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7.1 Conclusion
In order to answer the main research question in this thesis, the Danish building industry’s relative self-perceived areas of strength and desired image was first examined after which the current trends characterizing the U.S. green building market and the most relevant target audience on this market was established.
Self-perceived areas of strength and desired image
The self-perceived Danish areas of strength include high quality products and strong competencies in terms of incorporating renewable energy sources in buildings, efficient heating and cooling systems, creating a comfortable indoor climate, efficient insulation of the building envelope, architectural aesthetics, and high performance windows that utilize natural daylight. The self-perceived greatest competitor within green building is Germany. The self-perception and desired image is complemented by the overall Danish nation-brand which emphasize Denmark as a green and efficient society with a high interest in environmental protection and energy conservation, which is the first to adopt new technologies and think in unconditional ways.
The U.S. green building market and relevant target audience
The U.S. building market is severely affected by the financial crisis. The green building segment, however, has partly defied the general downturn and is currently the only area within the building sector experiencing growth. Especially green retrofitting of the existing building stock is an area where forecasts predict significant growth over the next 5 years. The most relevant target audiences on the U.S. market in terms of measuring Denmark’s image in the United States are U.S. architects and engineers and the analysis was thus conducted based on a study of these two segments’ perception of Denmark and Danish green building competencies.
Denmark’s image in the United States
Denmark’s image in the United States is characterized by a positive but somewhat unclear perception of the country and its competencies within green building. The target audience generally perceives Denmark as a country with a high interest in environmental protection and energy conservation and rates Danish architecture and design very favorably in terms of aesthetics and functionality as well as being sustainable and responsive to the surrounding environment.
Danish products are perceived to be of high quality but also higher priced. All of the self-perceived areas of strength were rated higher than average by the target audience and particularly Danish competencies within providing a comfortable indoor environment, utilizing natural daylight and ensuring effective insulation of the building envelope are perceived to be very good and exceeding those of both Germany and the target audience’s own home country. As such, the overall registered image corresponds fairly well
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to the desired image of the Danish building industry. The most noticeable gap between the two is found in terms of the types of technologies Denmark is associated with as the target audience is less inclined to consider Denmark as being among the first to adopt new technologies and think in unconditional ways and instead primarily associate the country with a strong tradition of craftsmanship.
Spontaneous awareness and in-depth knowledge of Denmark and its competencies within green building is relatively low and the study shows that the target audience sometimes finds it difficult to distinguish between Denmark and other Scandinavian or European countries. The target audience is much more familiar with Danish architecture than they are with Danish building materials and Danish engineering firms – primarily due to a greater familiarity with the ‘Danish Modern’ design movement of the mid-20th century.
Finally, the study shows that first-hand experience with Denmark generally leads to a more favorable image of the country, which suggests that the projected image is fairly rooted in reality and not overselling.
The Danish building industry’s ability to use the connection to Denmark as an endorser brand Despite the relatively low awareness of and familiarity with Denmark, the overall positive image offers good potential for Denmark to function as a ‘halo’ under which Danish green building solutions can be marketed in the United States. Particularly smaller companies which have not yet established their own brands on the U.S. market may benefit from promoting their connection to Denmark.
Worth noting, though, is that country-of-origin seems to play a smaller role than other factors influencing the target audience’s decision-making, which means that the use of origin cues will only influence buyer behavior to a certain extent and other factors therefore need to be emphasized as well.
Finally, Danish companies should be aware that the marketing value derived from using the connection to Denmark is subject to a great deal of uncertainty as external factors beyond the individual company’s control can affect the nation’s image and thus possibly turn the country-of-origin effect from an asset into a liability.
In order for the Danish building industry to use Denmark’s image as an aspect in its marketing strategies on the U.S. market, it is therefore vital to continue to measure the country’s current image and use this knowledge as the base for taking steps to enhance it or improve it. The purpose of this thesis was to contribute towards establishing this base and my hope is that the findings in this study will serve as a valuable foundation on which future strategic efforts to promote Denmark’s competencies within green building in the United States can be built.
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7.2 Further perspectives
The purpose of this thesis was to conduct an empirical analysis of Denmark’s image within green building among a relevant target audience in the United States which could be used as a foundation for developing a future marketing strategy for branding Denmark within this field. Other aspects, which could be valuable in this regard, include a more thorough analysis of the ‘diffused image’ being communicated to the U.S.
target audience – i.e. an examination of how the identity is actually being communicated by various internal stakeholders, including a study of Danish building companies’ use of origin cues in their U.S.
marketing.
This study briefly touched upon the significance of the country-of-origin effect on the target audience’s product selection but a more thorough examination of this would also be very valuable.
Finally, the study could be expanded to include other export markets in order to examine whether the perception of Danish competencies within green building varies from one market to another, and help determine how any potential differences in perception should influence the Danish building industry’s overall export promotion strategies.
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