Estimating Preferences for Wood Furniture in Terms of Sustainable Forest Management

ABSTRACT

The world’s forest area decreased to three point nine billion hectares in 2015, a net annual loss of 3.3 million hectares, and large-scale deforestation is occurring in the tropics. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing as forests are converted to other uses such as agricultural land. Against this backdrop, sustainable forest management is becoming increasingly important. This study attempts to quantify people’s general awareness and values concerning for on-line shopping habits (in this study, for wooden furniture) in terms of sustainable forest management in Japan by estimating the acceptable price premium or willingness of consumers to pay for wood-related products made using wood produced under sustainable forest management as the raw material. The study proceeds to quantify the awareness and values of consumers concerning sustainable forest management and conservation of forest environments. Consumers were found to have a certain willingness to pay for wooden furniture made from wood produced through sustainable forest management. As a consequence of this analysis, it was revealed that consumers place a high value on sustainable forest management and environmental conservation, and that they are willing to act on these values when purchasing wood-related products.