Aug 23 2010
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, announces the results of an end user study, 2010 Malaysia Consumer Building Construction.
The survey evaluates 1,001 Malaysian home owners or future home owners (those who plan on purchasing a home within the next two years). The survey measures Malaysian home owner/future home owners' awareness of and preferences for green homes, green products and services, and their purchase decisions and processes. The survey also looks at which features related to energy efficiency are most important and evaluates current and future usage and implementations.
According to the survey, overall awareness of green homes is relatively high – with roughly two-thirds of all survey respondents reporting awareness. Future home owners are slightly more aware of green homes than current home owners. Furthermore, survey respondents living in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Kota Kinabalu are more aware of green homes (unaided) compared to those in other cities.
Using multivariate techniques, the research is analyzed further by three segmented clusters: proactive, socially influenced, and resisters.
"The proactive group reduces energy usage by turning off lights when not in use and participating in other green activities such as recycling," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Associate Christina Alfaro. This group invests in green products, as they believe it will save them money in the long-term. They believe using green products in their house significantly reduces their monthly energy/utility bill.
The socially influenced group notices that their friends, family and neighbors have green products in their houses. They purchase green products because it is the socially responsible thing to do. "This group is environmentally conscious based upon societal pressure, but tends to not follow through with action," says Alfaro.
The smallest group is the resisters, which consists of 26 percent of the total sample. Interestingly, more than half of these respondents (52%) are current home owners. "The resisters believe going green is expensive. They think that buying green products for their house has no measurable impact on the environment," notes Alfaro.
Current usage of various green home products and services is highest among the proactive segment group. The resisters segment group is least likely to currently use green home products and services.
Source: http://www.frost.com/