Abstract:
There is little understanding on consumers’ willingness to pay for imported versus locally-made furniture. This
study assessed, the amount of money and factors influencing consumers’ willingness to pay for imported and locally made furniture in Dar es Salaam and Arusha cities in Tanzania. Cross-sectional design was employed, data were collected from furniture consumers in the study area. Multistage sampling method was used to sample a total of 134 furniture consumers out of that 87 and 47 were for Dar es salaam and Arusha respectively. Descriptive statistics as well as ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis was used to analyze data. The study found significant differences on the level of willingness to pay for furniture items (t = -10.76; at p<0.05). Imported furniture were seemed to be far ahead than the locally one. The mean amount was TZS 858 475 and TZS 1 174 517 for locally made and imported furniture respectively. The amount that consumers are ready to pay for imported furniture is a bit high in Dar es Salaam than Arusha. The major differences in consumers’ willingness to pay for imported against locally made furniture were due to the quality, design and brand of the furniture products. It is concluded that consumers are willing to pay more for imported furniture because of quality and designs. Small scale furniture manufacturers need to come out with innovative designs and improve finishing and quality to respond to changes in consumer willingness to pay
