Perceptions on quality of Malaysia's household furniture / Yamna Ismail

The Malaysia's household furniture becomes a question whether or not the product has good quality and satisfies the customers. This study was conducted to identify the Faculty of Applied Sciences staffs at Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam perceptions on the quality of Malaysia's household furniture. With this perception, the furniture manufacturer can produce the best quality of household furniture for the customers and satisfied their need and want. The questionnaires in this study had different parts, which consisted of demographic questions; general questions about furniture, dining room furniture questions which focus on dining table, bedroom furniture questions which focus on frame of bed and the last part was the living room questions, which focus on lounge chair. Each part of the three types of household furniture consisted of three part questions from material, design and performance parts. The questionnaires were distributed to the staffs in the faculty, were compiled and analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical analysis was conducted. The graphs and pie charts were used to display the data. Out of 100 respondents, 66% of them stated that they were not ascertained about the standard when buying furniture. 92% stated that Malaysia's household furniture quality should be improved. The materials that the staffs preferred for household furniture were solid wood with 59% for dining table, 73% for frame of bed and 29% for lounge chair while 29% respondents preferred textile/ fabric for lounge chair. Most respondents preferred solid wood because it had high strength and aesthetic value. They like textile/ fabric because it can make guest feel comfortable. The most preferred style was contemporary with 46% for dining room furniture, 48% for bedroom furniture and 64% for living room furniture. The most preferred color was dark with 45% for dining table, 44% for frame of bed, while 40% preferred bright color for lounge chair. The preferable shapes of dining table were round and rectangle. The income group of more than RM 4000 preferred solid wood for the three types of the household furniture. The style that they preferred most was traditional for dining table and frame of bed but for lounge chair, the income group between RM 2000- RM 4000 preferred contemporary style. Dark color preferred by income group between RM 2000- RM 4000 for dining table and bright color for lounge chair. For frame of bed, the income group more than RM 4000 preferred dark color and rectangle shape for dining table. For female respondents, they preferred sol id wood except for lounge chair they preferred textile/fabric. They also preferred contemporary style, dark color except for lounge chair they preferred bright color and round shape for dining table. The manufacturer should satisfy the customers' need and look at their demographic to enhance the furniture quality.