Measurement of housing preferences

Abstract

Increased affluence and individual lifestyles have widely spread across western countries in recent decades. We expect this development to coincide with the use of more qualitative and more disaggregated research methods (the so called Mode 2 research methods) because these tools enable coping with a growing diversity of housing preferences. However, the usefulness of this partial explanation remains embedded in power relationships among relevant actors; theoretically also the infl uence of politicians, researchers and the building industry can explain this outcome. A successful diffusion of research methods depends on the research interest of all relevant actors (science, policy, consumption or industrydriven agenda) in relation to the target housing market characteristics (quantitative or qualitative perspective). An empirical investigation of two countries: Finland and the Netherlands, shows some striking parallels in this respect but also some significant differences.