September/October - 17

MANAGEMENT
Consumer Psychology
C
onsumers have a lot on their
minds most days. Horticultural
professionals, retailers and
growers may be inclined to think
they get a lot of " brain time " from
their customers, that customers are
thoughtful about the seller's products,
but this often isn't the case. Customers
have busy lives - some have children
or parents to care for, jobs, errands,
volunteer work, etc. Do most consumers
make fast decisions in the retail setting?
Yes! To help retailers think more about
what customers are thinking, a lesson
in consumer psychology may be helpful,
specifically what customers think
influences what they buy.
Many consumers aren't rational.
That's a big statement, but think
about your own purchases. Whether
you'd admit it or not, most of us
have made several purchases that we
weren't thinking about logically. If
consumers were rational, economists
would rule the world, and we would
all make choices based on costbenefit
analyses and never make
an impulsive purchase. Knowing
that emotions play a role in some
purchases, we have an opportunity to
help convince consumers that buying
some flowers and plants is a really
good idea.
Nearly all of the consumer research
we have undertaken using the hightech
eye-tracking glasses shows that
making the decision to buy a plant
happens very quickly, often in 3 to 5
seconds. That is not a lot of time to
influence what consumers think. All
too often, retailers highlight price
in a large font that can be seen from
20 or more feet away, thinking this
helps consumers make a decision
to buy. It doesn't, more often than
not, because price isn't the only
consideration when customers make
a purchase decision. Yes, it is a factor
but rarely is it the only deciding
factor in whether to buy that plant
or not.
Most consumers buy what they
already know will work for them. That
past success is usually what they're
looking for if they are planning to
make a plant purchase. Think about
what we make for breakfast or dinner
most weekdays - we know what our
family likes and we know what works
well, so we stick with that choice. It
reduces the time we need to think
about dinner, freeing up brain time for
other decisions.
The same is often true
horticulturally. Many consumers
know what worked for them last year,
and they will want to stick with that
to avoid plants dying. It presents
retailers with some inertia, since we
have to do a great job at convincing
them the change will be worth their
risk. Whether tomatoes or petunias,
it can be a challenge to get some
customers to try something new.
Buying the tried-and-true favorite
isn't always a bad thing. We can remind
some customers that they bought a
specific plant last year and would they
like to add that plant to their shopping
cart? Especially for online purchases,
buying the same plant again this year
is an easy choice that doesn't require
much thought or effort.
Selling Benefits, Not Features
This is where the value
proposition can help convince new
customers that a specific plant is a
good choice - or convince existing
customers that a new cultivar is
a better choice. This is a great
opportunity to talk about plant
benefits (not features). Benefits are
what that plant does for me (e.g.,
produces tomatoes earlier than
others, larger than others, or is
more disease resistant) rather than
the type of tomato (determinate
versus indeterminate) or fruit
shape. More perceived benefits yield
more perceived value, which can
be translated into a higher price.
So, for new cultivars or plants with
more benefits (e.g., fragrance, new
or novel cultivar) charge more for
those plants as they come on the
market. They have a higher value
proposition, will be perceived as
having greater value, and will be a
good buy for customers looking for
new or better plants.
Not all people see the value
of plant benefits equally. In fact,
millennials (persons born from 1981
to 1996) expressed getting more
benefits from plants (psychological,
educational, social, emotional,
physiological and aesthetic)
compared to baby boomers (persons
born between 1955 and 1964) and
Gen Z (persons born from 1997 to
2012). This means that retailers
might consider customizing their
messages to age cohorts that they
valued most. For boomers, the plant
benefits they most related to were
relaxation and psychological benefits.
For Gen X (persons born between
1965 and 1980), those plant benefits
were social and educational. The
multitude of research documenting
the plethora of benefits that plants
bring to our lives is summarized in
three articles by Charlie Hall, Ph.D.,
and Melinda Knuth, Ph.D.
Previous articles in this series
discussed price, but one more piece
of research about price needs to be
mentioned here. In one study with
digitally identical plants, we found
that to entice customers to buy plants
at a higher price point, we needed
to show them more benefits (not
features). At the low price point, the
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September/October

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