A Strategic Household Purchase: Consumer House Buying Behavior

The aim of this study is to examine consumer house-buying behavior from the consumers’ perspective. In view of the existing literature exploring consumer decision making, the purpose of this research was threefold: (a) to propose a conceptual model of consumer decision making within the frame of consumer behavior; (b) to gain knowledge of factors impacting this process from the empirical standpoint with the focus on prefabricated house purchases; and (c) to offer implications for beneficial purchases of prefabricated houses. The results of our in-depth interviews with recent owners and potential buyers of a custom-made prefabricated house suggest that cognitive and rational factors do not offer sufficient explanation of consumer behavior in the case of a high-involvement product such as a house. In addition to the idiosyncratic characteristics of the customer, his/her personal situation and environmental factors, the role of feelings, experience, subconscious factors, needs and goals should to be taken into account to better understand this kind of decision making.