80% of Spanish coverings consumers choose ceramics in home renovation, according to the ITC Market Observatory’s 2008 Consumer Report

Over 80% of the households that bought coverings for the home purchased ceramic tiles in their home renovation. This is one of the findings of the 2008 Consumer Report, drawn up by the Market Observatory of the Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica (ITC) for the period 2006–2007. The Report was presented today at ITC headquarters by David Gobert, Head of the ITC Market Area and Coordinator of the Ceramic Observatory.

Some 1200 interviews were conducted in a diagnostic survey across Spain, representing about 4,043,410 households, in which the coverings pre-purchasing phases (need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives), purchasing decision and after-sales phases (diagnostics of customer satisfaction and loyalty) were analysed.

In the purchasing decision section, the Report shows that over 80% of coverings consumers used ceramic tiles in home renovation, while about 20% chose wood. Terrazzo and marble were each used by 5% of consumer households – note that more than one material may be used in home renovation.

In regard to usage, more than 50% of consumer households installed the coverings they purchased in bathrooms (56.3%) and kitchens (53.3%), while the rest were installed in bedrooms (23.6%), living/dining rooms (26.7%), other rooms or quarters (3.3%), and external areas (12.4%).

As a negative finding, the survey showed that of the 23.6% of consumer households that purchased some type of covering for the bedroom, 53% of those that changed the flooring chose wood, while 35.8% chose ceramic tiles. Nevertheless, it may be pointed out that, compared with the 2006 survey, ceramic tiles have gained ground on wood, especially in the bedroom, evidencing the advance and greater recognition that ceramics are enjoying among consumers.

A similar situation also occurred in the living room, where 38.3% of the materials used were ceramic floorings, as opposed to 50.2% of the consumers interviewed, who chose wood.

In contrast, ceramics reigned completely in the bathroom (91.8% of the coverings used), the kitchen (91.9%), and outdoor areas (69.5%).

3,100 EURO OUTLAY AND WOMEN ARE THE BOSS

The 2008 Consumer Report drawn up by ITC’s Market Observatory also reveals that there is a very close relationship between the role of the purchasing-decision initiator and the gender of the interviewee: in 65% of the interviews in which the household was made up of more than one person, women suggested the need for renovation. Relatives, friends, and others only accounted for 5% of the responses.

In addition, in households made up of more than one person, between 70 and 80% of the interviewees went to visit the establishments with their partners.

In short, women played a major role, particularly at the beginning of the decision-making process: they suggested the need for changes, visited establishments, and participated actively in the final coverings purchasing decision.

On the other hand, in regard to the capital outlay involved, the study shows that consumer households that did home renovations during the period 2006–2007 spent about 3,100 euro on coverings, whereas in 2004–2005, the average outlay was about 2,700 euro.

The Levante region of Spain and Andalusia were the geographic areas with the greatest coverings consumption volume (21.93% in the Levante region, and 22.22% in Andalusia). The north-eastern region accounted for 11.23% of the demand, while the centre region accounted for 9.50%; the north-centre region accounted for 8.42%, and the north-western region for 5.51%. Note that the Madrid metropolitan area accounted for 13.61% of the coverings consumption volume, while the Barcelona metropolitan area accounted for 7.59%.

It may be noted, furthermore, that the establishments most visited by coverings consumers were specialised outlets, followed by building materials stores. The most important reason was value for money: this was the reason given by more than 60% of the interviewees. Variety of styles and designs only represented about 20% of the responses, while other services, like personalised attention, delivery times, ease of making returns, financing possibilities, or after-sales service only accounted for 10% of the reasons.

THE PRE-PURCHASING PHASE

The 2008 Consumer Report also analyses the coverings pre-purchasing phase. Thus, 50.6% of coverings consumers put forward aesthetic reasons (for 26.5%, it was a change in decoration; for 21.5%, renovation and re-organisation of the space; and for 2.6%, to enhance the value of the dwelling), while 48.3% based their action on functional reasons (42.2% because the material was broken, scratched, or defective; 1.1% for safety; 0.8% for hygiene; 3.8% for cleaning and maintenance; and 0.4% for climate reasons).

It is striking, moreover, that while aesthetic reasons played the greatest role in Barcelona and in the north-centre and north-eastern regions, functional reasons were most frequently given in Andalusia and in the north-western region. In the Levante region and centre of Spain, there was a balance between both reasons.

Noteworthy findings in this part of the study are also that 87.1% of the interviewees already had a particular covering in mind before choosing a material, while 85.6% of those that expressed that view did not change their viewpoint during the information search process (only 13.8% switched to a different covering from the one they originally had in mind).

When it came to learning about options and the most appropriate materials, visiting sales outlets was the approach adopted by practically all interviewees (97%), followed by previous experiences and recommendations by friends or relatives (68.8%), going through catalogues and brochures (64.1%), consulting experts (59.9%), experience of previous situations (43.5%), searching for information on the Web (20.8%), and looking through decorating magazines (18.8%).

Ceramic tile positioning continues to be centred on ceramic tile cleanability and conservation over time. At the same time, quality, prestige, and a natural appearance are features that appear to be practically related to ceramics, marble, and wood, though ceramics have made important headway in relation to these variables compared with the 2002 survey.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY

In the case of coverings, in general, one factor that is closely related to the consumer’s final satisfaction is coverings installation, owing to the effort involved in starting a process of this type in the home.

More than 85% of consumers stated that they had gone to professionals for the installation of the purchased coverings, while about 13% installed the coverings themselves.

Finally, the ITC Market Observatory’s 2008 Consumer Report shows that the Spanish coverings consumer was satisfied with the purchase made: all the analysed features (breadth of the offer from which to choose, availability of information materials, seller’s knowledge of the product, customer treatment by sales staff, complementary services by the seller, installation of the coverings, and after-sales attention) were rated above 4 (in a range of 0 to 5) by coverings consumers, with an averaging rating of 4.30.