A survey on cut flower preferences and expectations

Abstract

Turkey has great potential in cut flower production. Export is the main activity to accelerate the production. Domestic consumption has also great importance in this improvement. Therefore, it is important to know consumer preferences. In order to determine consumer's trends and expectations, a public survey was conducted in different regions of Turkey between the years 2005 and 2006, with 1141 interviewees. The survey group consisted of 427 females and 714 males in different age and income groups. Fourty percent of the interviewees were in the medium and low income group (385-770 USD month-1). Fifty eight percent of the consumers mentioned that they bought flowers only on special days and their purchasing frequency did not depend on cut flower prices. Only 31% of the consumers stated that they bought flowers for themselves. Flowers were the most preferred gifts (39.7%) compared to other choices. The priorities of the consumers in flower purchase were freshness (21.7%), colour (17.8%), other quality parameters (17.6%), scent (14.3%) and price (10.3%). Rose with 70.3%, narcissus with 8% and carnation with 6% are the cut flower species which are mostly preferred. Red, white and yellow are the primary colour choices of the consumers