An investigation of the effects of selected variables on preference for the familiar in the context of furniture selection
Authors:   , Huff John A. 
Published: June 2024

The researcher has observed that the individual, when confronted with a decision requiring choice making and the exercise of personal preference, tends to base his decision on what is most familiar to him. This observation prompted the research question: Is there a relationship between preference and familiarity, and if so, is such a relationship dependent upon certain demographic factors? For the purposes of the study, the following assumptions were made: (1) Chairs are the most easily recognized and understood of all furniture forms and therefore may be used to identify furniture preference in the study. (2) The furnishings most familiar to a college student are the furnishings in his parent's home. (3) Experiences with furnishings since leaving parent's home will not interfere with the association between familiarity with parent's furnishings and preference for furnishings. (4) Photographs of chairs may be validly substituted for actual chairs in the data gathering instrument. Hypotheses were stated such that preference for a chair was related to the subject's familiarity with the chair preferred. The expected relationship was that the subject would tend to like those chairs which he found familiar and to not like those he found not familiar. Nine hypotheses, concerned with different independent variables, were tested. In anticipation of the kinds of data needed and the kind of statistical analysis necessary to the study, data were collected using a sample survey technique. A simple random sample was drawn from University of Missouri students officially enrolled during the 1975 summer session. The questionnaire presented subjects with photographs of twelve chairs selected to insure the widest possible range of choice within the limitations of the study. Chairs were photographed from the same angle, reduced to the same size, and presented in black and white. Care was taken to avoid introducing individual bias into the study through the substitution of photographs for actual chairs. The second and third pages of the questionnaire presented subjects with questions designed to gather data concerning the variables to be tested. A total of 219 questionnaires were finally accepted for analysis. For each hypothesis, the analysis of the data is confined to three classifications, each of which is characterized by a dichotomy. The subjects were classified on the basis of their preference for a chair, their familiarity with it, and their assigned demographic group. It was assumed that the chairs were scored independently of each other so that they could be combined into one sample for the statistical analysis. The phi coefficient, usually associated with chi square tests of independence, was used to measure the relationship between preference and familiarity for each demographic group. Data for each demographic group was represented by 2 x 2 contingency tables. The four cells illustrated the four different possible events. The four events were: (a) The number of subjects that found the chairs not familiar and did not prefer them. (b) The number of subjects that found the chairs not familiar and preferred them. (c) The number of subjects that found the chairs familiar and did not prefer them. (d) The number of subjects that found the chairs familiar and preferred them. Hypothesis One was stated: The subjects will show a positive relationship between preference and familiarity. This was supported by tests of the data. Hypotheses Two through Nine were rejected by the tests. Tables were devised to exhibit data and test results on all hypotheses.