How Sustainability-Related Information Affects the Evaluation of Designs: A Case Study of a Locally Manufactured Mobile Tiny House

摘要

Sustainability-related information affects people’s choices and evaluation. The literaturehas made significant efforts to understand the best ways of delivering this kind of information toshape consumer behavior. However, while most studies have focused on packaged products anddirect information provided through eco-labels, preferences could be formed differently in otherdesign domains. The paper investigates the effect of the perceived amount of indirect informationon the evaluation of an architectural artefact. A sample of 172 participants visited a locally produced mobile tiny house, made with a considerable amount of sustainable materials. The sameparticipants answered a questionnaire about their perceived knowledge, quality, appropriatenessand sustainability of the tiny house. The general level of knowledge of the tiny house was used as aproxy of the amount of indirect information received. Although the knowledge of the tiny house wasgenerally low, ratings regarding the other dimensions were overall extremely positive. In particular,no evident relation was found between knowledge of the tiny house and sustainability, while thelatter is significantly linked to quality aspects. These outcomes deviate from the evidence from otherstudies; this might be due to indirect vs. direct information and the peculiarity of the study carried outin the field of buildings. The gathered demographic and background data of the participants make itpossible to highlight the role played by gender and age in affecting the evaluations, but the absenceof a significant impact of experience in the field, education and origin. The results are compared withfindings related to the evaluation of sustainable products and green buildings in particular.