Objectives & Methods

The key objective of this advertising research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Flower Promotion Organization (FPO) ad campaign to date, while detailing results from the recent Autumn 01 ad campaign. As in the previous evaluations, the Autumn 01 evaluation focused on the five metropolitan areas where the advertising was conducted (Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Diego). In the ad research, three major impacts of the FPO ad campaign were measured: 1) change in the level of awareness of cut-flower advertising, including awareness of specific media vehicles (TV, radio, magazine, in-store, billboard, etc.) and awareness of specific FPO ad messages, 2) change in consumer attitudes toward fresh-cut flowers, and 3) change in the number of purchases of fresh-cut flowers for self/home décor usage and gifting. These measurements were made for the study group overall, and for key buyer segments. At the completion of the Autumn 01 surveys, the FPO ad evaluation database comprised over 8,000 returned questionnaires. Overall, the procedures used in this research maintain results accurate to a 2.4% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.

Because the surveys focused primarily on floral purchasing, cut-flower ad awareness, and attitudes/opinions about fresh-cut flowers, the survey respondents largely reflect consumer households that have at least some knowledge and prior purchasing with floral products. Ninety-six percent of survey respondents made at least one floral purchase over the prior year.

Research Design

The advertising research consisted of surveys of floral-buying consumer households in the five ad metros and in the top most populated metro areas of the US not influenced by the ad campaign. The research employed an experimental research design, whereas the five ad metros comprised the "treatment" group, and the aggregated top non-ad metros comprised the "control" group. Floral-buying consumers in the ad and non-ad metros were surveyed prior to the commencement of the advertising campaign (August 2000) to establish "baseline" measures of ad awareness about fresh-cut flowers, consumer attitudes, and consumer fresh-cut flower purchasing behavior (collectively called the "impact measures"). Consumers in the ad metros (treatments) and the non-ad metros (controls) were again surveyed after the completion of the Autumn 2000, Spring 2001, and Autumn 2001 ad campaigns. The Spring and Autumn surveys assessed the level of change in the impact measures attributable to the FPO ad campaign in the ad metros, and it assessed the level of seasonal change in the impact measures for the non-ad control metros. In assessing the level and significance of the impact measures for the ad campaign, the treatment group measures were compared with the control group in determining the overall net impact attributable to the FPO ad campaign.

Awareness of Advertising About Fresh-Cut Flowers - Media Vehicles

TV Advertising. This vehicle achieved a statistically significant 8% level of consumer awareness for the Autumn 01 ad campaign. Across the three waves of the ad campaign, TV advertising showed a highly significant awareness effect overall. In particular, males, moderate-low income households, and those with a high school education or less were especially receptive to the FPO TV ads.

Radio Advertising. Radio registered a low level of awareness for the Autumn 01 ad campaign overall. However, the markets of Detroit, Chicago, and Philadelphia showed significant recognition trends for FPO radio advertising.

In-Store Advertising. This advertising registered a nearly significant 4% level of awareness overall for Autumn 01, but this awareness was significantly lower than in Spring 01. Those aged 25 to 54 and moderate-income households were especially receptive to the FPO in-store advertising.

Billboard Advertising. Billboards achieved small, yet significant consumer awareness for Autumn 01, especially in the Philadelphia market. Males, higher-income households, and higher-educated consumers were most aware of the FPO billboard advertising.

Awareness of Advertising About Fresh-Cut Flowers - Messages

"Decorate your home with flowers". Of all ad messages about fresh-cut flowers measured in the research, the "Decorate your home with flowers" message achieved the highest level of consumer awareness, for the Autumn 00, Spring 01, and Autumn 01 ad campaigns. For Autumn 01, a highly significant 11% of consumers showed awareness of this message. For the ad campaign to date, the "decorate" message achieved a highly significant average awareness across the three ad waves. For this and most other ad messages however, the Spring 01 ad campaign generally shows lower awareness levels, when compared with both Autumn ad campaigns.

"Alive" Tagline. About 3% of consumers overall cited statistically significant awareness of the tagline, "Flowers: Alive with Possibilities" for Autumn 01. This message awareness, however, has declined linearly across the three waves of the ad campaign. Those with household incomes of $25,000 or less, and those with a technical/college degree most cited the "Alive" tagline.

Attitudes about Fresh-Cut Flowers

Across the eight attitudinal statements about fresh-cut flowers, six attitudes showed significant improvements for the overall consumer group, attributable to the FPO ad campaigns. In general, responses were weakest after the Spring campaign compared to the Autumn campaigns. Significant shifts in favorable attitudes towards fresh-cut flowers have been measured in Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Diego following the ad campaign. Attitude shifts from the campaign differed between males and females. The campaigns have built favorable male attitude towards "I believe fresh-cut flowers help lift my mood", "its easy to decorate my home with cut flowers", and "fresh cut flowers are great for enhancing my home". Females showed net attitude gains on "fresh-cut flowers are versatile in their uses".

Purchasing of Fresh Cut-Flowers

Across the overall consumer group, the ad campaigns achieved a 3 to 6% increase in the average number of consumer purchases of fresh-cut flowers (both gift and self-use), but this effect was not statistically significant. The largest significant effects were by household income. Consumers with incomes of $25,000 or less showed a highly significant 66-70% increases in total fresh cut-flower purchasing after the latter two ad campaigns. In addition, consumers with less education generally had a better purchase response than more educated consumers.

Purchases for Self/Home Décor Usage. While consumers with incomes of $50,000 or less began with a net deficit of purchasing for self/home use after the Autumn 2000 campaign, they responded with net increases of about 30% to 50% after the latter two ad campaigns. Consumers with higher incomes responded much less to the campaign. In addition, consumers with high school education or less provided the greatest net increase in purchasing for self/home after the Autumn 01 ad campaign. The strongest regional net effect on purchasing for self/home use was seen in Houston following the Autumn 01 campaign.