ABSTRACT:
The research is based on the theories of product and the previous studies on factors affecting the house-buyers satisfaction in order to build and test the house product scale impacting on customer satisfaction in housing projects in Bac Lieu province. The quantitative research method is adopted with the CFA approach to confirm that the scale model being available through previous studies really fits market data; and with the multivariate liner regression analysis to explore the casual relationships as well as the impacts of factors affecting the house-buyers satisfaction. The findings indicate that there are three factors influencing on the house buyersatisfaction in housing projects in Bac Lieu province in an increasing order, including: (1) house delivery & guarantee; (2) quality of home; and (3) customer service during the buying process.
Keywords: House product scale, house-buyers satisfaction.
1. Introduction
Over the years, the real-estate market of Vietnam in general and of Bac Lieu province in particular has coped with difficulties. In detail, through the inspection result, the operation of the residential business investment projects in Bac Lieu province showed: most of the real-estate projects in the province have had yet to be correctly executed in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Law, of the Real Estate Business Law and other relevant guidelines (Nguyen Thanh Nhan, 2012). Hence, it is necessary to build and test the house product scale impacting on house-buyers satisfaction. The significance of the study will be a scientific basis to support the house investors in better understanding the needs and desires of customers for house products; to contribute to sustainable development of residential real estate markets in the province, and to make a positive impact on socio - economic development of Bac Lieu province in particular and the country in general.
2. Theoretical basis and Research method
2.1. Theoretical basis
In terms of marketing, Philip Kotler et al (2003), and Richard Brookes & Roger Palmer (2004) divided a product into three levels: (1) the most basic level was the core product – consisting of the problem-solving services or core benefits that consumers obtained when they bought a product; (2) the actual products (or tangible products) - might have as many as five characteristics such as quality level, features, styling, brand name and packaging; (3) the augmented products - any additional services and benefits built around the core and actual products such as extended warranty, free installation, after-sales advices, ect.
2.1.1. Core housing product
+ Home Location: In the Ph.D Dissertation submitted to Arizona University, J. Christopher Bitter (2008) quoted that: within a metropolitan area, the location of a households residence conferred access to labor market opportunities and a variety of location-specific amenities such as good schools or a pleasant natural environment.
2.1.2. Tangible housing product
+ Quality of home: In the seventh national home-buyer survey of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in the United Kingdom, which has covered for 12 months and was just published in 2012, revealed that: house builders had reached new heights of customer satisfaction – 90% of respondents had been satisfied with the overall quality of their new home, with 90% also saysing they would recommend their home builder to a friend (HBF, 2012).
+ Home features: Mastura Jaafar et al (2005) have built independent variable “home features” by 5 observed items (project type, price of house, built-up area/crowding, length of residency, and home ownership status). In term of the observed item “built-up area/crowding”, Mastura Jaafar et al (2005) have raised the hypothesis that size or built-up area of a house and crowding (the square feet of floor space per person ih the household) was the important aspect of housing satisfaction.
On the other hand, in a study, the Commission for Architechture and the Built Environment in the United Kingdom (CABE, 2010) discovered “home features” such that: while the number of rooms in a house was a relatively important consideration for people, the size of rooms was significantly more important. The research also showed that outside space and internal layout were important features of housing. The survey of customer satisfaction also concluded that: for families, kitchens needed to be big enough to accommodate a table for meals and for all age groups as this was regarded as the heart of the house; in addition, the home-buyers prefered to have rooms that could be used for a number of functions rather than a large number of bedrooms; Moreover, the house should have more space for accommodating furniture and storage cupboards, etc (CABE, 2010).
+ Home Design: In a discussion on Customer satisfaction in home buiding, Zeljko M. Torbica & Robert C, Stroh (2002) found factors such as house design, house quality, and builder service performance to be the key indicators of customer satisfaction.
+ Model Home Kit – a form of performing the home packaging function: Sola Somade & Tunji Adegboye (2009) stated that: The four main functions of packaging included (1) the containment function, (2) the protection/preservation function, (3) the transportation function, and (4) the information function. Besides, Francis Cherunilam (2010) claimed that: the need to make packaging attractive and acceptable was obvious. These could be achieved by giving proper attention to packaging features like shape, design, size, surfacegraphics, colour schemes, labeling, etc. In other words, packaging is impacted by the product shape, product design, and product size. A house is considered as a particular product due to its shape, size and design. Therefore, it needs the information function of packaging as to provide all the relevant details about the house product and to help the home-buyers to easily decide whether to buy a house (Kay Wiki, 2009).
2.1.3. Augmented housing product
+ Customer Service: The survey result of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in the United Kingdom (2012) showed that: 86% of home-buyers were very or fairly happy with the service they received during the buying process. Besides, in a report, the Homeowner Protection Centre (HPC) in Canada (2011) found out that: at each commonly recognized interaction, the builder could impact the buyers satisfaction through exceptional customer service.
+ Home Delivery and Warranty: In a study in United States, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB, 2001) found out that: home builders had to focus on the three important areas in order to satisfy the home-buyers and watch the customer satisfaction ratings go up: (1) delivering homes 100% complete at closing, (2) closing on time, and (3) providing responsive warranty service.
2.1.4. House-buyers satisfaction
Nigel Hill et al (2007) claimed that customer satisfaction was a relative concept. it was the customers subjective judgement or feeling or attitudes they held about the extent to which their requirements had been met by a supplier.
In details, Philip Kotler et al (2003) asserted that customer satisfaction depended on the extent to which a products perceived performance matched a buyers expectation; if the products performance fell short of the customers expectation, the buyer was dissatisfied; if the performance matched expectations, the buyer was satisfied; if performance exceeded expectations, the buyer was delighted.
2.2. Research method
2.2.1. Research framework
Through the literature review, the research framework is proposed as following:
HomBSat. = f(F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7); in which: HomBSat. (Home-Buyers Satisfaction) is a dependent variable; F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6 and F7 are independent variables. Picture 1:
2.2.2. Analysis method
Building and testing the house product scale impacting on house-buyers satisfaction is carried out by 4 steps: (1) testing Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient for inspecting the close inter-relatedness of the observed items within the scale; (2) applying Exploratory Factor Analysis method (EFA) to test the influence factors and identify the components that are considered to be consistent with the level of home-buyers satisfaction; (3) applying Confirmatory Factor Analysis method (CFA) to confirm if the scale model including factors available through previous studies or from the predetermined theoretical models really fits market data in the housing projects in Bac Lieu province; and (4) using the multivariate linear regression model to identify the influence factors as well as the impact level of each factor on the house-buyers satisfaction in the housing projects in Bac Lieu province.
2.2.3. Data collection method
A survey was carried out during the
period of from July/2017 to August/2017 in the typical housing projects being
located in the districts, township, and city of Bac Lieu province. The
stratified random sampling method was used in the data collection. With the 5:1
proportion of the observed items over the measurement variables, it is
equivalent to the minimum number of 165 samples (33*5). Therefore, the sample
size of 200 is totally appropriate.
3. Research results
3.1. Scale testing
The scales of 8 groups of factors have the corrected item-total correlation greater than (>0.3), and Cronbachs Alpha greater than (>0.6). As a result, all of the proposed factors have high reliability.
3.2. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
All of the scales of the proposed independent variables are simultaneously input to assess EFA with the extraction method of principal component and the rotation method of varimax. The evaluation criteria are based on the factor loadings and the total variance explained (λimust > 0.5), with the consideration of convergence value and differentiated value of each observed item (the difference of the factor loading of an observed variable among other variables must >= 0.3). After 10 times of assessing EFA, each unsatisfactory variable, which is eliminated in turn, is CusSer.5, HomQty.3, HomLoc.1, HomLoc.2, HomLoc.4, HomLoc.3, HomDes.2, MoHomKit.3, HomFea.2, and HomFea.1. The final EFA is presented in the table 3 as below:
3.3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
All of the scales of the proposed
independent and dependent variables are simultaneously input to assess CFA. The
evaluation criteria of convergence value are based on the standardized
regression weights (λimust > 0.5); and the evaluation criteria of
differentiated value of each observed item are based on the correlation
coefficients (r ≠ 1). After 02 times of assessing CFA, the unsatisfactory
variable, which is eliminated, is HomFea.3. The final table of standardized
regression weights is presented in the table 4; the table of correlations among
variables is shown in the table 5.
Picture 2: CFA testing results of product factors affecting home-buyers satisfaction
It is shown in the picture 2 that most of the assessment indicators used in CFA meet the standard requirements. Hence, the scale model is compatible with market data.
3.4. Regression Analysis
It is shown in the table 6 that the factors of independent variables are in fairly close correlation with dependent variabe. Therefore, these independent variables are input in the regression model as to explain the change of the dependent variable.
After 04 times of analyzing the multivariate liner regression, each unsatisfactory variable, which is eliminated in turn, is HomeFeature (sig.=0.536); ModelHomeKit (sig.=0.150); and HomeDesign (sig.=0.123). The final result of the multivariate liner regression analysis is presented in the table 7.
The regression equation by Beta standardized coefficients is presented as below:
Y = 0,475* CustomerService + 0,172* HomeDelivery&Warranty + 0,259* HomeQuality
4. Discussion and conclusion
The result of the multivariate liner regression analysis says that the factors of home feature and home design have no or very little impact on home-buyers satisfaction in the research conditions at the housing projects in Bac Lieu province; although these factors have impact on home-buyers satisfaction through the previous studies of Mastura Jaafar et al (2005), Zeljko M. Torbica & Robert C, Stroh (2002), etc.
On the contrary, the factors of customer service and home delivery & warranty have high impact on home-buyers satisfaction at the housing projects in Bac Lieu province. This result represents the consensus of the research results of HPC (2011), HBF (2012), NAHB (2001), etc.
On the other hand, the factor of model home kit hasnt jet been explored to have an impact on home-buyers satisfaction at the housing projects in Bac Lieu province.
5. Proposed solutions
Based on the research results, the recommendations are proposed as below:
In terms of the element group of customer service:
The investors and builders of housing projects need to enhance the professional capacity for their staffs as to be in line with the development trend of the real estate industry within the new era. Specially, the investors and builders of housing projects need to concentrate on the professional training and soft-skills such as communication skills, negotiation skills and sales skills towards the staffs who frequently contact with customers.
In terms of the element group of home quality:
The investors and builders of housing projects should set out the information transparency policy of the condition of for-sale-house, as well as raise the commitments on the standard of finish of the house so that home-buyers have more information of their house-to-be. Correspondingly, the investors and builders of housing projects may achieve the trust from home-buyers about the quality of the houses which are being bought. Moreover, in order to make the information transparency policy of the condition of for-sale-house and the commitments on the standard of finish of the house “really transpicuous”, the investors and builders of housing projects should publicise and frequently update information on their firms websites about the house condition and status, the construction progress of a house, the quality and quantity of materials used to build up houses, etc.
In terms of the element group of home delivery and warranty:
The investors and builders of housing projects should frequently attend the training programs about project management and/or the in-depth themes about management of work progress, as well as frequently update the scientific information of advanced technologies for application into construction works as to shorten the construction time and improve the quality of construction works. In addition, the investors and builders of housing projects should set out the housing warranty policies. This will not only build up more trust from home-buyers about the quality of houses which are being bought, but also create a good reputation for the company for the quality of housing projects.
REFERENCE:
1. Francis Cherunilam. (2010). International Business: Text and Cases. (5edn), P.H.I, New Delhi.
2. Nigel Hill, Greg Roche & Rachel Allen. (2007). Customer Satisfaction: The Customer Experience through the Customers Eyes. Cogent, Great Britain.
3. Philip Kotler, Stewart Adam, Linden Brown & Gary Armstrong. (2003). Principles of Marketing. (2 edn), Prentice Hall, China.
4.Richard Brookes & Roger Palmer. (2004). The New Global Marketing Reality. Palgrave Macmillan, Great Britain.
5.Sola Somade & Tunji Adegboye. (2009). 111 Questions and Answers in Packaging Technology. iUniverse, USA.
6. Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). (2010). Improving the Quality of New Housing - Technical Background Paper. Retrieved on 14th/Nov/2012, from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk /20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/files/improving-the-quality-of-new-housing.pdf
7.Home Builders Federation (HBF). (2012). National New Home Customer Satisfaction Survey. Retrieved on 08th/Nov/2012, from http://www.hbf.co.uk/fileadmin/documents/Customer_Satisfaction/Cust_Satisfaction_2012.pdf
8.Homeowner Protection Centre (HPC). (2011). New Home Builder Customer Service Best Practices. Retrieved on 22nd/Nov/2012, from: http://www.homeownerprotection.ca/site/home_owner_protection/assets/pdf/final_customer _service_best_practices_full_report.pdf
9. J. Christopher Bitter. (2008). Geography, Housing Prices, and Interregional Migration. Retrieved on 07th/Nov/2012, from: http://books.google.com.vn/books?id=nOrBvFEAhAkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=how+ price+influence+housing&hl=vi&sa=X&ei=xzmaUILJDKaTiQeosYD4Bw&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=how%20price%20influence%20housing&f=false
10. Kay Wiki. (2009). About Model Home Building Kits. Retrieved on 22nd/Nov/2012, from: http://www.ehow.com/facts_7707139_model-home-building-kits.html
11. Mastura Jaafar, Noor Liza Hasan, Osman Mohamad, & T. Ramayah. (2005). The determinants of housing satisfaction level: a study on residential development project by Penang Development Corporation (PDC). Retrieved on 07th/Nov/2012,from:http://www.fppsm.utm.my/download/doc_view/73-the-determinants-of-housing-satisfaction -level-a-study-on-residential-development-project-by-penang.html
12. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). (2001). Three Keys to Customer Satisfaction. Retrieved on 22nd/Nov/2012, from: http://www.toolbase.org/Best-Practices/Business-Management/3-Keys-Customer-Satisfaction
13. Nguyen Thanh Nhan. (2012). The inspection results of real estate business projects within Bac Lieu city (in Vietnamese). Retrieved on 19th/Oct/2012, from: http://sxd.baclieu.gov.vn/tin-chuyen-nganh/lists/posts/post.aspx? Source=/tin-chuyennganh&Category=Nh%c3%a0+%e1%bb%9f+%26+Th%e1%bb%8b+tr%c6%b0%e1%bb%9 dng+B%c4%90S&ItemID=187&Mode=1
14. Zeljko M. Torbica & Robert C. Stroh. (2002). Journal Of Construction Engineering and Management/ July/August 2002. Retrieved on 10th/Nov/2012, from: http://www.engr.wisc.edu/cee/faculty/russell_jeffrey/022.pdf
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