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Spring 2003 Consumer Research Report

A new national survey reports the anticipated buying trends of the American public so that you can customize your approach and provide them with just the right information to meet their needs. A computer-assisted telephone survey of 1002 households within the United States was conducted between March 3 and March 9, 2003 for the Garden Writer’s Association of American (GWAA) by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence. The survey reports garden trends for the 2003 planting season.

Despite the economy, weather concerns, and the war with Iraq, a majority of American households were unphased when it comes to spending on plants this Spring. Consumers plan on spending the same amount or more as they did last Spring on both ornamental plants/flowers and vegetable/fruit plants. As you might expect, there are differences between what consumers in different demographic groups (age group, income level, marital status, etc.) expect to plant this year.
 

For example, compared with other age groups, younger consumers between the ages of 18 and 25 are more likely to increase their spending on vegetable and fruit plants.
Married couples will spend more on flowers and lawns than singles. In general, vegetable and fruit plants are preferred slightly over ornamental plants and flowers this year.
 

However, suburban dwellers prefer flowers more than their urban and rural counterparts. Surprisingly, the group that is most likely to increase gardening expenditures this year are those without a high school degree. Only ten percent of those surveyed said they did not plan to plant anything this spring.
 

The popularity of container plants may be waning a bit as 15 percent of the households plan on spending less for this type of gardening while only 8 percent plan on spending more than last Spring. For those buying plants for use in container gardening, half of all American households plant flowers. One in five plants vegetables and fruit plants and even fewer use containers for trees and shrubs. Married couples are more likely to plant flowers in containers than singles and suburban dwellers are more likely than urban dwellers to do so. Rural dwellers are more likely to plant fruits and vegetables in containers than are suburbanites. In addition, the higher the income level, the stronger the preference for planting flowers in containers. For general gardening, lawn/grass and tree/shrub spending are top choices as income levels increase.
 

The demographics of those surveyed show the following profile: More survey respondents (one-quarter) were 35-44 in age with only 13 percent (the smallest bracket) in the 18-24 age group.
 

More than half were married with 64 percent with no children under the age of 18. More than three-fourth had a high school or higher education.
 

And 71 percent were White, non-Hispanic with 35 percent of all respondents living in the South.
The majority of respondents came from urban regions (43 percent) as compared to rural (33 percent) and suburban (23 percent).
 

Household income levels were fairly evenly split among five categories ranging from under $75,000 to under $20,000. Eight percent said their income was over $100,000.
 

The GWAA 2003 Garden Trends Research Executive Summary as well as the tabulated responses are available from the VNLA Office, 800-476-0055, info@vnla.org
- summary provided by Kathie Sevebeck, VNLA Office