Improving housing quality as a marketing strategy

Abstract

Prospective housing clients in Portugal face up a marked lack of information on the characteristics of housing products, which most often turn out to be very different to their expectations. This lack of information does not allow them to relate quality and cost adequately. Furthermore, housing products are not adequately differentiated owing to an inefficient approach to the market from the part of different actors in the property sector, which makes the understanding of the true needs and wishes of the client difficult. Nowadays, in a highly competitive housing market, it is increasingly necessary to weigh the quality of supply, for housing investment is one of the most important decisions of the Portuguese households. Due to the fact that competition in that market is almost exclusively based on price, there is a need for change in the culture of the housing sector that would promote adequate strategies of marketing and quality. The main aim of this research project is to develop a support tool for the construction enterprises in the housing sector in order to improve the value of their products/services and, to a certain extent, the competitiveness of the sector. The model, which is specifically developed for the town of Bragança, is based on information collected from users of newly occupied housing. It was done through the use of a questionnaire- survey conducted on respondents from fourteen mu/ti-fami/y residences, which were built by four different contractors/developers