A study of attitudes and perception of homeowners in Thailand toward the use of sustainable paints

Thailand is one of the most dynamic paint markets in Southeast Asia, which has experienced a continuous steady growth as a result of the development of urbanization, and demand for new housing and repainting (Singh, 2018). Moreover, the trend for green housing in accordance with international practices has driven Thailand’s housing and construction markets to have greener standards. As such, all large paint companies in the country have responded to this change and produced a variety of sustainable paints that deliver excellent quality while minimizing the environmental impact for safe use by consumers. As a consequence, it is interesting to understand the perception of consumers toward the use of sustainable paint behind these changing trends. The objectives of this research were to understand consumers’ perception, consumers’ level of knowledge, purchasing criteria, desired price range, effective channels to purchase, and profiles of potential customers of sustainable paint.This study used both exploratory and descriptive research to gain detailed information of the industry and insights from consumers. The exploratory research included secondary research and in-depth interviews. The descriptive research used questionnaires to gather data. The qualitative data were analyzed by organizing the data, looking for connections, differences, and relationships between the groups in order to interpret the findings. The target respondents for this study were homeowners in Thailand who had experience in purchasing paints for their home or homeowners in Thailand who planned to purchase paint within one year.The results showed that respondents had low awareness, and their knowledge level was at a medium to low level. They only perceived that sustainable paints were odorless and helped improve indoor air quality. The purchasing criteria that the respondents searched for when considering buying paint for their house were durability, esthetics, and safe to use. Normally, most respondents purchased paint from modern trade and traditional trade retail stores, and knew about sustainable paint from television and by shopping in the stores. Their intention to buy was increased from their positive perception about the health-related value, as a necessary thing, and it had been approved by a third party. The study recommends that marketers in the paint industry focus on the “Green and Independent” segment, as they are the group of customers that expressed the highest intention to purchase sustainable paint.