Browsing by Subject "kaupunkimetsänomistaja"

According to the previous studies, the private forest owners who are living in cities are a growing group. They are also an interesting group of financial services users. The aim of this study is to describe the urban forest owners’ structure, the financial services they use and the factors on the basis they choose their insurance company and bank. In addition, the study researches the importance of forests for the urban forest owners. In the quantitative part of this empirical study, a structured questionnaire was send to 600 urban forest owners. Using systematic random sampling 400 contacts were picked from the register of Forest Centre and another 200 contacts from the customer register of UPM. The response rate was 42 % (251 responses). The respondents lived in the Metropolitan area and in the four next-largest cities. The results of the quantitative part were analyzed using analyzed statistical methods e.g. percentages and cross-tabs. The study also included a qualitative part: the open questions of the questionnaire. The results show that the urban forest owners, who live in the big cities and whose entire forest estate is at least 20 hectares, are younger, include more women, and are higher educated than other private forest owners. Usually, they are part of the socio-economic group of pensioners and wage earners. The most important criteria for selecting an insurance company is competitive bidding and for bank long history with the bank. Urban forest owners insure the forest more often than the average forest owners in general. As investors, the urban forest owners are seeking convenience and flexibility. They prefer to invest in mutual funds and direct equity investments. The digital services that they use are e-mail, online banking and online magazines but otherwise the use of social media remained low. For the urban forest owners the forest means natural refreshment, berry and mushroom picking, and relaxation from the hectic city life. They believe that forest is a heritage that should be cherished and transferred in good condition to future generations.