Sustainable Product Design in Investment Goods Markets

Similar to consumer markets product design as a differentiation tool has been gaining in importance also in the sector of investment goods. The present study discusses the questions how it is possible to measure the economic utility of design and whether the quality of sustainable design of industrial goods influences the perceived value of the buyer. First the authors created a conceptual framework which identifies the multi-level effects of the product design of investment goods on the willingness to pay. Afterwards an empirical study was conducted using the winter sports industry as an example to determine the utility of sustainable design in industrial markets from an end-customer perspective. To quantify the partial utilities of various design alternatives the conjoint analysis was selected as analysis method. The results confirm that design of investment goods which convey the idea of sustainability to end customers has a measurable impact on their willingness to pay for the service provided by using the investment good.