Abstract
As a response to the recent increase in the Interest in environment friendly interior finishing materials, the purpose of this study is to compare the awareness of environment friendly interior finishing materials between interior designers and housewives, as representatives of two different consumer groups, and to examine how the preferences between them differ. The study participant group for this research consisted of 80 interior designers working in Gwangju, and 166 housewives who were residents of a number of apartments in Gwangju. Self administered questionnaires were provided to the participants and were then collected. Unpaired t-tests and $x^2$ tests were used to compare the prevalence of epidemiological factors and the variables that revealthe awareness and the preference between the two groups. While it was expected that both groups would source information using the internet, the housewives group showed a tendency to also seek advice from others in the selection of environment friendly interior finishing materials. Interior-designers considered the high price and the lack of diverse products as the most serious problems involved in selecting environment friendly interior finishing materials. Interior-designers chose design, color and long-term use, and the method of maintenance as standards by which to choose interior materials in general, while the housewives considered 'environment friendly' as the most important standard. Both groups however favored environment friendly materials. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of their belief in the need to trust a well known brand name and in the importance of a Green-label placed on interior finishing materials such as wallpaper, paint and laminate flooring.
