Forest Products Certification: The Business Customer Perspective
Keywords:
Environmental certification, United States, business customers, wood productsAbstract
While only a handful of wood products suppliers and business customers are currently involved in manufacturing or purchasing certified wood products, the potential exists for increased industry participation. Previous empirical work on environmental certification has examined the perceptions and a titudes of consumers, with few studies examining the perceptions of corporate customers. This research examines perceptions and activities associated with environmentally certified wood products for architects, building contractors, and home center retailers. Study results indicate that industrial forest product customers are not supportive of wood products certification efforts. Even when management environmental concern exists, there is a breakdown in elevating this concern to a corporate commitment or philosophy. Additionally, the federal government was consistently found to be the organization least trusted to certify forest management practices, while independent third-party certifiers were most trusted. A willingness to pay for certification was mixed, and few respondents felt that their customers would pay a premium for certified products.References
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