Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Report 2021

COVID-19 has had dramatic impacts on the horticulture industry. Overall, most industry categories have experienced growth since 2019. Industry experts hypothesize that because people are home more, they are engaging in more plant-related activities for various reasons (health, time available, etc.). To fully capture the opportunity this increased interest affords the industry, it is imperative to understand the underlying motivations for plant purchasing during COVID-19 and determine how the industry can sustain this positive growth when consumers return to their “normal” life and work activities. In a nutshell, it comes down to answering whether COVID affects plant attitudes, perceptions, and purchasing behavior. This particular study focuses on houseplants specifically. The media has placed much attention over the last few years on the popularity of houseplants and this trend appears to have continued even during the pandemic. Interestingly, while there have been numerous studies that investigated consumer preferences for several houseplant attributes, there have been relatively few studies that have investigated the main drivers of consumer usage and there have been no systematic surveys or reports documenting emerging trends in the present houseplants marketplace. Thus, many questions remain — for instance, what type of outlets do different consumer segments (e.g., based on age groups or lifestyles) prefer to shop for houseplants? Why do older consumers have a lower affinity to buy houseplants than younger consumers? Which houseplant categories are best liked? To what extent do value-added attributes such as decorative stylish pots increase the probability of purchase? With this research project, we seek to address these gaps in information.