Enhancing Consumer Horticulture’s Millennial Outreach: Social Media, Retail, and Public Garden Perspectives (2024)

Shifting demographics and marketing.

Dr. Alicia Rihn, Assistant Professor, Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Tennessee, presented millennial marketing research. Traditionally, the core consumer of retail horticulture goods is 55 years or older, female, and from relatively higher-income households (National Gardening Association, 2013). However, between 2010 and 2012, millennial spending on gardening-related purchases increased by 78% (National Gardening Association, 2013). Millennials were particularly interested in dual-purpose plants (e.g., both edible and ornamental). The “grow your own food” movement likely contributed to this change.

Age is of particular interest to marketers because consumers within the same age groups tend to respond similarly to market stimuli. Target marketing occurs when consumers are grouped into hom*ogenous segments with shared insights and needs and react comparably to marketing stimuli (Belch and Belch, 2009). Younger consumers are of interest to the horticulture industry because of their potential as an untapped market (National Gardening Association, 2013; Rihn et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2016) and substantial spending power (Donnelly and Scaff, 2019). However, peer-reviewed marketing research of millennial horticulture consumers is scarce and, at times, conflicting. This section reviews recent studies on point-of-sale promotions and suggests avenues for future research.

Effects of retail promotions.

The POS promotion is a key component of in-store marketing strategies, and it is used to promote products and services within the retail environment. Examples of POS promotions include advertisem*nts, labels, logos, signs, displays, banners, shelf cards, and floor decals. These promotions are essential given the plethora of information that consumers are exposed to in the retail environment (Collart et al., 2013; Nordfält and Lange, 2013) and because ≈70% of purchasing decisions are made while in the store (Nielsen Company, 2016). As such, POS promotions attract consumers’ attention and inform them about unique product attributes that may increase that product’s value to the consumers and influence their choices (Ares et al., 2013; Rahimi, 2012).

In general, several eye-tracking studies have found that POS information is valued by horticultural consumers and aids garden centers in attracting more customers (Behe et al., 2014; Brand and Leonard, 2001; Khachatryan et al., 2018a; Stegelin, 2001). Behe et al. (2014) determined that consumers visually attend to POS information that is relevant to their personal preferences. For example, plant-oriented people were the quickest to focus on plant displays and viewed them for the longest duration. A similar pattern was observed for production method-oriented consumers (viewing sustainable production method signs above the plants) and price-oriented consumers (viewing price information). This information was used by the consumers when making plant selections, and there were no significant differences based on age groups.

Using a similar eye-tracking method, Khachatryan et al. (2018a) grouped participants by impulse purchasing tendencies and examined how they used POS promotions. They determined that impulsive consumers viewed POS information less and product displays more than less impulsive participants. Despite the reduced visual attention to the POS information, if an impulsive consumer viewed that information, then that consumer was more likely to purchase the plant than a less impulsive one. Conversely, viewing the display did not impact purchasing behavior. Age did not significantly impact these results, indicating that regardless of age, impulsive consumers behave similarly. Overall, POS promotions have great potential to influence millennial purchasing decisions through a variety of mechanisms.

Point-of-sale content.

Recently, horticulture studies addressing POS information have shifted their content to emphasize value-added information rather than plant growth requirements. Value-added information includes any information that generates value for the consumer. For example, sustainable production methods and local production of plants are value-added information reportedly valued by millennials (National Gardening Association, 2013; Yue et al., 2016). Often, this information is not readily available by visually inspecting the plant (i.e., credence attributes); therefore, the use of well-structured POS promotions is essential for informing consumers about the presence of that attribute. In turn, this information should heighten the consumer’s desire for and value of that plant.

Many value-added POS promotions highlight environmentally friendly plant attributes and production methods. Rihn et al. (2015) investigated the likelihood of consumers to purchase indoor foliage plants. They found that organic production, in-state or domestic origins, and highly volatile organic compound removal (air-cleaning) attributes increased the purchase likelihood. Overall, younger consumers were swayed by environmentally friendly POS promotions and had higher purchase likelihood than their older counterparts. The results were supported by a second study, which found that consumer interests in organic production and in plants from closer origins were higher than their interests in plants grown using conventional methods and plants sourced from more distant locations (Rihn et al., 2016).

Khachatryan et al. (2018b) delved further into state marketing program logos (i.e., Fresh from Florida) and consumers’ perceived benefits of locally grown plants. They determined that visual attention to the state marketing logo increased the purchase likelihood, and that increased awareness of the local production campaign reduced visual attention to the logo. Unexpectedly, older participants agreed more with the environmental- and economy-related benefits of local production than younger consumers. In this study, younger consumers were less likely to purchase the products, showing trends opposite those reported by Rihn et al. (2015). This discrepancy may be attributed to differences in the studies’ designs or participants surveyed. For instance, Khachatryan et al. (2018b) used fruit-producing plants and Rihn et al. (2015) used indoor foliage plants. Both products are in the ornamental plant category but may be perceived differently by end consumers. Fruit-producing plants require more space and light to grow, whereas indoor foliage plants tend to be compact and flourish in indoor environments.

Using plant signs as the POS promotion, Khachatryan et al. (2017) investigated the influence of a pollinator-friendly attribute on consumer preferences for ornamental plants. The pollinator-friendly signage improved the purchase likelihood. Additionally, visual attention to the plant sign increased the purchase likelihood. Older consumers were more likely to purchase the plants, consistent with the results of Khachatryan et al. (2017) but counter to those of Rihn et al. (2015). The variance in preferences by age likely comes from the use of different products, research questions, and samples. Nonetheless, the studies highlight the need for more horticultural retail marketing research to understand millennials’ POS preferences. Interestingly, men in the millennial consumer group have been identified as a driving force behind plant purchases (National Gardening Association, 2019). Future studies could delve further into gender differences within the millennial market to identify the best means of communicating with different groups of young consumers.

Finally, it is important to note that although POS information content is important, so is delivery. As indicated by the aforementioned literature, environmentally friendly production practices can be attributes that are important to younger consumers. As such, eco-labels are frequently used to communicate the environmentally friendly attributes of a product/service to the end consumer. In practice, however, eco-labels in garden centers are presented in many different formats (e.g., handwritten, text, logo, pictorial representation, etc.), which raises questions about the effects of the label format on behavior. Rihn et al. (2019) addressed this by investigating the influence of the eco-label format (text vs. logo) on consumers’ visual attention and valuation of fruit plants. In general, they determined that logos captured more visual attention than text representations (e.g., the non-GMO logo vs. GMO-free text). Respondents were willing to pay premiums for plants with eco-labels than for those without, and the premium was amplified for those items displaying logos rather than text. Age did not significantly impact these results, implying that eco-label logos are the preferred delivery method for environmentally friendly POS information.

Exhibitions and programs.

Annual exhibitions of art and temporary displays have become a major movement in public gardens. Through art and exhibitions, gardens connect to diversified audiences, growing garden memberships, and repeat visitations while also generating revenue (Krishnan and Novy, 2016). A few examples of seasonal exhibitions include the Chapungu: Custom and Legend, a Culture in Stone at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, FL, in 2012; the Chihuly glass exhibition at Denver Botanic Gardens in 2014; and the Brazilian Modern: The living art of Roberto Burle Marx at the New York Botanical Garden in 2019. A more permanent example is the Brazilian-theme garden at the Naples Botanical Garden in Florida that celebrates the landscape designs of the Brazilian native Roberto Burle Marx. The Chihuly exhibition at Denver brought more than 1.4 million visitors to the gardens in 2014. These types of artistic and cultural displays attract diverse audiences who may not otherwise visit a public garden, providing opportunities for them to connect them with nature and become hooked.

Many gardens now offer food-related programming to reach millennials and those who subscribe to the “foodie” movement. Foodies are individuals with a keen interest in gourmet foods and the latest food trends (Merriam-Webster, 2020). A few examples that capitalize on the foodie movement include the Making Bitters with California Natives event at the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley; Bitters, Botany, and the Big Screen event at the Idaho Botanical Garden in collaboration with the Sierra Club; and the Garden Chef Demos at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

The nation’s capital, Washington, DC, attracts millions of tourists each year. Strategically located at the National Mall in downtown Washington, DC, the Smithsonian Gardens and the United States Botanical Garden (USBG) develop programming to engage tourists. In 2019, the Smithsonian Gardens, for the first time in its 47-year history, presented a campus-wide exhibition called Habitat. This indoor/outdoor exhibition included 14 distinct exhibits across various Smithsonian museums exploring the central theme of “protecting habitats protects life.” In 2019, the USBG, through their exhibition “Gardens Across America,” showcased 21 public gardens from different regions of the country through vignettes created by each garden illustrating region-specific stories.

Audience.

Several studies have shown that experiences at an early age with guidance from an adult who serves as a plant mentor can make a huge difference in how youth perceive, appreciate, and seek to scientifically understand plants later in life and can instill an interest in cultivating them (Allen, 2003; Wandersee and Schussler, 2001). Balding and Williams (2016) noted that cultural factors also have a significant role based on how a particular society or ethnic group values plants. For example, Native North American, Aboriginal Australian, and Maori cultural groups, to name a few, have strong bonds with plants. These authors suggested that we need to enable empathy with plants by emphasizing the similarities between plants and humans through direct experiences. To achieve this, approaches need to be developed that foster empathy toward and identification with plants through collaborations between botanical and conservation practitioners and social scientists (Balding and Williams, 2016).

The millennial and younger generations are much more diverse than all previous generations (Bialik and Fry, 2019), and they have an interest in interconnecting in an authentic fashion. To engage them, science and conservation-based aspects need to be blended in a meaningful way. The NICH can facilitate this connection through its goals to restore and protect natural resources (National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture, 2017a). Seed Your Future is an initiative of the ASHS and Longwood Gardens that has more than 150 endorsing partners promoting horticulture as a vital, viable, and vibrant career. The “Bloom” graphics created by the program targets younger audiences. Similarly, the Plant Heroes program by the APGA, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is a plant protection awareness program targeting youth. Through comic strips, activity books, games, and field guides, it encourages young audiences to explore the “bad guys” threatening plants.

Technology.

Technology in the gardens is also very important to reaching younger audiences. Having youth serve as virtual role models can make a big impact on attracting their peer group. One example is the development of an app that can save the bees and pollinators that was created by 8-year-old Kedar Narayan from Pennsylvania. He developed the app called Pollinator for a Pet, to help his community create pollinator-friendly gardens.

With the mission of recreating the connection between people and the amazing natural world around us, the PlantSnap app encourages citizen science through plant identification using high technology. On average, people take ≈350,000 plant snaps (photos) every day using this app. Apps like this provide opportunities to link people to various aspects of botany and horticulture and connect to plants. It also encourages citizens to go out and explore which plants thrive in their neighborhood parks, public gardens, and natural areas, thus leading to them becoming more educated and better stewardship of plants and nature.