Industry overview
What is shaping wood & timber
Wood, plywood, laminates and furniture are sold through a chain of influencers: carpenters, contractors, architects and dealers often decide the brand before the homeowner does.
- Carpenters and contractors heavily influence brand choice
- Dealers balance margins, credit and brand pull
- Sustainability and certified timber matter more to buyers
Client background
A plywood and laminates brand, working in Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Jaipur & Indore. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A plywood and laminates brand
- Sector
- Wood & timber
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Offline data collection (CAPI), Qualitative research
Client challenge
The brand spent heavily on television advertising aimed at homeowners, yet sales teams insisted carpenters made most brand decisions. Leadership wanted evidence before shifting budgets.
Research objectives
- Answer the core question: how carpenters decide which plywood brand homeowners buy.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of carpenters.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of homeowners.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 6 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 900 carpenters and 600 homeowners.
- carpenters900
- homeowners600
Audiences we typically reach in wood & timber
Carpenters and contractorsArchitects and interior designersDealers and distributorsHomeownersFurniture buyers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Jaipur & Indore. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Carpenter interviews at work sites
- 3Homeowner survey
- 4Insight
Interviewers met carpenters at work sites and timber markets, asking how they chose plywood for recent jobs, what homeowners asked for and which brands they trusted. A homeowner survey measured how much choice homeowners actually exercised.
Quantitative researchOffline data collection (CAPI)Qualitative research
Sampling strategy
- carpenters
- 900
- homeowners
- 600
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Respondents were selected across Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Jaipur & Indore using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person on tablets (CAPI), with time and location recorded for every interview.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- For most mid-range projects, carpenters chose the brand and homeowners accepted it.
In trade-led categories, the professional at the work site is often the real buyer.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: in trade-led categories, the professional at the work site is often the real buyer.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: for most mid-range projects, carpenters chose the brand and homeowners accepted it.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The client launched a carpenter loyalty and training programme and adjusted its advertising to support carpenter recommendations.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what makes a dealer push one brand over another?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.