Articles
CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED FLOWER PLANTS
Article number
536_63
Pages
521 – 528
Language
Abstract
The USA wholesale market for pot plants, valued at $701 million in 1998, is second to bedding plants, and growing at less than one-percent annually.
The outdoor market for bedding plants is nearly $2 billion (U.S.) and growing eight-percent annually.
Customers who purchase indoor flowering pot plants may have specific expectations about them, and may feel they will not perform well in the garden.
Michigan State researchers have developed protocols to program over 30 herbaceous perennials to flower on a specific date.
Some of these perennials exhibit characteristics for marketing as pot plants followed by good garden performance.
One method of identifying how customers perceive these potentially new products is through the development of perceptual maps.
Perceptual mapping shows how customers implicitly categorize products, leading marketers to identify new market opportunities or ways to position and price similar products.
We surveyed 239 visitors to the Detroit, Michigan, flower show in April 1999, to determine their perceptions of 5 traditional indoor flowering pot plants and 9 traditional outdoor perennials.
Their similarity / dissimilarity perceptions were recorded on a 7 point scale and squared Euclidean distances were calculated to develop maps.
Major dimensions identified were an indoor/outdoor dimension, a bold/pastel color dimension, and a flower form dimension.
This provided evidence that participants recognized the perennials as belonging outdoors in the garden, giving marketers an opportunity to advertise this advantage when merchandising them as pot plants.
Color is regarded as an important aspect in the purchase of any flower, and was identified here as another classification dimension.
Since different customer segments may perceive plants differently, we developed separate perceptual maps for several consumer groups.
The outdoor market for bedding plants is nearly $2 billion (U.S.) and growing eight-percent annually.
Customers who purchase indoor flowering pot plants may have specific expectations about them, and may feel they will not perform well in the garden.
Michigan State researchers have developed protocols to program over 30 herbaceous perennials to flower on a specific date.
Some of these perennials exhibit characteristics for marketing as pot plants followed by good garden performance.
One method of identifying how customers perceive these potentially new products is through the development of perceptual maps.
Perceptual mapping shows how customers implicitly categorize products, leading marketers to identify new market opportunities or ways to position and price similar products.
We surveyed 239 visitors to the Detroit, Michigan, flower show in April 1999, to determine their perceptions of 5 traditional indoor flowering pot plants and 9 traditional outdoor perennials.
Their similarity / dissimilarity perceptions were recorded on a 7 point scale and squared Euclidean distances were calculated to develop maps.
Major dimensions identified were an indoor/outdoor dimension, a bold/pastel color dimension, and a flower form dimension.
This provided evidence that participants recognized the perennials as belonging outdoors in the garden, giving marketers an opportunity to advertise this advantage when merchandising them as pot plants.
Color is regarded as an important aspect in the purchase of any flower, and was identified here as another classification dimension.
Since different customer segments may perceive plants differently, we developed separate perceptual maps for several consumer groups.
Authors
E. H. Moore, B. K. Behe, A. Cameron
Keywords
paired comparisons, perceptual map
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