A quantitative research on what are the potential preferences that make Swedish furniture attract Vietnamese consumers – IKEA as a case study.

Abstract: Background:  In recent years, the Swedish furniture industry has recorded many significant successes and increased its influence in the world furniture market with a high proportion of products being used for export purposes and the intensifying popularity of Sweden-originated furniture brands. Among these, IKEA is the most renowned company. Currently, the company plans to grow further in South-East Asia (IKEA, n.d) and Vietnam is a potential market for this expansion due to the shortage of furniture supply in the domestic market. However, nothing can assure that IKEA’s overall success in the oversea market would simplify their way of penetrating the Asia market. Learning from the past, the company has faced many failures in different markets such as China, Japan, and India. Considering this, the authors of this paper believe that it is important to understand how Swedish furniture companies’ product values, IKEA in particular, could affect customer consumption values, which significantly shape their perception. Based on this, the company can better in making predictions on their market penetration, thereby minimizing risks or unprofitable investments.  Purpose:  The purpose of this paper is to understand whether IKEA’s product values have a significant effect on Vietnamese furniture consumption values and shape their perception or not. Therefore, the thesis will be drawn on the question of “What are the potential preferences that make Swedish furniture attract Vietnamese consumers? – IKEA as a case study”. Method:  This paper is based on the quantitative research method with a positivistic paradigm. A survey was conducted for collecting primary data with a sample size of 200 Vietnamese furniture consumers. The collected data were analysed using the SPSS Statistics 28 software.  Conclusion:  The results showed that Swedish furniture firms like IKEA obviously could receive potential growth in Vietnam since all of IKEA’s product values are tested to have positive effects on Vietnamese consumption value, which have a strong correlation with their buying perception. This paper can be used as a premise for further research on customer perceived values when IKEA’s products are officially experienced by Vietnamese consumers.