The role of services in homebuyers’ attitudes: A field experiment in the French off-plan housing market
Résumé
This paper investigates the efficacy of the service strategies implemented by private developers on the buyers’ psychological attitudes within the decision-making process of off-plan purchases in France. We propose a new typology of services based on the category of value perceived by consumers. We conducted a field experiment with real buyers who purchased an off-site apartment, and we measure the causal effects of four service intensity indexes, that offer ‘visualization’, ‘customization’, ‘value enhancement’ and ‘interaction’ services, on developer reputation. Results highlight the mediating roles that both consumer satisfaction and trust play on developer reputation, less in terms of services designed to improve the perception of quality of the dwelling itself (visualization and customization benefits) and more for those designed to create a favorable purchase context (value enhancement and interactional benefits), so emphasize an accompanying role from developers expected by the future inhabitants.