Hardwood Floors December 2017/January 2018

Today’s Savvy Consumer (Continued)

e last message is less impactful because it focuses on a less important concern of homeowners – that wood oors are environmentally friendly, 41 percent much more favorable: “Wood is the most environmentally friendly oor material. e hardwood forests that provide ooring products are growing more than twice as fast as they are being harvested.” While this message does not have the resonance of the value, ease of cleaning and durability messages, it’s still an e ective message – just not as e ective as the others tested.

is message is directly positioned against carpeting and its tendency to trap dirt and allergens. e third message revolves around durability and cost, similar to the rst, and hits the 50 percent much more favorable mark: “Homeowners will need to replace less expensive ooring alternatives such as carpeting numerous times before a wood oor will need to be re nished.” is statement a acks the notion that carpeting is less costly by pointing out the need to replace carpeting on a more frequent basis than re nishing ooring. The Bottom Line Wood oors are the top ooring preference of homeowners. ey would use them for their dream home, and they believe wood oors add value to their homes, are durable, and are easy to clean. While homeowners laud wood oors for their a ractiveness and their warmth, they express concern about their tendency to stand up to scratches and wear and tear from children and pets. Communicating with homeowners who are in the market for ooring should start and probably end with online advertising – that’s where homeowners look for their information. e sales points for wood oors are easy – a ractiveness, choice, and warm are the easy ones. Extra a ention needs to be paid to the easy-to- clean a ribute – homeowners believe it’s important, but aren’t sure about the best way to go about it. Explaining that could go a long way to making wood ooring an even more a ractive option. e nal knock against wood oors is the cost. But, messaging indicates that we have two strong messages to ease that concern – long-term value for the dollar and durability. Not only will wood oors add value to a home, but homeowners will need to change out their carpeting many times before they need to re nish their oors, making wood oors a great value for their dollar. Public Opinion Strategies completed a national online survey of 1,001 homeowners on behalf of the National Wood Flooring Association. The survey was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 3, 2017 and has a margin of error of ±3.0%.

CONSUMER RESOURCES TO DETERMINE BEST FLOORING

15%

28%

39%

39%

59%

Sales at Big Box Stores

Sales at Flooring Stores

Family/ Friends

Contractor

Internet

The NWFA Education & Research Foundation recognizes the following industry leaders for funding this research project.

44 hardwood floors www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com