From the Prince & Prince Research Article Archive

Floral Promotion Organization (FPO) 

Sponsored Research

Research articles are provided here for the benefit of the floral industry.    Many of  the findings are drawn from studies sponsored and conducted solely by Prince & Prince, Inc.    Other findings may be drawn from client-sponsored research,  where the client has allowed release of the information for the general improvement of the floral industry.    These findings are updated or expanded from time to time as information becomes available.    Permission is granted to the reader to redistribute the information,  provided that Prince & Prince, Inc. is identified as the source.    

Reprinted from Flower News, March 9, 2002

Drs. Tom & Tim Prince,  Prince & Prince, Inc.,  Columbus, Ohio

In the Summer of 2000, Prince & Prince, Inc. (P&P) initiated an in-depth evaluation of the Flower Promotion Organization (FPO) advertising campaign, measuring consumer awareness and response to the FPO ads. The P&P advertising research, sponsored by the FPO, has been used to independently monitor, over time, the effectiveness of the consumer focused promotional program, "Flowers, Alive with Possibilities." ™ Results from the research have suggested ways to maximize the impact of advertising intensity and media mix. While the 18-month history of the ad campaign has demonstrated many significant impacts on consumer ad awareness and fresh-cut flower purchasing for several consumer groups, the P&P research reveals that some of the most dramatic impacts have been with "mainstream" consumers. We classify these mainstream consumers as those consumer households with incomes of $25,000 - $50,000, and those with incomes of $25,000 or less. In this reporting, we highlight specific aspects of the P&P advertising research, and reveal some of the key impacts of the ad campaign on these mainstream consumer households.

The FPO ad campaign, focusing on self and home-decor usage of fresh cut flowers, is conducted in five US metropolitan areas, including Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Diego. In late Spring 2002, the Minneapolis/St. Paul market will be added to the FPO ad campaign roster (see "About the FPO"). Currently, the annual ad campaign’s biggest focus is during "non-holiday" periods, such as in early Spring, after Valentine’s Day and before Easter (Spring campaign), and in the Autumn, generally from September through October (Autumn campaign). As of this writing, three major waves of the FPO ad campaign have been completed, Autumn 2000, Spring 2001, and Autumn 2001.

The P&P advertising research measures three major performances of the FPO ad campaign through surveys of consumer households. The key performances are the following: 1) change in percentage of consumers aware of cut-flower advertising, including awareness of specific media vehicles (TV, radio, magazine, in-store, billboard, etc.), 2) change in percentage of consumers aware of specific FPO ad messages (over 10 messages measured), and 3) change in the number of purchases of fresh-cut flowers made for self/home-decor usage, as well as for gifting. The P&P performance measurements were made for the study group overall, for each of the ad metros, and for key buyer segments (e.g. gender, age, income, and education-level groups) to determine the ad campaign’s effectiveness for specific floral-buying segments. Consumer fresh cut-flower purchasing is also analyzed independently by Dr. Ron Ward, University of Florida, utilizing data from the Ipsos-NPD Consumer Tracking Study sponsored by the American Floral Endowment.

The P&P advertising research was operationalized through random surveys of floral-buying households in the five ad metros and in the top 40 most-populated metro areas of the US not influenced by the FPO ad campaign. The research employed a pre-test/post-test experimental research design, whereas the ad metros comprised the "treatment" group, and the top non-ad metros comprised the "control" group. Floral-buying consumers in the ad (treatment) and non-ad (control) metros were surveyed prior to the commencement of the advertising campaign in August 2000 to establish "baseline" measures of ad awareness and consumer fresh-cut flower purchasing behavior (performance measures). Consumers in both the ad metros and the non-ad metros were again surveyed after completion of the Autumn 00, Spring 01, and Autumn 01 ad campaigns. In our data tables, we show the net effects, which represent the impact of the FPO ad campaign after adjusting for changes occurring in the control metros. To date, over 8,000 completed surveys have been analyzed in the P&P advertising research.

In our statistical analysis, we measured the performance of each seasonal wave of the ad campaign, as well as the collective performance of the FPO campaign to date. This latter analysis, termed "long-term trend analysis", indicates whether the effects of the ad campaign were significant overall (average effect), improving linearly, declining linearly, or showing a change in directional impact over the major waves of the ad campaign. We used pre-planned single degree-of-freedom contrasts in our trend "Analysis of Variance" statistical design.

While there are numerous findings from the FPO ad evaluation, we confine our discussion here to the performance of the FPO ad campaign on mainstream consumers (household incomes of $50,000 or less). In this reporting, we highlight FPO TV ad awareness, specific FPO ad message awareness (home decorating message), and change in household purchasing of fresh-cut flowers for self/home-décor usage attributable to the FPO ad campaign.

Awareness of FPO TV Ads. Table 1 shows that for the Autumn 01 ad campaign, there was a statistically significant 26% increase in TV ad awareness about fresh cut flowers attributable to the FPO ad campaign for those ad-market households with incomes of $25,000 or less. For those with household incomes of $25,001-$50,000, the increase in FPO TV ad awareness was slightly lower, at 12%, yet statistically significant in the research study. In addition, across all three waves of the FPO ad campaign (since Autumn 2000) the mainstream consumer segments revealed significant awareness of the FPO TV ads. Awareness of FPO TV advertising was lower for those consumer households with incomes over $50,000.

Recall of Ad Message, "Decorating your home with flowers". Of more than 10 ad messages about fresh-cut flowers measured in the research, the "decorating your home" message achieved the highest level of recall overall, for the Autumn 00, Spring 01, and Autumn 01 ad campaigns. For Autumn 01, those ad-market households with incomes of $25,001-$50,000 registered a significant 21% recall of the "Decorate your home with flowers" message (Table 2). In addition, for this income group, the "decorate" message achieved a highly significant average awareness across all three waves of the FPO campaign. For those with incomes of $25,000 or less, message recall for Autumn 01 was at 12%, but the recall level was consistent across the three ad waves. Higher income groups over $50,000 generally yielded lower recall for the "decorating your home" message.

Purchases of Fresh-Cut Flowers for Self/Home-Décor Usage. While the mainstream consumers began with a net deficit in cut-flower purchasing for self/home use after the initial phase of the FPO ad campaign, they eventually responded to the ad campaign with net increases of more than 30% to 50% after the latter two ad waves (Table 3). For Autumn 01, those ad-market households with incomes of $25,000 or less registered a significant 59% increase in fresh-cut flower purchases for self/home use, while those with incomes of $25,001-$50,000 showed a statistically significant 36% increase in self/home cut-flower purchases. The dramatic change in mainstream consumer purchasing after the Autumn 2000 ad campaign suggests that there is a delay in purchasing behavior after initial awareness of the FPO ads. Long-term trend analysis indicated a significant upward linear trend in purchasing for self/home usage across the three ad waves for these income segments. In addition, for Autumn 01, there was a nearly 80% increase in cut-flower purchasing for gifting among the $25,000 or less income segment attributable to the FPO campaign (data table not shown). Overall, these research results confirm that the FPO ad campaign resonates strongly with mainstream consumers. Households with higher income levels (over $50,000) generally responded at a lower level to the FPO campaign.

To date, the P&P advertising research reveals that the FPO ad campaign has made its biggest impact with mainstream consumer households. These households, with incomes of $50,000 or less, show some of the highest levels of FPO ad awareness and FPO message recall, and reveal substantially large increases in fresh cut-flower purchasing for self/ home décor usage. The year 2000 US Census estimates indicate that these mainstream income households represent the majority (nearly 60%) of all households in the US. Thus, the FPO ad campaign, currently being run in five demonstration markets, is receiving its best recognition levels and consumer response from one of the largest and wide-spread income demographic groups in the US. Overall, this research data suggests that the FPO ad campaign is truly "Alive with Possibilities".

About the FPO. The Flower Promotion Organization (FPO), an alliance between Colombian and American flower growers, was created to expand the US market for all cut flowers. The FPO is committed to increasing short-term and long-term consumer demand for fresh cut flowers. The FPO's program, "Flowers. Alive with Possibilities" (TM), currently runs in 5 demonstration markets (Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and San Diego). The FPO has announced that it intends to expand into additional markets, with Minneapolis/St. Paul to begin in 2002. Contact William R. Carlson, Managing Director of the FPO (989) 834-1322 or Stan Pohmer, Exec. Director (952) 545-7943, for more information.

About the Authors. Drs. Tom and Tim Prince are brothers and co-founders of Prince & Prince, Inc., the leading marketing research specialist in the floral industry. To date, Prince & Prince, Inc. has conducted more than 50 major market studies for the floral and floral-related industries in the US, and have also worked in international settings. They have conducted market analyses and consulted professionally with floral growers, horticultural suppliers, floral importers, wholesale florists, retail florists, and floral-industry organizations. For more information about their marketing research, visit their web site at www.FloralMarketResearch.com.

Prince & Prince, Inc.  PO Box 2465,  Columbus, OH  43216-2465   

Mobile: 614-264-0939;       Email: 2640939@gmail.com

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In our previous article evaluating the Flower Promotion Organization (FPO) advertising campaign (see March 9^th issue of Flower News), Prince & Prince (P&P) research demonstrated that the cut-flower ad campaign had made its biggest impact with mainstream consumer households (e.g. households with incomes of $50,000 or less). These mainstream consumers showed some of the highest levels of FPO ad awareness and message recall. Furthermore, these consumers showed substantially large increases in unit fresh cut-flower purchases for self/home décor usage (30% to 60% increases) after exposure to the FPO ads.

In this article, we focus more attention on this mainstream consumer group, and identify the specific types of cut-flower products being purchased attributable to the FPO ad campaign. Overall, we show that the ad campaign has resulted in more buyers of fresh cut-flower bouquets, single stems, roses, and arrangements. Details of our research methodology and our statistical analyses can be found at the end of this article (see "Research Methods").

The study findings for fresh cut-flower bouquets, single stems, roses, and arrangements are provided in Table 1. These findings are presented as net effects, which represent the impact of the FPO ad campaign on floral-product penetration after adjusting for changes occurring in the control metros.

Bouquet Purchase Penetration. Table 1 shows that after the third ad wave (Autumn 01 ad campaign), there was a statistically significant 19% increase in purchasing incidence of fresh cut-flower bouquets attributable to the FPO ad campaign for those households with incomes of $25,000 or less. This means that the number of buyers of bouquets in this income segment increased by nearly one-fifth after exposure to the FPO ads. In addition, across all three waves of the ad campaign (Autumn 00, Spring 01, Autumn 01), there was a significant average effect of the FPO ad campaign on increased bouquet purchase penetration for this income segment. For those with household incomes of $25,001-$50,000, there was a slight decrease in bouquet purchase penetration, but the decrease was not statistically significant.

Single Stem Purchase Penetration. Table 1 also shows that for the Autumn 01 ad campaign, there was a significant 16% increase in purchasing incidence of single stems for those households with incomes of $25,000 or less. Statistical tests determined that across the three waves of the ad campaign, there was a significant linear increase in single stem purchase penetration over time for this income segment. For those with slightly higher household incomes ($25,001-$50,000), there was a slight building in the single-stem penetration rate, but this increase did not surpass our significance tests.

Rose Purchase Penetration. After the third ad wave (Autumn 01 ad campaign), the findings showed a significant 19% increase in purchasing incidence of roses for those households with incomes of $25,000 or less. This group showed a significant linear build in purchasing incidence across the three ad waves. In addition, for those with incomes of $25,001-$50,000, there was an 11% increase in rose purchase penetration by Autumn 01. Collectively, these research findings indicate that for the mainstream consumer segment, the FPO ad campaign is bringing more rose buyers into the marketplace.

Arrangement Purchase Penetration. For the $25,001-$50,000 income segment, there was a significant average effect in purchasing incidence of fresh cut-flower arrangements across all three waves of the FPO ad campaign (ranging from 8% to 11% increases). This indicates that the number of buyers of cut-flower arrangements in this income segment increased by about 10% after exposure to the FPO ads. For the lower income segment, slight increases and decreases were registered across the ad waves, but none of these movements were statistically significant.

Our previous research article indicated that the FPO ad campaign had made its biggest impact with mainstream consumer households. Those households with incomes of $50,000 or less showed some of the highest levels of FPO ad awareness and FPO message recall, and revealed substantially large increases (30% to 60%) in unit fresh cut-flower purchases. The purchasing incidence data presented in this article details the types of fresh cut-flower products benefiting from those unit-purchasing gains. Furthermore, the research shows that for several cut-flower categories, the FPO ad campaign has significantly increased the number of buyers making cut-flower purchases. For those with household incomes of $25,000 or less, significant double-digit gains in purchase penetration were registered for fresh cut-flower bouquets, single stems, and roses after exposure to the FPO ads. For arrangements (typically higher-priced), significant purchase penetration gains in the range of 10% were registered for the higher-income segment ($25,001-$50,000). Thus, the FPO ad campaign, currently being run in five demonstration markets throughout the US, is not only increasing unit purchasing of fresh cut flowers, it is also expanding the buyer base for fresh cut flowers, especially among the mainstream consumer segment.

Research Methods. The P&P research, sponsored by the FPO, has been used to independently monitor, over time, the effectiveness of the consumer-focused promotional program. Major aspects of the research measure consumer ad awareness, ad message recall, and unit purchases of fresh-cut flowers. Also captured in the study is the consumer incidence of purchasing specific cut-flower products throughout the year, including cut-flower bouquets, single stems, roses, and arrangements. The research measures the incidence of purchasing any of these cut-flower categories, meaning one or more purchases of the product category in the previous 12 months. Collectively, the research measures the percentage of buyers participating in the product categories on an annual basis, and measured over the three ad waves, reveals increases and decreases in annual purchase penetration rates over time.

The P&P advertising research was operationalized through random surveys of floral-buying households in the five ad metros and in the "control" metros (e.g. the top 40 most-populated metro areas of the US not influenced by the FPO ad campaign). Floral-buying consumers in the ad and control metros were surveyed prior to the commencement of the advertising campaign in August 2000 to establish "baseline" measures of purchase penetration and FPO ad awareness. Consumers in both the ad and control metros were again surveyed after completion of the Autumn 00, Spring 01, and Autumn 01 ad campaigns. To date, over 8,000 completed consumer surveys have been analyzed in the P&P advertising research.

In our statistical analysis, we measured the performance of each seasonal wave of the ad campaign, as well as the collective performance of the FPO campaign to date. This latter analysis, termed "long-term trend analysis", indicates whether the effects of the ad campaign were significant overall (average effect), improving linearly, declining linearly, or showing a change in directional impact over the major waves of the ad campaign. We used pre-planned single degree-of-freedom contrasts in our trend "Analysis of Variance" statistical design.

About the FPO. The Flower Promotion Organization (FPO), an alliance between Colombian and American flower growers, was created to expand the US market for all cut flowers. The FPO is committed to increasing short-term and long-term consumer demand for fresh cut flowers. The FPO's program, "Flowers. Alive with Possibilities" (TM), currently runs in 5 demonstration markets (Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and San Diego). The FPO has announced that it intends to expand into additional markets, with Minneapolis/St. Paul to begin in Summer 2002. Contact Stan Pohmer, Executive Director of the FPO (952) 545-7943, or William R. Carlson, Managing Director (989) 834-1322 for more information.

About the Authors. Drs. Tom and Tim Prince are brothers and co-founders of Prince & Prince, Inc., the leading marketing research specialist in the floral industry. For more information about their marketing research, visit their web site at www.FloralMarketResearch.com.

Prince & Prince, Inc.  PO Box 2465,  Columbus, OH  43216-2465   

Mobile: 614-264-0939       E-mail: FloralMktResearch@att.net