Contractor Research Deep Dive

Pub­lish Date: 6/26/2025

Under­stand­ing how con­trac­tors research and choose build­ing prod­ucts is essen­tial to con­nect­ing with this influ­en­tial audi­ence. HIRI’s Con­trac­tor Research Deep Dive explores the deci­sion-mak­ing process, infor­ma­tion pref­er­ences, and key fac­tors that shape con­trac­tors’ prod­uct selec­tions. This study pro­vides action­able insights to help man­u­fac­tur­ers and ven­dors bet­ter sup­port con­trac­tors through­out every phase of a project.

Study Objec­tives:

• Inves­ti­gate the steps con­trac­tors take in research­ing and select­ing build­ing products
• Iden­ti­fy the most val­ued infor­ma­tion sources and resources used by contractors
• Ana­lyze the fre­quen­cy and tim­ing of con­trac­tors’ research behav­iors across project phases
• Deter­mine con­trac­tors’ sat­is­fac­tion lev­els with the cur­rent avail­abil­i­ty and qual­i­ty of prod­uct information
• Seg­ment con­trac­tors by atti­tudes, behav­iors, and firm char­ac­ter­is­tics to iden­ti­fy pat­terns in prod­uct research and selec­tion behaviors
• Exam­ine how ven­dor and man­u­fac­tur­er rela­tion­ships influ­ence con­trac­tors’ research, selec­tion, and loy­al­ty, focus­ing on con­nec­tions, pro­grams, and sup­port services