The floriculture and nursery industry has
evolved rapidly in recent years. The introduction
of mass-market retailers such as supermarkets,
department stores and Internet-based businesses
has changed the marketing paradigm of floriculture
and nursery products. Floriculture and
Nursery crops, often referred to as the green industry
are an important sector of the U.S. agricultural
economy with grower cash receipts of
$16.9 billion in 2006 (Jerardo, 2007). All green
industry sectors, including growers, landscaping
design and maintenance, and retail, are estimated
to contribute over $148 billion in economic
impacts to the U.S. economy and add almost 2
million jobs (Hall et al., 2006).
In general, the demand for all products is
highly dependent on its characteristics or attributes,
which include satisfying nutritional needs
and/or taste (Hanemann, 1984). Even though
ornamental plants do not satisfy any nutritional
needs, they possess other important attributes
that influence the buying decision including
their aesthetic value; In addition to ornamental
attributes, consumer demand for ornamental
products is also affected by consumer demographics
and the buying occasions and periods
(Palma and Ward, 2010). Understanding
how consumers make choices of whether to buy
ornamental products or not, and the intensity and
frequency of purchase is essential to understanding
ornamental demand. Floriculture and nursery