scandinavian countries.

Due to that fact the Italian furniture manufacturers are not highly present in the countries.

(AirBnb) (Normal Room)

The other major destination of the Italian furniture manufacturers are Germany and France.

The consumer of those countries would anyway have the preferences toward the classic design

and more concentrated in big malls distribution .The last tendency is in direction of modern

furniture design. Consumers in Germany for instance would highly appreciate the advanced

technical functionality in office furniture; they are very attention to different technical

modification that broadens functional capacities of the future. What concerns home future,

French consumers like Barocco, country styles, they keen on traditional lines, reach accessories

and high dcor. One of the most popular furniture style is Province- the countryside furniture,

made of natural wood, richly decorated by the floral ornaments and pastel colors.


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(Franco Mario Furniture shop)

The other interesting feature is the presence of small cupboards around 100 -150 cm high, which

is very frequently placed under the window. In the system f distribution, the rather particular

feature is a furniture purchase via the distributor catalogue or modern website catalogue. This

feature is not commonly spread in other countries, like Italy for instance, where people are still

keen on previous furniture expectations in the showroom or other sales point.

The shared experience of the both expertise identify the week Italian furniture presence in the

North and South American market. It is partially explained by own strong furniture industry.

However, I would like as well to consider this market for some consumer choice differences. US

consumers are in favor of modern design of the furniture geometric shapes and new construction.

They value lot functionality and technologically advanced pieces of furniture, widely using the high

tech materials-plastic, glass and metal. Pragmatic Americans prefer a direct light therefore they

would most probably choose the small light points. A good example of the office furniture market:

America consumer would prefers minimalist, bold color set that perform uniquely functional role,

where in European office it is quite often to see high palette of colors, particular design d even

decorating elements. Even home kitchen furniture should be a suitable carcass for the all massive

and numerous technical equipment they keen to use in their daily life, with a massive electronic

panels.

On the other hand the South America region is quite coloristic and individualistic in their tastes of

the home decors. Thus they prefer bright colors natural materials like dark wood, stones and very

often use small ceramics to decorate their apartments. The furniture in these houses would be

Figure 9: Console: examples of French preferred styles


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dominantly of country style, with reach plant ornaments, curved lines and intensity of colors. They

like both excessive accessories at home and rather intense dcor on the furniture itself.

(AirBnb)

The other two major Italian furniture export markets are Russia and East countries.

As have been mentioned by Mrs. Nieddu in his interview, the Russian consumers became the

main target market for the Italian producers. Therefore, we would like to see in more details how

the Russian consumer is different from the other markets.

The Russian consumer has different tastes and like different furniture style, but what is very

common is the desire to show off welfare. In any case the majority of Russian consumers would

prefer classic style, Barocco, elegant line, rich decorations, and noticeable design-all in one

everything that can be suited under the category expensive and noticeable. Italian designer to

adapt to the test, would abandon its characteristic minimalism, and create the items rich of

decorations in gold, silver shiny accessories and complex ornaments and glamorous textiles.

They like to demonstrate their social status, because the Russians buying Italian furniture belong

to medium and above medium social classes. The high attention is given to details, decoration in

leather,

shinning crystals, natural woods and stones elements. One of the peculiarities of the market is

love to accessories from expensive row materials like statues, lamps etc.

Figure 10:Mexican apartments


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Concerning the color, dark solid glance colors, which create the filling of stability and power, are

in most favor. Natural dark wood color, black, viola silver and gold color are at demand on the

market. In contrast to Scandinavian countries, where the simplicity of lines, geometric forms

prevails in the interiors Russian design and furniture would be full organic ornament, curvet lines,

multilayers and combination of different materials.

(Giancarlo Nieddu)

The combination of different styles is very common for the Russian consumer. They can easily

pool together the classic design, with modern accessories and Asiatic carpets. This is one of the

major advantages of the new and growing market- is a there space for many market players and

consumer childish trust to made in Italy brand representatives.

East countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain etc. are the famous advocates of the strong cultural

influence on their daily life. Furniture sector and consumers furniture preferences are not

exclusions. The preferences of the upper-class buyers are in the classic style or mix between the

last one with traditional elements, highly appreciated also rococo-barocco style. Among the most

popular material natural, fine wood in dark colors, richly decorated by golden ornaments and

combined with metal and glass accessories or furniture element. With regards to the office

furniture Mr. Zamarco, has shared couple of examples of national peculiarities. For example, all

Figure 11: examples of Russian preferred styles


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the office tables should supported by a front panel which allows to cover the female legs from

possible observation, or the other example where the chairs and arm-chairs are preferred with

non-metallic armrest to avoid the eventual discomfort during high temperature. On of other

interesting example can be semi obligatory pesee of the sall tale et to the aages

main desk. This one serves to as guest table on which the tea is usually served.


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Conclusions

The furniture industry is an example of the good for which external look can be the one of mostmporn rr or onumr o n m o on o ompv por

for the companies. Central to these strategic decisions by organization is an understanding of the

degree to which standardized product can be offered unchanged or whether they need to be

adapted to local markets.

Dp o p lolon, onumr orm rn orpl on o vr

their behavior under the cultural context. This might be seen as a barrier for a quick entrance, to

overcome this barriers Italian furniture manufacturers have developed have deeper understanding

of local cultures and their influence upon purchasing behavior.

With regards to the different design perception by the clients in Russia, Germany or Scandinavia,

the companies have acquired enough knowledge about what is most frequently bought in those

markets and they have developed their response to the series of requirement . Firstly, their

principal force is a close contact with a client, sales representatives perform a role of a personal

purchase assistant, carefully following and monitoring the requirement and wishes of the

consumer. Secondly, the district organization allows companies to specialize not only on the

specific furniture type production but also to subdivide the processes of the production. In this

way there is always a possibility to change , adapt the final look of the product, its color, finishing

etc. In addition to that , the collaboration of the different companies that work in the interior

design industry and close location of the last ones, are allowing for the companies to adapt

somehow personalized service for the any consumer wish.

To sum up the said above, I would like to mention that despite the diminishing influence of the

culture on the phenomena of aesthetic taste, it cannot be undervalued. There are still slight

differences in color, material, texture , styles that taken into account can serve as an additional

competitive tool for the furniture manufactorers.


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Bibliography

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, . .2010.

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. .1 08 2010. .

AirBnb. .

Arooo, O.E.G. n N.T. T. "Evluon o onumr o o oon nn." African Journal

of Biotechnology 9.Academic Journals (2010): 3109-3115.

Camera dei deputati. "I distretti produttivi e tecnologici." 30 September 2010..

CBI Market Information Database. "CBI Market Survey: THE DOMESTIC FURNITURE MARKET IN

ITALY." 2006.

Creusen, Marille E.H. and Jan P.L. Schoormans. "The Different Roles of Product Appearance in." n.d.

CSIL. World Furniture outlook. MILANO: CSIL, 2010.

Franco Mario Furniture shop. .

Giancarlo Nieddu, Epochart. Italian Furniture sector Daria Troian. 2011.

Gradinetti, Roberto, et al. "Le politiche commerciali e di marketing nel settore dell'arredamento." 2001.

MebelItali.ru. ..

Minutella, Angelo. "ECONOMIA DI PRODUZIONE-il profilo del mercato del mobile." 2008-2009.Normal Room. .

Oztop, Hulya and Sibel Erkal. "Factors Influential in Consumer Furnur Slon n r

Preferences regarding Product Features." THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF

INTERDISCIPLINARY SOCIAL SCIENCES 3 (2008).

: . "" .

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. : .

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Appendix

Table 2: National Characteristic of the interior design

Interiortraditions

Moto Type ofthe space

Color/patterns

Wall, floor,ceiling,

decorations

Furniture Light Decoration

Japanese Rationality

simplicity

elegance

Open

space,

freed

Natural

colors,

warm and

light

brownish,

Red and

goldenaccents.

Patterns,

ethnic,

pictures

with birds.

Light,

smooth

surfaces

Furniture of

the

different

height

forms the

natural

wood andother

wooden

species.

Mild light Minimal,

textile

drawing

Spain Bright ,

emotional,

comfort

Small

functional

space

Pastel

colors,

Accent on

the yellow,

green.

Floristicornaments

Light walls,

the floor is

covered by

ceramic

mosaic

Massive

wooden or

metal

furniture.

A lot of

light

Interior

textile,

statues,

ceramics,

metal,

coloredglass

dishes,

photos,

souvenirs.

Italian Bright ,

emotional,

comfort

Small

functional

space

Beige,

green,

golden

orange.,

geometric

patterns

Brightly

colored

walls,

decorated

floor for

colored

ceramicmosaics,

stones,

wooden

girders on

the ceiling

Wooden

furniture

with a huge

amount of

details

A lot of

light

Souvenirs,

reach

accessories,

Moreno

glass,

interior

textile

French Luxury ,

elegance,

comfort

Comfort

matter

more than

space

Saturated

viola,

cherry

colors,

bright red,

and beige,

The walls are

decorated.

Woods are

colored in

light colored

or covered

Wooden ,

of the light

colours

furniture

with a great

amount of

The

preferences

in the

excessive

and elegant

lightning

Affection to

a small

details,

accessories

and statues.


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golden. Lilia

patterns,

laces

by the

transparent

color,

metallic

decorations

.

Preferences

to a small

tables and

smallchairs.

systems

English Aristocracy,

classics,

functionalit

y

Classicism,

huge

multilevel

and

multifunct

ional

space

divisions

All nuances

of the red,

yellow,

green,

crme.Patte

rns lines,

squares.

High ceiling,

decorated

with elegant

chandelier

Fireplace,

carved

staircase,

furniture,

leather,

velvet and

wood, the

library

Narrow

windows in

the house.

Light point

system and

lamps with

shade

Interior

textiles,

tableware

made of

porcelain,

paintings,

photograph

s

Scandinavia

n

Simplicity,

minimalism

Spaciousn

ess,functionali

ty,

rationality

Shades of

beige andgray.

Patterns:

geometric

shapes

Wooden

light floors,light walls

Light wood

furniture(functional

and simple,

easy to

assemble)

Preference

is given tonatural

light.

Popular

fixtures

(lots of)

Almost no

decoration(interior is

textile)

Asian Bright

emotionalit

y

The small

space

Blue,

yellow, red.

The walls are

decorated

with rough

plaster. Floor

is decorated

with carpet

Minimum

of furniture.

trunks are

popular

Diffuse,

muted light.

Tissue and

forged

fixtures

Ethnic

dishes,

musical

instruments

, rugs,

pillows,

coins, etc.

( )

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