If furniture industry has sustainability message, consumers aren’t getting it, survey shows
NEW YORK — The furniture industry’s sustainability story has yet to resonate with consumers, with few of them seeing home furnishings as a leader in sustainable practices, according to a new Provoke Insights survey.
When asked which industry has incorporated the most sustainable practices, just 3% cited furniture vs. other sectors such as skincare (13%), vitamins and supplements (13%) and apparel (12%). Furniture, at 3%, was also one of the lowest ranked among industries considered least sustainable, putting it far behind makers of luxury items (14%), cars (12%) and electronics (12%).
Being ecologically aware is important to furniture purchasers, however, with 43% rating themselves as environmentally conscious and more than half (57%) acknowledging they would be likely to purchase furniture labeled sustainable.
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Cited by 55% of respondents, price is the top barrier to purchasing eco-friendly furniture. Delving deeper into the cost equation, nearly half (48%) said they would buy sustainable furniture, but only if the price increase was small, while 30% wouldn’t buy it if it cost more.
Other purchase barriers given were concerns about sustainable furniture’s durability and quality (27%), limited availability (23%), limited styles and selection (23%) and lack of information about sustainability claims (15%).
Continuing with the “green” theme, 43% of furniture shoppers who made a purchase in the past month said they preferred to buy from brands that support environmental causes. These shoppers also were more likely to try new brands before they become well-known (38%).
Looking more broadly at furniture shopping over the past year, 66% of respondents said they had made a purchase, with even higher numbers coming from parents (77%), urban dwellers (75%) and Millennials (73%).
Broken down by category, about one-fourth bought a new mattress. Other products in the Top 5 were lamps/lighting, bedroom sets, storage cabinets and sofas.
Furniture shoppers were slightly more deal-oriented, the survey found, with 27% saying they buy furniture mostly or always when it is on sale vs. 17% who always or mostly pay full price. The largest group (56%) fell into the middle ground, with a mix of full and sale price habits.
For its study, which it conducted in with some input from Furniture Today, Provoke Insights polled a representative sample of 1,500 U.S. adults ages 21 to 65 in September via a 15-minute online survey.
