The Problem

A leading manufacturer of bathroom hardware wanted to expand its understanding of homeowner behavior in the purchase process. While they had clear insights into pro purchasing channels and decision-making, they needed to better understand how end-users, the homeowners themselves, approach the purchase and installation of bath fixtures.

The client’s goal was to ensure that messaging, channel investments, and brand strategies would resonate with homeowners at each stage of their decision-making journey. To do that, they needed clarity on how homeowners research products, interact with professionals, research products, and ultimately make their purchase.

The Plan

The Farnsworth Group designed a quantitative research study to explore homeowner behavior from multiple angles, focusing on several key decision points in the customer journey.

The research answered questions such as:

• Where do homeowners go for information?
• What types of information influence their decisions?
• How and when do they engage with trade professionals?
• What types of pro involvement are most common (e.g., consultation, install, purchase)?
• Which channels do homeowners use to purchase products?

The study targeted 1,000 homeowners who had installed a glass door within the past two years. Respondents were carefully screened to ensure high quality and relevance, with quotas based on age, income, DIY vs. pro use, purchase channel, and price tier. The research process also prioritized data integrity, incorporating Farnsworth’s multi-tiered quality control system. This included manual review of open-end responses, detection of AI-generated or low-quality data, and validation through digital fingerprinting and mixed-method sampling as needed.

The Outcomes

The study gave the client a clear, strategic view of how homeowners approach their specific bath fixture buying process. Insights included:

• Inspiration and Information Gathering Behavior: Understanding where homeowners go for inspiration and technical information helped the client tailor digital content and identify the most impactful channels for product education.
• Interactions with Pros: The study revealed how and when homeowners consult with professionals, and whether those pros are simply advising, installing, or fully managing the purchase. This insight enabled better targeting of both DIY and DIFM (do-it-for-me) audiences.
• Retail Channel Prioritization: By identifying the retailers and channel types homeowners used, the client gained clarity on where to invest in retail partnerships and merchandising strategies.
• Product & Brand Preferences: While the study avoided tracking perceptions of specific brands, it highlighted the types of products being selected. This data provided direction for product development and positioning.

Importantly, these homeowner insights were designed to complement prior research on trade professionals that the client had conducted, to enable a fully integrated understanding of the purchase process from start to finish among both customer segments.

Take the Guesswork Out of Your Path-to-Purchase Strategy

If you're trying to influence homeowners at key moments in the decision-making process, you need research that gives you actionable clarity. Whether you're evaluating messaging, channel strategies, or product development, The Farnsworth Group can help you uncover what drives purchases, and how to act on it.

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