Exploring approaches for classifying ornamental garden plant purchasers

Abstract

Involvement scales have been widely used to measure the extent to which a product is associated with an individual's self‐concept, and the hedonic pleasure evoked by the activity or product. A number of studies have linked involvement with higher overall spending on a product. This study aimed to determine whether gardening involvement predicted increased garden plant purchasing behavior in Canada and to understand the implications of high gardening involvement by comparison with other measures, both subjective (self‐assessed expertise) and objective (hours spent gardening, objective gardening knowledge). Gardening involvement did not predict purchasing behavior nor did self‐assessed gardening expertise. However, objective measures (hours spent gardening and objective gardening knowledge) were found to predict plant purchasing. It is suggested that the involvement scale be used in combination with objective measures to distinguish between consumers with high product interest but low present use and those with high interest and high product use. Practical applications Although involvement was not found to predict garden plant‐purchasing behavior, by measuring involvement it is possible to identify individuals who have a high level of interest in a product or activity. In doing so, involvement helps to identify all potential users, some of whom may not be captured with questions around current product purchasing behavior. These users can be subdivided with objective measures according to those that are presently high product users and those that are low product users. Low product users with high involvement may require an additional incentive to engage with the product/activity due to barriers such as lack of knowledge or time. By combining the involvement scale with product usage information, it is possible to identify two sub‐groups of high product involvement individuals who can be targeted with customized advertising or versions of a product in order to attract a broader audience.