Authors: Athanasia Kadrefi, Evgenia Fronimaki, Maria Mavri

Title: A survey analysis of consumers’ behavior in terms of the adoption of 3D printing technology

Abstract

3D printing is an automated production process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. 3D printing enables to the potential customer to produce complex (functional) shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing has the potential to change the future of supply chains and how industries design, manufacture and/or repair goods in the future. 3D printing is not a new technology; in fact, it is about 30 years old. However, this industry exploded after 2010.

Although the adoption of 3D printing technology in manufacture is huge, the applications of 3D printing industry in many sectors such as medicine, aerospace, education, culture, jewelry, food industry, clothing and footwear industry, and arms industry, are also remarkable, the adoption of 3D printing technology by hobbyists still remains unknown.

Even though 3D printing is growing in the world market, what it really seems unknown, is the understanding of how consumers realize this new technology. It is important to understand their behavior (accept or reject) into 3D printing technology and sketch the identity of adaptors or not.

The goal of this work is to map the attitude of hobbyists to this new technology, define critical factors that have impact to consumers’ behavior in 3D printing acceptance and finally explore the impact of 3D printing to social, economic and environmental changes. A survey has been carried out on Greeks’ hobbyists and valuable conclusions have been revealed.