The question was brought up by a newcomer if Plastic pieces were preferred over Wood sets.
Of course personal preference takes the call, but there are trends that are observable.
The vast majority of sets used in higher level Chess events are in wood.
The plastic sets you see pictured from more elite events are pretty much all from before the 1970’s. Since then you will see wood sets.
When looking at sellers you will see more Wood set options than Plastic. When most people talk of buying a nice set, it is usually Wood.
Wood pieces are more expensive than plastic ones. The cheapest wood set starts at around $40 where the cheapest plastic set costs well under $10. And the most expensive plastic set will not even come close to $100. The better wood sets will get to over $600.
Because of the lower cost you will see people using plastic sets in situations where the pieces might see more abusive handling. If a plastic piece or pieces gets broken or lost, it does not cost near as much to replace.
Wood sets are usually desirable for slower games where they will not be beat up so much.
Of course you will find people that prefer Plastic no matter what. And some will only play with Wood pieces. For about a 12 year period, I only used Wood sets. And today I use plastic pieces less than 5% of the time. There are some Wood set designs that work great for the faster time play.
Whatever suits the occasion, I would say. I own an elaborate Wooden set more for decoration than anything else. It is set-up for the first 5 moves of a PIRC defence. I used to own an inexpensive plastic set for everyday use. Now I use a small metal (magnetic) set. I only play chess online now, so don't really need a chess set. 
The question was brought up by a newcomer if Plastic pieces were preferred over Wood sets.
Of course personal preference takes the call, but there are trends that are observable.
The vast majority of sets used in higher level Chess events are in wood.
The plastic sets you see pictured from more elite events are pretty much all from before the 1970’s. Since then you will see wood sets.
When looking at sellers you will see more Wood set options than Plastic. When most people talk of buying a nice set, it is usually Wood.
Wood pieces are more expensive than plastic ones. The cheapest wood set starts at around $40 where the cheapest plastic set costs well under $10. And the most expensive plastic set will not even come close to $100. The better wood sets will get to over $600.
Because of the lower cost you will see people using plastic sets in situations where the pieces might see more abusive handling. If a plastic piece or pieces gets broken or lost, it does not cost near as much to replace.
Wood sets are usually desirable for slower games where they will not be beat up so much.
Of course you will find people that prefer Plastic no matter what. And some will only play with Wood pieces. For about a 12 year period, I only used Wood sets. And today I use plastic pieces less than 5% of the time. There are some Wood set designs that work great for the faster time play.