February 2023 - 10

duets
BY PETER KONJOIAN AND ALICIA RIHN
Consumer Behavior and the
Economics of Profitability
Peter Konjoian is president of Konjoian's Horticulture
Education Services Inc. His career spans four decades as
a commercial grower, researcher and consultant. Alicia
Rihn is assistant professor at the University of Tennessee.
Konjoian can be reached at peterkfes@comcast.net.
T
oday's guest is Alicia
Rihn, assistant professor
at the University of
Tennessee. Alicia earned an
undergraduate degree from
the University of Wisconsin
and master's and doctorate
degrees from the University
of Minnesota. Her research
program is focused on specialty
crop marketing with an
emphasis on ornamental plants.
She was recently recognized as
a member of GPN's 40 Under
40 Class of 2022.
Peter: Thanks for writing with
me Alicia, and congratulations
on being a GPN 40 Under
40 recipient. Let's start with
how you became interested in
agricultural economics.
Alicia: I grew up in a small
town, participating in 4-H and
Future Farmers of America.
Corn, soybeans and hogs
were the primary ag products
10
FEBRUARY 2023 GPNMAG.COM
grown in the area. When I
went to college, I wanted to
remain in the industry but not
monoculture ag. I discovered
horticulture in my intro to
plant sciences course and
decided to pursue a degree
in horticultural sciences.
When I was getting close to
graduation, I realized there
were not a lot of agriculture
business courses taught, and
I wanted to fill that gap. So
I pursued graduate work in
agricultural economics with a
focus on consumer behavior
toward specialty crops.
At that time, it was near the
Great Recession and the local
movement had taken off, so
a lot of my work focused on
local plants and fresh produce.
People and their responses
are very dynamic, so it was
interesting to see how people
respond to different stimuli or
marketing materials, and to
identify what can encourage
a more positive shopping
experience, while driving
up sales.
Peter: It interests me that
given our different areas of
expertise, mine in production
and yours in economics, and
the generational staggered
overlap of our careers, we
both share a focus on the
locally grown food movement.
My podcast partner Michelle
Klieger, also an agricultural
economist and past contributor
in this column, and I enjoyed
having you as a guest on our
podcast " The Grower and the
Economist " in the spring of
2021. We discussed grower
response and reaction to the
pandemic, as well as some
of your research from your
graduate studies and current
work at Tennessee. One of your
research projects is exploring
how to engage new consumers.
What are you learning?
Alicia: As new gardeners
are entering the marketplace,
they are inexperienced
and information-seeking.
This poses an interesting
opportunity for the industry
to inform and generate value
for this group. We found that
people who are engaging
with plants are younger, more
educated, have children and
have a higher income than
those who are not engaging
with plants.
A larger portion of millennials
and Gen Z consumers are
engaging with plants as well.
Of our national sample, 45%
had less than two years of
experience. When we looked
at the benefits associated
with plants, the perceived
benefits (e.g., plants make me
happy) increased as years of
experience increased. This
implies that as people gain
experience, they also gain in
the positive benefits of working
with plants.
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2023
