This document discusses a study evaluating the relevance of family wood origin to industrial customers and specifiers in Oregon. The study used conjoint analysis through a mail survey of 361 architects, homebuilders, and contractors. Price was found to be the most important attribute, followed by certification and wood origin. Respondents preferred low prices, some certification, and family wood origin. The results indicate an opportunity for family forest owners to market wood by emphasizing family origin. Future research could evaluate preferences based on profession and firm size.

1. Identifying the Relevance of
“Family Forest” Wood Product
Origin for Oregon Industrial
Customers and Specifiers
Rebecca Hamner
Ph D Student
Forest Products Marketing
Dept Wood Science & Engineering
Forest Business Solutions

2. Road Map
• Objective
• Background
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• Future Research
www.allmaps.tk/about/street-maps-world/world-open-street-map

3. Objective
• Evaluate the relevance of family wood origin to
industrial customers and specifiers in the forest
products industry.

4. US Forestland
• ~751 million acres
▫ 56% is private ownership (~420 million acres) (USDA May 2008)
• Private Ownership
▫ Forest industry companies
▫ Other businesses or corporations
▫ Partnerships
▫ Tribes
▫ Families
www.rootcellar.us/wildflowers/conifers.htm

5. US Forestland
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/inf/NRS-INF-06-08.pdf

6. Family Forestland
• Family Forests
“include lands that are at least 1 acre in size,
10% stocked, and owned by individuals,
married couples, family estates and trusts, or
other groups of individuals who are not
incorporated or otherwise associated as a legal
entity” -Bulter and Leatherberry 2004

7. Family Forestland
• Private ownership
▫ ~420 million acres
 62% is owned by families
 ~260 million acres
Owners
• ~11 million private forest owners
▫ Over 10 million family forest owners
Bulter and Leatherberry 2004; USDA May 2008

8. Oregon Ownership
• 30 million acres of forestland in Oregon (2010)
State of Other Public
Oregon 2%
3%
Private
~11 million acres 35%
Federal
60%
OFRI 2010

9. Family Forestland In Oregon
▫ 38% is family owned (~4.25 million acres)
▫ 141,000 family forestland owners
OFRI 2010 www.tonyvillelli.com/2020applications/propertylistings.asp

10. Oregon Timber Harvest
Harvest Totals =3.79 billion bf (2007)
•Private =3.3 billion bf
•Federal =.30 billion bf
http://oregonforests.org/assets/uploads//Fact_Harvest.pdf

11. Region or country of origin
• Papadopoulos and Heslop 2002-Wine
▫ Country's image has a direct influence on product evaluations.
• Teas and Agarwal 2000-Business Calculators and Wristwatches
▫ Country-of-origin cue was found to have a significant main effect on the
perceived quality for both of the product.
• DeBono and Rubin 1995-Cheese
▫ When the same cheese was believed a product of country with a desirable
image (France), product was more liked compared to a general product
(Kansas).
• Geisenheim 2006- Sparkling Wine
▫ Groups do perceive the attribute country-of-origin important for their
purchase decision
• Donovan and Nicholls 2003-Alaska Red Alder Table
▫ Alaskans are willing to pay a significant price premium for secondary
wood products manufactured in the state
 Reasonable to assume that consumers in other states may be willing to
pay a price premium for locally produced wood products

12. Wood Originating from Certified Forest
• Anderson and Hansen 2004-Wood CD Rack
▫ Environmental certification showed limited importance for typical
respondents but is an important attribute of responses
• Macias and Knowles 2010-Hardwood Flooring
▫ Oregon/Washington architects consider price and wood source the two most
important; environmental certification found to be the least important
• Spinazze and Kant 1999-Furniture, Flooring, Lumber and Paper
▫ Importance for products that originate from sustainably managed forests
▫ Willingness to pay 10% premium for furniture/ flooring/paper from certified
forests
• Bigsby and Ozanne 2002-Outdoor Wood Furniture
▫ New Zealand consumers view source of wood as most important, then type of
forest sourced from, environmental certification , length of warranty and price
was least important

13. Product Origin
• With country of origin and environmentally
certification being relevant to customers, will
they also find relevance in family ownership?

14. Industrial Customers and Specifiers
• Architects, homebuilders and contractors in Oregon
www.brockbuildersinc.com/823/wood-frames-home www.aipcatania.com/wood-framed-homes
• Purchased list from AllMedia, Inc
▫ Identified using SIC codes

15. Methods
Conjoint Analysis Approach through a Mail
Questionnaire
▫ SPSS 10.0 Conjoint Analysis
▫ Conjoint Analysis
 Tool used to “model consumer preferences among
multiattribute alternatives” (Green and Srinkivasan 1978)
 Contains attributes with levels

16. Attribute Levels
• Price
▫ $13,500 (-10% from base)
▫ $15,000 (base price)
▫ $16,500 (+10% from base)
• Wood Origin
▫ Family: lumber processed from trees grown on family owned forestland
▫ Corporate: lumber processed from trees grown on corporate owned forestland
▫ Unknown: lumber processed from trees grown on forestland of unknown
ownership
• Certification
▫ FSC Ecolabel: the lumber displays a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ecolabel
indicating the product comes from a well-managed forest
▫ Other Ecolabel: the lumber displays an ecolabel indicating the product comes
from a well-managed forest (American Tree Farm System (ATFS), Canadian
Standard Association (CSA), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification (PEFC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), etc.)
▫ None: no information regarding the forest management practices used for the
product was provided

17. www.sslumbr.com/lumber.html
CONJOINT CARDS
Scenario Imagine you are buying lumber to frame a 2,500 square foot single
story house, below you are face with 9 alternatives. Each alternative is a
different combination of the three attributes. Consider the features listed for each
of the following alternatives and then rank the alternatives from 1 – the one you
most prefer, to 9 – the one you least prefer.
Alternative A Rank _____ Alternative B Rank _____ Alternative C Rank _____
Price: $13,500 Price: $16,500 Price: $13,500
Origin: Unknown Origin: Corporate Origin: Family
Certification: None Certification: None Certification: FSC Ecolabel
Alternative D Rank _____ Alternative E Rank _____ Alternative F Rank _____
Price: $15,000 Price: $15,000 Price: $13,500
Origin: Family Origin: Corporate Origin: Corporate
Certification: None Certification: FSC Ecolabel Certification: Other Ecolabel
Alternative G Rank _____ Alternative H Rank _____ Alternative I Rank _____
Price: $15,000 Price: $16,500 Price: $16,500
Origin: Unknown Origin: Unknown Origin: Family
Certification: Other Ecolabel Certification: FSC Ecolabel Certification: Other Ecolabel

18. Characteristics
• Firm Characteristics
▫ Profession
▫ Number of Employees
▫ Total Billings/Income
• Respondent Characteristics
▫ Number of years in practice
▫ Gender
▫ Age
▫ Education

19. Mail Survey
• Follow the Tailored Design Method by Dillman
(2000)
▫ Mailed
 Cover letter
 Questionnaire
 Pre-paid addressed return envelope
▫ 2 waves
• Adjusted Response 20%
▫ (361 usable returned/(2174 sent – 383 nondeliverable))

20. Firm Characteristics
Profession
Architects
10%
39%
Homebuilders
37%
Contractors
14%
Total Billing/Income
Other
Less than $250,000 $250,000-$999,999
$1 million-$9,999,999 $10 million or more
5%
16%
49%
30%

21. Firm Characteristics
Number of Employees
1-19 20-49 50-99 100+
5% 3%2%
90%
www.entrepreneursoul.co.cc/2009/07/de http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_dec2003/UniqueEmployees.jpg
sign-furniture-for-small-office-with.html

22. Respondent Characteristics
Gender
7%
Male
93% Female
Age
7%
36% 18% 26-35
36-45
39% 46-55
56-65

23. Respondent Characteristics
Education
Less than high school diploma
17%
36% High school diploma
12%
2-year associate degree
35% 4- year college degree
Advanced degree
Average Range
Number of years in 25 1-63
Practice
http://www.phillyimc.org/en/america-no-longer-world%E2%80%99s-
education-leader

24. Results
Price Utility
$13,500 2.037
$15,000 0.141
$16,500 -2.178
Wood Origin Utility
Family 0.827
Corporate -0.055
Unknown -0.772
Certification Utility
FSC Ecolabel 0.76
Other Ecolabel 0.23
None -0.989

25. Attribute Importance
Certification
25%
Price
52%
Wood Origin
23%

26. Top Ten Scenario Preferences
Rank Price Wood Origin Certification
1 $13,500 Family FSC
2 $13,500 Family Other
3 $13,500 Corporate FSC
4 $13,500 Other FSC
5 $13,500 Corporate Other
6 $13,500 Family None
7 $13,500 Other Other
8 $15,000 Family FSC
9 $15,000 Family Other
10 $13,500 Corporate None

27. http://www.writeawriting.com/writers/writing-conclusions//
Conclusions
• Price most important product
attribute
▫ Certification and wood origin
were least important attributes
• Respondents prefer low prices, some certification
and family origin
• Results show some opportunity for family forest
owners to market wood with a family origin

28. Future Research Plans
• Evaluate relevance based on profession
• Evaluate preferences of respondents based on
firm size
• Utilize other parts of questionnaire to evaluate
environmental consciousness of respondents

29. Acknowledgements
• Wood Utilization Research Centers (WUR)
• Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI)
• Forest Business Solutions Group
• Dept. Wood Science and Engineering