"Measuring of satisfaction with the rented dwelling: methodological aspects"

The article provides discussion about the possibilities and limitations of the measurement of satisfaction with the rented dwelling. The authors suppose that the satisfaction with the objective and subjective characteristics of the rented dwelling are influenced by the social status of the dweller as well as by the current situation on the housing market (i.e. changes in the demands structure towards the rented dwelling, the rising popularity of the online services). The tenants of the apartments and rooms in Moscow have differences in the professional and educational status, income and socio-demographic characteristics, that determine their expectations towards the dwelling, concerning the possibilities of the space connected to fulfillment of their everyday needs. Due to the subjective character of the satisfaction concept, the multiple ways of its measurement were used in our research: among them are two indices created with the concrete definition of the measurement parameters and the traditional question about the general level of satisfaction with the rented dwelling. The results of the research show that the satisfaction with rented dwelling appears to be the integral index of the complicated consumer preferences on the market of rental housing. To conclude, the limited nature of the validity of the traditional question about the general level of satisfaction with the rented dwelling is provided as one of the methodical finding. The variable representing the general satisfaction was better to be excluded as it did not reflect the connection between the social status (or its components) and the satisfaction with the rented dwelling. Otherwise, this way of satisfaction measurement played the role of the trap question that helped to realize the discussion of satisfaction with the dwelling (particularly, the rented one in present research) to be rather sensitive. Therefore, the authors have a good cause for the further development of the empirical models of measurement of satisfaction as the multidimensional concept.