Product Differentiation Strategies Based on Trends in the Market

Awareness of and Interest in Native Wildflowers among College Students in Plant-related Disciplines: A Case Study from Florida

“…A visit to most retail horticulture operations reveals that marketing of gardening and landscaping goods is focused primarily on property and homeowners, which is understandable given that homeowners 35 to 69 years of age with annual incomes of $25,001 to $100,000 are the most active in gardening and landscaping (Butterfield, 2009;Kelley and Wehry, 2006;National Gardening Association, 2006). Moreover, interest by this segment of the market is likely to rise because of trends toward increasing sales of gardening and landscaping products (Butterfield, 2009;Deneen and Gross, 2006); an aging populace that desires to create comfortable, safe, beautiful surroundings and spend time outdoors to appreciate nature (Clayton, 2007;Gräbnitz and Bokelmann, 2004;Hack and Zimmerman, 1996); personalization of home gardens and landscapes (Hack and Zimmerman, 1996); and cyclical increases in property values (Hardy et al, 2000).…”

“…Traditional undergraduate and graduate students do not typically fit the demographic profile that is driving increased interest in gardening and landscaping or the use of wildflowers. For example, consumers ‡40 years of age with a dual-income household and areas for gardening represented opportunities for Dutch bulb industry marketing programs, while younger consumers with limited knowledge of bulbs represented threats to market penetration (Hack and Zimmerman, 1996). Moreover, in our experiences teaching at all levels (i.e., freshman through graduate), we rarely encounter traditional college students who meet all the criteria of being homeowners, 35 to 69 years old, earn an average annual income of about $75,000, and substantially invest what money and time they do This research was supported by the Florida Wildflower Foundation (grant no.…”