Publication Details

Year Published

2020

Publication

BioProducts Business. 5(3): 25-36.

Abstract

The wood products industry faces increasing pressure to attract the interest of young consumers and potential employees, such as the millennial generation. This study was designed to illuminate perceptions held by the millennial generation towards the wood products industry. The millennial generation or "millennials" are defined in this study as individuals born from 1980 to 2000. In February 2018, an online survey was distributed to over 1,500 millennial-aged individuals and 1,479 usable survey responses were returned. Results from this study indicate that the respondents have neutral perceptions towards the wood products industry and over half of them (65%) were familiar with the industry before taking this survey. Certain topics, such as clear cutting and forest damages, received stronger attitude reactions from respondents. Approximately, 71% of millennials agreed with the statement, "it makes them sad to see cleared forest lands." Responses also indicated millennials possess weak overall knowledge regarding industry practices. Demographic groups that held significantly stronger attitudes were millennial females, all millennials ages 18-20, and all millennials who identified as Caucasian. This information can be beneficial for developing future marketing strategies, public awareness campaigns, engineering product designs, and improving overall industry success.

Keywords

Citation

Stout, Kassandra; Montague, Iris; Shmulsky, Rubin. 2020. Millennial generation perceptions surrounding the wood products industry. BioProducts Business. 5(3): 25-36. https://doi.org/10.22382/bpb-2020-003.