This Journal of Environmental Horticulture article is reproduced with the consent of the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI www.hriresearch.org), which was established in 1962 as the research and development affiliate of the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA http://www.anla.org). HRI s Mission: To direct, fund, promote and communicate horticultural research, which increases the quality and value of ornamental plants, improves the productivity and profitability of the nursery and landscape industry, and protects and enhances the environment. The use of any trade name in this article does not imply an endorsement of the equipment, product or process named, nor any criticism of any similar products that are not mentioned. Copyright, All Rights Reserved
Online Gardening Search Activities and Purchases 1 Bridget K. Behe 2, Brittany Harte 3, and Chengyan Yue 4 Department of Horticulture Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 Abstract Consumers have readily adopted personal computers and Internet technology with many seeking information and/or make purchases online. However, the extent to which horticultural consumers seek information and make purchases online is not well documented. A survey of 1588 consumers, representative of the United States on average, was conducted in 2004 to provide baseline information about online gardening search and purchase activities. Nearly 28% searched for gardening information at least once; of those, more than 50% of the participants searched for information at least weekly. There were differences in gardening-related searches by age and marital status, but not by region of residence, income, or gender. Nearly 50% of the study respondents made an online purchase in the year prior to the survey but only 7.4% made a gardening related purchase online. Over 50% had made a gardening-related purchase in-person. The same respondents who made in-person purchases were the individuals who made the online gardening purchases, so the Internet provided a supplemental shopping venue. There were demographic differences between those who made online gardening purchases and solely in-person gardening purchases. More males, younger and slightly less affluent participants were more likely to make online purchases than solely in-person purchases for gardening products, supplies, and services while more females who were slightly older and more affluent were more likely to make in-person gardening-related purchases. Index words: consumer, Internet, marketing, survey. 1 Received for publication February 26, 2008; in revised form May 21, 2008. 2 Professor, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. To whom all requests should be addressed. behe@msu.edu 3 Former graduate student, The College of William and Mary, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Williamsburg, VA. 4 Assistant Professor and Bachman Endowed Chair, Departments of Horticultural Science and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN. Significance to the Nursery Industry The Internet has revolutionized the way consumers seek information, shop for products and services, and the way in which many companies do business. E-commerce has dramatically expanded where some industries generate revenue, including books and electronics. Still, information about gardening-related searches for information and purchases is sparse. A horticultural business making a decision about whether to host a website for their customers needs sufficient information about who uses websites, what information they want on the site, or whether they may buy something. Businesses might also be challenged to understand who is most likely to search for gardening information or make gardenrelated purchases online. Results from this research show how a representative group of Americans seek information online for a wide variety of information, with 27.4% seeking gardening information. Including searches of non-gardening types of information in this study gives horticultural firms a point of comparison. Results also show who is making purchases online related to gardening and for what variety of products. Lastly, results provide a comparison of in-person gardening purchasers to those who made purchases online. While online purchases supplemented in-person gardening purchases, with one exception, there were demographic differences between those who bought solely in-person and those who also bought online. Results indicate that most gardening-related businesses should consider at least hosting a website that provides information or links to information for their customers. Online purchasing may not be sufficiently high enough (7.4%) to justify most firms launching an online buying website. However, future research should monitor both information search and purchases to discover changing trends. Introduction Since 1993, the U.S. population has rapidly adopted Internet technology. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (5), a majority of households (62%) had personal computers in 2003. Approximately 89% of households with personal computers also had Internet access. There was a 10.8% increase in home computer ownership and a 13.2% increase home Internet access from 2000 to 2003 (5). Increased access to the web has led to more information, products, and services being marketed and purchased online. Electronic commerce or e-commerce, defined as any form of economic activity conducted via electronic connections between businesses and consumers has grown substantially since the inception of the Internet (15). According to Infoplease (9), online retail spending in 2004 reached approximately $66 billion. Forrester Research (7) projected that two-thirds of the U.S. population will shop online and spend approximately $217.8 billion online in 2007. These projections make it critical for a horticultural business to at least consider adopting this new technology and also consider marketing information, products, and services online. Business visibility online is becoming more important, yet marketing products online does not guarantee successful e-commerce. Several factors that influence the success of a business online include: usability, service quality, and trust in the vendor (3, 8, 10). The U.S. Census Bureau reported that fewer adults > age 44 years accessed the Internet at home than younger adults (12). Although participation in e- commerce is high for many industries, consumer spending is not equally distributed across product categories. In 2004, approximately 37.3% of online purchases were for personal computers while gardening supplies accounted for only 1.2% of online consumer spending (12). Although plants and related gardening supplies do not account for a large portion of online consumer spending, 210 J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008
the purchase of these items online has increased steadily over the past several years. In 2000, $100 million (0.41% of total retail spending online) was spent on the purchase of gardening supplies online. This increased to $700 million (0.87% of spending online) in 2005 (14). The discrepancy in on-line gardening spending between 1.2% (12) and 0.87% (14) is due to the definition of gardening products and what products (specifically non-plant items) were included in the different studies. Growth in online spending on gardening supplies raises several questions about the consumers purchasing these items. As with other consumer goods, do certain demographic characteristics influence the search or purchase of gardening items? The National Gardening Association (NGA) annually tracks gardening participation and purchases, and their rate of growth (2). In 2005, lawn and garden retail sales totaled $35 billion with 91 million households (83%) who participated in lawn and garden activities (2). Despite Americans spending $35 billion on lawn and garden purchases, sales growth has stalled since 2000. On average, Americans spent $387 on lawn and garden-related products in 2005, down $48 from 2000. There was a decline in lawn and gardening expenditures from 2000 to 2005 in five activities: lawn care ( 0.3%), flower gardening ( 6.3%), vegetable gardening ( 11.8%), shrub care ( 4.9%), and water gardening ( 11.8%). Still, there was a decline in dollars spent in all 16 areas studied. While some of this decrease may be attributed to an increase in the use of professional services, the decrease could also be a signal that the market has matured or is saturated. A mature market, or one that is saturated, is a market that has a declining rate of growth, slowing to near zero (11). New product adjustments or developments, new markets, or a combination of both are needed to rejuvenate sales growth in mature markets. The NGA (2) reported that while a majority of gardeningrelated products are purchased in-person, seven million households (8%) purchased gardening-related products or plants from mail-order catalogs, up from six million households in 2003 (7%). These statistics may suggest that an emerging challenge for retailers and their partners in the distribution channel is to consider alternatives to traditional market targeting, such as the Internet. People from higher-income households participated to a greater extent in gardening activities than people from lower-income households, with those households earning more than $50,000 most likely to participate in lawn and garden activities and make related purchases (1, 2, 6). Dennis and Behe (6) examined the influence of age and ethnicity, stratified by income, on gardening activities and purchases and showed that the number of differences in garden-related activity participation and purchases decreased as income level increased across ethnic and age groups. Generally, persons of African-American descent participated in gardenrelated activities to a lesser extent than persons of other ethnic backgrounds. Also, older homeowners participated in more garden-related activities and made more garden-related purchases across all income levels. Behe (1) also found that across all income groups, a higher percentage of homeowners than renters participated in gardening-related activities and made gardening-related purchases. It would be helpful to understand how these diverse markets use the Internet. A slowing expansion of the horticulture industry directs focus to additional markets or alternative ways of reaching J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008 existing markets. A better understanding of the Internet gardening practices and purchases could benefit retailers and others in horticultural product distribution channels. The objectives of this paper are (a) to characterize online purchase and search practices for gardening activities relative to search for information and purchase of products, and (b) to compare the demographics of consumers who make gardening purchases in person and online. By better understanding current Internet users, businesses that sell gardening-related products and services would be better prepared to more effectively market information and products online to consumers. Materials and Methods In September 2004, an Internet survey was conducted by Knowledge Networks (California) to determine the gardening participation and purchases of a representative sample of Americans. Knowledge Networks maintains a panel of participants > 1,000,000 persons and conducts research for Harvard and Stanford Universities as well as CBS News. They drew a sample representative of the U.S. population on average (± 1%), but over-sampled for three ethnic groups: African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Knowledge Networks conducted the survey on-line, providing a computer and/or Internet service to panel participants who lacked those resources. Responses totaled 1610, of which 1588 were complete and used in analyses. Respondents were queried about their in-person and online gardening-related purchases. They were also asked about Internet searches for information on 14 topics, including gardening. Additional information was collected about online purchases of 17 product categories: automotive; bargains and sales; beauty and fragrance; books and magazines; clothing, accessories, and shoes; computers; electronics; fresh flowers; gifts; health and personal care; home and garden; indoor plants and gardening; jewelry and watches; movies and DVDs; music; office supplies; and outdoor plants and gardening. The survey instrument was approved by the university committee on research involving human subjects and then pre-tested using 50 subjects from the Knowledge Networks panel. Data were collected between September 3 and 20, 2004. Analysis of data was conducted with SPSS 13.0 (Chicago, IL) and SAS 9.1.3. Results and Discussion Internet searches. Nearly 90% of the respondents had searched for some type of information online at least once in the year prior to the study. Nearly 18% had searched for information daily and an additional 22% searched for information two to five times each week. Many people sought some sort of information online on a regular basis in the year prior to the study. There were demographic differences among those who searched for information online at different intervals. Not all respondents search equally as often. Three times the percentage of respondents aged 18 to 29 years searched for information online daily (27.9%) as respondents > age 60 years (8.5%) (χ 2 = 104.396, p = 0.000). Nearly twice the percentage of single respondents searched for information online daily (28.6%) compared to married respondents (15.2%) (χ 2 = 72.984, p = 0.000). More than twice the percentage of households with income > $100,000 searched for information online daily (27.5%) compared to respondents with household 211
Table 1. Comparison of the percentage of respondents who searched for 14 kinds of information online by age, gender, marital status and 2003 household income. Age Gender Marital status Income Product name < 45 years 45 years Male Female Married Single < $45,000 $45,000 Classifieds 9.8 5.3* 7.9 7.6 6.8 9.0 9.0 5.9* Computers 6.7 3.9* 6.5 4.5 5.8 4.9 5.2 5.7 Finance 10.7 11.5 15.1 7.6* 11.8 10.1 8.8 14.4* Gardening 4.0 8.1 4.0 7.6* 7.2 4.2* 5.2 6.9 Health 24.8 42.8 25.3 40.0* 35.4 30.1* 37.2 27.3* Hobby (non gardening) 4.3 7.0* 6.2 5.0 6.6 4.1* 5.2 6.1 Jobs 20.9 8.4 16.6 13.4 11.4 20.1* 18.4 10.6* Maps/Directions 35.2 40.3 35.4 39.5 41.3 32.6* 34.5 41.9* Movies 16.5 10.7* 12.3 15.1 12.5 15.5 14.7 12.6 Music 18.2 7.6* 15.3 11.6* 8.4 19.9* 16.5 8.8* News 34.7 35.2 40.7 29.9* 34.1 36.0 31.1 40.3* Science 5.2 6.5 7.2 4.6* 6.0 5.6 5.2 6.7 Shopping 28.8 24.3 18.5 33.9* 26.6 26.9 23.9 30.6* Sports 21.0 17.4 32.2 8.1* 21.5 16.6* 17.0 22.7 *Chi-square test indicating significant difference at p 0.05. income < $25,000 (11.9%) (χ 2 = 68.196, p = 0.000). Nearly half of the Caucasian respondents (49.5%) searched for information daily, compared to nearly one-quarter (24.2%) of Asians, 13.5% of Hispanics, and 12.8% of African-Americans (χ 2 = 45.539, p = 0.000). There were no differences in the percentage of respondents who searched online daily by region of residence (χ 2 = 10.730, p = 0.295) or gender (χ 2 = 0.986, p = 0.805). Younger, more affluent individuals from many regions of the United States searched for many types of information online on a daily basis, while a smaller percentage of minority participants searched for information daily. In order for horticultural firms to gain a broad understanding about the types of information sought most often and the percentage of Americans seeking that type of information, we asked survey participants about non-horticultural information searches. The types of information most widely sought online were maps or directions (32.6%) and health (28.5%). We hypothesized that not all respondents searched for similar information. We made comparisons using four demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, marital status, and income) to determine if there were differences in searching online for various kinds of information (Table 1). Individuals aged < 45 years were more likely to search for classifieds, computers, movies, and music online than were older individuals. Individuals aged 45 years were more likely to search for non-gardening hobbies online than were individuals age < 45 years. Both age groups searched for finance, gardening, health, jobs, maps or directions, news, science, shopping and sports information to the same extent. Because more women make in-person gardening purchases (2), we investigated on-line search differences by gender. There were some differences observed between the Internet search behavior of men and women. Men were more likely to conduct online searches for finances, news, music, science, and sports information. Women were more likely to conduct online searches on gardening, health, and shopping than men. Both men and women searched for classifieds, computers, non-gardening hobbies, jobs, maps/directions, and movies to the same extent. Several differences were identified in the search behavior of married and single respondents. Married individuals were more likely to conduct online searches about gardening, health, non-gardening hobbies, maps or directions, music, and sports. Single respondents were more likely to search for jobs and music more than married respondents. They were equally likely to search for classifieds, computers, finance, movies, news, science, and shopping. Since more affluent Americans participate in gardening, we investigated search differences by income. There were several differences in Internet search behavior by income. Individuals with a yearly income < $45,000 were more likely to conduct online searches for classifieds, health, jobs, music, and news. Individuals earning $45,000 were more likely to search online for information on finances, maps or directions, news, and shopping. Individuals were equally likely to search for information on computers, gardening, non-gardening hobby, movies, science, and sports. Where there were no demographic differences in information searches, horticultural firms might consider positioning information or advertisements proximate to other kinds of information sought after to improve business visibility. Searches for garden-related information. There were 432 respondents (27.4%) who searched for gardening information. They were compared to respondents who never had searched for garden-related information. A higher percentage of respondents aged 30 44 years had searched for gardening information (30.5%) compared to respondents > age 60 (25.2%) and ages 18 to 29 years (22.2%) (χ 2 = 8.288, p = 0.040). Married respondents were slightly more likely to have searched for gardening information (29.4%) compared to single respondents (25.1%) (χ 2 = 12.212, p = 0.016). There was no difference in the percentage of respondents who searched for gardening information by income (χ 2 = 2.010, p < 0.570), region of residence (χ 2 = 4.197, p = 0.241) or gender (χ 2 = 1.873, p = 0.095). While income and gender influenced purchases (1, 2, 6) they did not influence online searching. The Internet may be an effective means of reaching slightly less affluent males for gardening related product information. Online purchases. There were 777 respondents (49.4%) who had made an online purchase in the year prior to the survey. The top three product categories for online purchases 212 J. Environ. 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Table 2. Comparison of the percentage of respondents who made online purchases of in 17 product categories by age, gender, marital status and 2003 household income. Age Gender Marital status Income Product type < 45 years 45 years Male Female Married Single < $45,000 $45,000 Automotive 6.7 8.9 12.3 3.4* 8.0 6.9 7.1 8.0 Bargains & sales 20.8 20.5 20.3 21.1 20.4 21.1 18.6 22.7 Beauty & fragrance 9.6 8.9 3.6 14.4* 7.1 12.1* 8.7 10.0 Books & magazines 41.5 36.8 35.1 43.6* 38.5 41.0 34.4 44.6* Clothing, accessories, and shoes 33.5 31.8 23.8 40.8* 31.0 35.3 28.9 36.7* Computers 13.8 11.3 17.8 8.4* 13.8 11.6 9.2 16.2* Electronics 22.3 20.5 31.2 13.2* 22.2 20.8 17.6 25.4* Fresh flowers 6.0 8.1 7.9 8.2 8.3 7.8 5.8 10.2* Gifts 29.6 26.2 25.2 30.9 27.1 29.8 23.4 32.9* Health & personal care 15.6 18.5 12.3 20.6* 16.5 17.1 16.5 17.0 Home & garden 7.7 9.9* 5.8 11.0* 9.4 7.5 6.0 11.0* Indoor plants & gardening 2.3 2.3 1.4 3.1 3.0 1.4 2.4 2.2 Jewelry & watches 8.3 12.3 8.8 10.8 10.1 9.5 8.9 10.7 Movies & DVDs 27.5 17.2* 24.9 22.3 21.8 25.7 20.5 26.4* Music 25.4 19.2* 24.9 21.3 18.3 28.9* 13.6 22.4 Office Supplies 9.8 13.2 12.1 10.3 12.2 9.8 10.2 12.0 Outdoor plants & gardening 2.5 8.6* 3.8 5.8 5.0 4.6 4.7 5.0 *Chi-square test indicating significant difference at p 0.05. were book or magazine (19.2%), clothing or accessories (16.0%), and movies (11.4%). We hypothesized that there would be differences in the demographic characteristics of those who did and did not make online purchases. A higher percentage of respondents from households with income > $100,000 made online purchases (27.8%) compared to only 16.1% of respondents from households with income < $25,000 (χ 2 = 109.316, p = 0.000). A higher percentage of respondents (33.2%) from the Southern United States bought items online compared to the Midwest (15.6%), Northeast (20.2%) or West (31.0%) (χ 2 = 24.489, p = 0.000). A higher percentage of people aged 30 44 years (37.1%) made online purchases, compared to participants aged 18 29 years (24.1%), 45 59 years (26.3%), and > 60 years (12.6%) (χ 2 = 74.319, p = 0.000). A higher percentage of Caucasian respondents (55.0%) made online purchases compared to African-American (12.9%), Hispanic (14.0%), and Asian (18.1%) (χ 2 = 39.290, p = 0.000). There was no significant difference by gender (χ 2 = 0.085, p = 0.800). These findings were similar to the results for information searches. In order to provide horticultural professionals with some reference points regarding on-line purchases, we compared study participants who made specific kinds of online purchases using the same four demographic variables (Table 2). Individuals < 45 years were more likely to make an online purchase of movies or DVDs and music than were older individuals. Individuals age 45 years were more likely to purchase home and garden items and outdoor plants and gardening supplies online than were younger individuals. Men were more likely to make an online purchase of an automotive product, computers, and electronics than were women. Women were more likely to make an online purchase of beauty and fragrance items; books or magazines; clothing, accessories, or shoes; health and personal care items; and home and garden items. Single individuals were more likely to make an online purchase of a beauty or fragrance item and music than were married individuals. Individuals who earned > $45,000 were more likely to make online purchases of books or magazines; clothing, accessories, or shoes; computer items; electronics; fresh flowers; gifts; home and garden items; and movies/dvds than respondents with income $45,000. Online gardening-related purchases. One-hundred-fifteen respondents (7.4%) made a gardening-related purchase online compared to 54.7% who made a gardening-related purchase in person. The average number of gardening purchases from in-store retailers (3.47) was more than eight times higher than gardening purchases from online retailers (0.40, t = 14.94, p <.001). The average number of gardening purchases by other adults in the household from in-store retailers (2.97) was nearly 12 times higher than gardening purchases from online Table 3. Comparison of demographic characteristics of individuals who purchased six gardening related products online. Age Gender Marital status Income Type of gardening product < 45 years 45 years Male Female Married Single < $45,000 $45,000 Bulbs 20.0 30.1 24.7 25.7 26.4 23.2 17.6 33.3* Compost devices 11.4 2.7* 4.1 10.0 5.7 8.9 6.8 7.2 Flowering outdoor plants 20.0 35.6* 20.5 35.7* 20.7 39.3* 28.4 27.5 Herbs & vegetables 4.3 13.7 8.2 10.0 9.2 8.9 8.1 10.1 Seeds 28.6 21.9 21.9 28.6 21.8 30.4 27.0 23.2 Trees & shrubs 17.1 16.4 19.2 14.3 18.4 14.3 13.5 20.3 *Chi-square test indicating significant difference at p 0.05. J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008 213
Table 4. Summary statistics of variables included in the count data model to determine demographic differences between consumers who made online gardening purchases and exclusively in-person gardening purchases z. Variable Description Mean Std. dev. Gender 1 = Male, 2 = Female 1.535 0.499 Age Age 44.840 15.354 Income Income 49.423 36.372 Ethnicity Caucasian 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.529 0.499 African-American 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.162 0.368 Hispanic 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.170 0.375 Asian 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.140 0.347 Education < High school 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.161 0.368 High school completed 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.284 0.451 Some college 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.276 0.447 Bachelor degree or higher 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.279 0.449 Marital Status Married 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.576 0.494 Single 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.253 0.435 Other (divorced, widowed ) 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.172 0.377 House status Own house 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.636 0.481 Rent 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.314 0.464 Do not pay for housing 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.050 0.219 Region Northeast 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.195 0.397 Midwest 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.199 0.399 South 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.338 0.473 West 1 = Yes, 0 = No 0.268 0.443 z Since there was an over-dispersion problem with the data, we applied a count data model with a negative binomial specification. These models are often used to characterize realizations of a non-negative integer-valued random variable. Maximum likelihood estimation method was applied to estimate the model. retailers (0.25, t = 13.53, p < 0.001). Gardening purchases were predominantly made in person, not online. Demographic characteristics of people who had made online purchases of gardening products were examined (Table 3). Individuals < 45 years were more likely to make an online purchase of a compost device or implements than individuals age 45 years. Individuals age 45 years were more likely to make online purchases of flowering outdoor plants than individuals < age 45 years. Women were more likely to make online purchases of flowering outdoor plants than were men. Single individuals were more likely to make an online purchase of a flowering outdoor plant than were married individuals. Individuals earning $45,000 were more likely to make online purchases of bulbs than were individuals with income < $45,000. Online and in person purchase of gardening item, plant and service. Survey participants were asked how many times in the past year (since September 2003) they made a purchase online and in-person for any type of outdoor gardening item, plant, or service. To analyze how the participants demographic characteristics affected purchases, a count data model with a negative binomial specification was used to analyze the data. Count data models are often used to characterize realizations of a non-negative integervalued random variable. Cameron et. al (4) used the count data model to analyze doctors visits by patients, and Ozuna and Gomez (13) applied the count data model to consumers recreational trips to Lake Somerville, TX. Since there was an over-dispersion 5 problem with the data, we applied a count data model with a negative binomial specification. Maximum likelihood estimation method was applied to estimate the model using SAS 9.1.3. Summary statistics used in the count data model are shown in Table 4 and results of the estimation are shown in Table 5. Results of the maximum likelihood estimation results showed interesting demographic differences (Table 5). The interaction effects between demographic characteristics and purchasing online appear in the last two columns of Table 4. Positive significant interaction effect means the participants with higher value of corresponding demographic variable made more purchases online than in-person. Gender did not affect participants purchase significantly but the interaction effect between gender and Internet was significant indicating that females made fewer online purchases compared to males. Age affected participants purchase of gardening items significantly and positively. Older participants made more purchases than younger participants. Additionally, the interaction effect between age and Internet was significant and negative, which showed that older participants made fewer online purchases than young participants. In other words, older participants made more in-person purchases than young participants. The interaction effect between income and Internet was significant and negative even though the main effect of income was not significant. This meant that wealthier participants made fewer purchases online. Ethnicity influenced online purchases as well. Compared to other ethnic groups, African Americans made fewer purchases of gardening items relative to other ethnic groups (Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian-American with a significant negative main effect). The interaction effects between different ethnic groups and Internet were also significant. Caucasian participants made more purchases online than other ethnic groups and Hispanic participants made fewer purchases online than other ethnic groups. The main effects of education level was not significant but the interaction effects between Internet and lower education levels (less than high school and high school completed) were significant and negative. That is, participants whose education level was high school or lower made fewer purchases online than participants who had a higher level of education (some college, bachelor degree or higher). The interaction effect between marital status and Internet was significant. The reference level was other marital status (divorce, widowed and separated) with those coefficients set to zero. Compared with other participants, those who were married or single made more purchases online. Single participants made more purchases online than married participants, indicated by the higher value of coefficient of the interaction effect. The main effects of type of home (single unit dwelling and multiple-unit dwelling) were significant. The reference level of housing status is do not pay for housing. The participants who owned a home made more purchases of gardening items, plants and services, followed by the participants who rent their houses. While the interaction effects were negative, participants who owned houses or rented made fewer purchases online 5 Over-dispersion means the mean of the variable is less than its variance. In this case, the mean of the number of purchases was 2.02 with standard deviation of 6.72. Cameron and Trivedi (3) suggested a good rule of thumb that over-dispersion exists if variance of a variable is twice greater than the mean of a variable. 214 J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008
Table 5. Maximum likelihood estimation results of count data model with negative binomial specification to determine demographic differences between consumers who purchased gardening products exclusively in-person or also made purchases online. Parameter Parameter Estimate Std. error (Interaction effect with Internet) Estimate Std. error Intercept 0.411 0.495 Gender 0.043 0.120 Gender Internet 0.873*** 0.197 Age 0.019*** z 0.005 Age Internet 0.016** 0.008 Income 0.0001 0.002 Income Internet 0.009*** 0.004 Ethnicity Caucasian 0.262 0.196 Caucasian Internet 2.444*** 0.837 African-American 0.614*** 0.242 African-American Internet 2.414*** 0.836 Hispanic 0.067 0.227 Hispanic Internet 1.711** 0.813 Asian Asian Internet 1.822** 0.782 Education < High school 0.026 0.208 < High school Internet 0.929*** 0.355 High school completed 0.135 0.174 High school completed Internet 0.919*** 0.291 Some college 0.015 0.167 Some college Internet 0.027 0.265 Bachelor degree or higher Bachelor degree or higher Internet Marital status Married 0.034 0.167 Married Internet 0.580** 0.294 Single 0.046 0.195 Single Internet 0.670** 0.338 Other y Other Internet House status Own house 1.233*** 0.308 Own house Internet 2.254*** 0.510 Rent 0.702** 0.312 Rent Internet 1.711*** 0.514 Other x Other Internet Region Northeast 0.089 0.178 Northeast Internet 0.489* 0.286 Midwest 0.123 0.175 Midwest Internet 0.502* 0.296 South 0.110 0.159 South Internet 0.337 0.268 West West Internet Dispersion 4.583*** 0.210 z *** significant at the 1% level; ** significant at the 5% level and * significant at 10% level. y Other refer to other marital status including divorced, widowed and separated. x Other refer to do not pay for housing. compared with participants who did not pay for housing. The interaction effects between some regions and Internet were significant. West region was used as the reference region. Compared with those in the west, participants in northeast made more purchases online, while participants in Midwest region made fewer purchases online. The significant dispersion parameter, which is shown in the last row of Table 5, validates the appropriateness of adopting the count model with negative binomial specification. Results from this study indicate that gardening purchases are still predominantly made in person, not online. However, with the retail gardening market reaching maturity and the growth of Internet use, businesses selling gardeningrelated products should begin to recognize the Internet as an important distribution channel for information and, for some products. Search for information is a common use of the Internet, with nearly 90% of the study participants looking for information online at some point in the year prior to the survey, with approximately 40% searching several times each week for information. Younger, Caucasian, and single respondents from more affluent households search for information more often. Maps or directions were sought by nearly a third (32.6%) but gardening-related information was searched for by 27.4%. Gardening-information was the fourth most sought type of information. Clearly, the Internet provides a means for business to expose customers to information and their operation as an expert. As with other consumer goods, certain demographic characteristics influence the search J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008 or purchase of gardening items over the Internet. Results from this study indicated that gender and marital status influenced the search of gardening items online. Women and married individuals were more likely to search online for gardening-related products, consistent with the demographic characteristics of people buying in-person. Books or magazines (16%) and clothing (11.4%) were the top two items purchased online and a substantially lower percentage of purchases were made for gardening items (7.4%). There were numerous demographic differences among purchasers of the products included in the study. Online gardening purchases supplemented in-person purchases, with the exception of one male. So, the Internet is an additional complementary window of opportunity, not a substitute for the retail operation. There were demographic differences between individuals buying gardening-related products online and exclusively in-person. Online purchases were more likely made by younger males with some college or more education but from less affluent residences. More residents from the Northeast but fewer from the Midwest made gardening-related purchases online. Therefore, online purchases are reaching a slightly different market demographically than what a retailer might see exclusively in-person. Having knowledge and understanding of the online search and purchase behavior of individuals who purchase gardening-related items over the Internet can assist gardening retailers in producing the most effective marketing campaigns and company websites. Using the data provided 215
by this study, gardening retailers should be able to more successfully target potential consumers. And information provided in this report can be implemented to ensure that retailers of gardening-related products experience positive growth despite the maturation of the retail gardening market by effectively. Horticultural professionals should give strong consideration to developing and maintain an on-line presence. A website should be developed to provide information to current customers and serve as a window of opportunity to connect with future customers. Given the high percentage of Americans seeking information on-line, providing timely and appropriate content should be a high priority for business websites. E-commerce in the horticulture industry is still embryonic, but is the next logical website development for many firms with existing websites. On-line purchases appear to supplement in-person purchases and well designed websites can give businesses one more opportunity to connect with and remain relevant to their existing customer base Literature Cited 1. Behe, B.K. 2006. Comparison of gardening participation and purchases of homeowners and renters. J. Environ. Hort. 24:217 220. 2. Butterfield, B.W. 2006. National Gardening Association 2005. Conducted by Harris Interactive and published by the National Gardening Association, Burlington, VT. 3. Cameron, A.C. and P.K. Trivedi. 1998. Regression Analysis of Count Data. Econ. Soc. Monographs 30. Cambridge University Press, NY. 4. Cameron, A.C., P.K. Trivedi, F. Milne, and J. Piggott. 1988. A microeconomic model of the demand for health care and health insurance in Australia. Rev. Econ. Studies 55:85 106. 5. Day, J.C., A. Janus and J. Davis (US Census Bureau). 2005. Computer use and the Internet in 2003. Special Studies, Current Population Reports. Available from: <http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23208. pdf#search=%22computer%20use%20and%20the%20internet%20in%20 203%20us%20census%20%22> [Accessed May 20, 2006]. 6. Dennis, J.H. and B.K. Behe. 2007. Evaluating the role of ethnicity on gardening purchases and satisfaction. HortScience 42:262 266. 7. Forrester Research. 2000. Emarketplaces will lead US business e-commerce to $2.7 trillion in 2004. Available from: http://www.forrester. com/er/press/release/0,1769,243,ff.html [Accessed on May 22, 2006]. 8. Gefen, D. 2000. E-Commerce: The role of familiarity and trust. Omega 28:725 737. 9. Infoplease. 2006. Online computer forecast by kind of business, 2003, Pearson Education. Available from: <http://www.infoplease.com/ ipa/a0933517.html> [Accessed May 22, 2006]. 10. Kim, J., and Lee, J. 2002. Critical design factors for successful e-commerce systems. Behaviour and Information Tech. 21:185 199. 11. Kotler, P. 1997. Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Controls. 9 th Edition. Prentice Hall, NJ. 12. Newburger, E. 2001 (US Census Bureau). Home computers and Internet use in the United States: August 2000. Special Studies, Current Population Reports. Available from: <http://www.census.gov/ prod/2001pubs/p23207.pdf#search=%22newburger%20home%20 computers%20and%20internet%0use%20in%20the%20united%20 States%3A%20August%202000%22> [Accessed on May 18, 2006]. 13. Ozuna, T. and I.A. Gomez. 1994. Estimating a system of recreation demand functions using a seemingly unrelated poisson regression approach. Rev. Econ. Statistics 76:356 360. 14. U.S. Census Bureau. 2007. Statistical abstract of the United States. Available from: <http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/07statab/ domtrade.pdf> [Accessed on May 22, 2006]. 15. Wigand, R.T. 1997. Electronic commerce: Definition, theory, and context. The Information Society 13:1 16. 216 J. Environ. Hort. 26(4):210 216. December 2008