Traditional or specialty cut flowers? Estimating U.S. consumers' choice of cut flowers at noncalendar occasions

Little research has been conducted that comprehensively studies consumers' choices of cut flowers at different occasions and for different gift recipients and how they associate different meanings with various types of cut flowers. Therefore, this article attempts to fill this gap in the literature. Using data collected by the Ipsos-National Panel Diary Group for the American Floral Endowment, we determine how the purchases of both traditional and specialty cut flowers have been changing over time and how characteristics of gift purchasers and gift recipients affect consumers' choice of different types of cut flowers. The data include consumers in 48 states and Washington, DC, whose floral purchases were tracked monthly for 14 years. Findings of this analysis confirm that floral purchases have been changing over time. In addition, the underlying drivers of floral purchases are dependent on the floral-buying occasion and the motivations underlying gift giving. These factors also influence the choice of which flowers to purchase along with the sentiment and/or symbolic meaning associated with each flower type.