Increased Knowledge about Floral Preservatives Influences Consumers’ Perception of the Quality and Value of a Floral Arrangement Purchase

This research examines whether knowledge about floral preservatives increases consumers’ perception of quality, purchase intention, and price of a floral arrangement. A survey was administered to 222 participants at two locations in Manhattan, KS. Seventy-three percent of respondents fell within Generation Y (18 to 30 years old). The survey instrument presented four levels of presentation of a floral arrangement that were associated with increasing knowledge about the use of floral preservatives on consumers’ perceptions about the quality and price of that arrangement, as follows: Level 1 showed a photo of a floral arrangement without preservatives; Level 2 showed the same photo of a floral arrangement with a small, unlabeled packet of preservatives; Level 3 showed the same photo of a floral arrangement with a large, clearly labeled packet of preservatives; and Level 4 showed the same photos as Level 3 but was presented after a 191-word message describing the three functions of floral preservatives. Participants of the survey rated the quality of a floral arrangement higher from Level 2 (presence of floral preservatives not explicit) to Level 3 (presence of floral preservatives explicit) and from Level 3 to Level 4 (after reading a message about floral preservatives’ function and effectiveness). Their intent to purchase the floral arrangement generally increased with each level of presentation. Females indicated intention to purchase flowers more frequently than males. Participants increased the price that they were willing to pay for the floral arrangement at each level of presentation, starting at $25.46 at Level 1 (no floral preservatives use indicated) to $29.19 at Level 4. Participants were more knowledgeable about the benefits of floral preservatives and believed that floral preservatives increased the value of floral arrangements after reading a message describing their function and effectiveness more so than before reading a message. The younger the respondent, the more willing they were to pay more for floral arrangements with floral preservatives. As consumers become more aware of the use of floral preservatives and more knowledgeable about how and why they are effective, they attribute higher quality to floral arrangements with preservatives, they are willing to pay more for arrangements with preservatives, and their purchase intention frequency increases. Florists should always use preservatives in their processing and construction of fresh floral arrangements, consider providing a message about the function and effectiveness of floral preservatives to their customers, and then market their use of these materials. F loral preservatives are a mixture of ingredients added to the water of a fresh floral arrangement to increase the postharvest longevity of cut flowers and greens (Nowak and Rudnicki, 1990). Commercial floral preservatives contain a combination of compounds that provide a food source for fresh cut materials (carbohydrate) and reduce bacterial growth (antimicrobial agent) in the container’s water (McDaniel, 1996). In the consumer trade, floral preservatives are frequently referred to as ‘‘floral food.’’ Hydrators promote water uptake by reducing water pH via an acidifying agent (Dole and Wilkins, 2005). Despite extensive evidence that appropriate use of floral preservatives extends postharvest longevity of most fresh flowers, their use by traditional full-service florists is variable (Coake, 2012). Given that 55% of the retail floral industry’s revenue is comprised of fresh floral arrangement sales (First Research, 2010), consumers’ beliefs and opinions about these products should be better understood. In a study of consumer purchases of floral products in supermarkets, Behe et al. (1992a) determined that care and handling instructions and floral longevity were important product attributes for some demographic groups, such as ‘‘educated mothers.’’ These researchers later reported that knowledge of postharvest care for cut flowers added value to a floral arrangement (Behe et al., 1992b). Similarly, Huang (2007) found that consumers emphasized floral longevity as important in purchases of floral products for themselves. Most recently, Yue et al. (2011) reported that most survey participants agreed that they ‘‘like the idea of knowing how long to expect cut flowers to last.’’ Indeed, according to Gutman’s means-end model (Gutman, 1982; Oppenheim, 1996), knowledge of postharvest care for cut flowers has the potential to add value to the floral arrangement for consumers, which is pertinent for florists seeking to increase price per transaction (Yue and Behe, 2008). In addition, consumer regret manipulates repurchasing habits of horticultural products (Dennis et al., 2004), and regret can be combated when floral products are sold with a ‘‘use of preservatives’’ guarantee. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) if the presence of Research Reports