Abstract

This study derives from an overall question regarding the growth and competitiveness of the Swedish ornamental industry, more specific to what extent imports gain market share at the expense of the domestic production. The present study deals with the issue of consumer preferences and purchases of Christmas flowers. We ask to what extent consumers are traditional or not in their choices of Christmas flowers. A convenient sample of 100 respondents was recruited outside a major shopping mall in Lund after Christmas. The respondents were asked to fill out a questionnaire consisting of questions regarding their preferences for and actual purchases of flowers for Christmas, as well as attitudinal questions related to Christmas and flowers. The result shows that Amaryllis is the favourite flower for Christmas, and that the two most important product attributes are that the flowers stay fresh and last for a long time and that they are easy to take care of. The result also shows that Christmas flowers have a given role in the Christmas tradition, and that they contribute to the festive spirit. A majority of the respondents are traditional in their choices of Christmas flowers; however, there is a segment (around 20 per cent) that prefers less traditional flowers for Christmas. In spite of its limitation and aggregated level, it is clear from the official statistics that the imports of pot plants and bedding plants are growing while the Swedish production is rather stable. If the number of consumers who prefer more trendy flowers for Christmas will increase in the future, the Swedish growers might face problems if they do not offer trendy alternatives. To conclude, the result indicates that there is a group of consumers who prefer and buy less traditional flowers for Christmas. However, we did not manage to characterise this group of consumers based on demographic variables. We believe there is a great need for more consumer research within the area, in order to better map out consumer preferences and choices of flowers. Moreover, background variables, such as lifestyle and values, would probably result in a better understanding of consumer preferences and choices than mere demographic variables

Keywords

konsumenter; julblommor; svenskodlat; import; explorativ studie

Published in

Landskap, trädgård, jordbruk : rapportserie
2009, number: 2009:9
ISBN: 978-91-86197-22-3
Publisher: Arbetsvetenskap, ekonomi och miljöpsykologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet

SLU Authors

• Borg, Jennie

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Tjärnemo, Helene

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Horticulture
Social Sciences
Economics and Business


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/26251