Analysis of Brand Recognition Associated with the Texas SuperstarTM and Earth-KindTM Programs in Texas

The environmental horticulture industry, also known as the ?Green Industry?, is the second most important sector in the United States? agricultural economy in terms of economic output and one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture; however, it has experienced a steady slowdown in growth in the past years. Floriculture and nursery crops average annual growth rate decreased from 13.64% in the 1970s to approximately 2.87% in the 2000s, and the industry is currently considered to be facing a mature market. The Texas A&M Agricultural Program, in an attempt to help Texas? green industry producers compete effectively in an evolving marketplace, developed the Texas Superstar TM and Earth-Kind TM programs. Both of these programs intend to raise awareness among consumers of Texas-grown plant material while promoting environmental responsibility, and to increase producers? profitability by providing them with products that can be sold at a price premium.

In spite of the considerable investments on research and marketing that have been done in order to assure the release of every new plant, no research has investigated the effectiveness of these branding efforts in terms of consumer?s behavior. This research seeks to evaluate brand awareness and willingness-to-pay on the part of lawn and garden consumers. The discrete choice models used were the logit and probit model on brand awareness and the tobit model on the conditional willingness-to-pay. Results from this study conclude that consumers? awareness of Texas Superstar TM and Earth-Kind TM in the Texas area is low, but the satisfaction level among aware consumers is high. The presence of awareness was found to increase willingness-to-pay for Texas Superstar TM and Earth-Kind TM by about 10%. Furthermore, profiles of the consumers? behavioral and demographic characteristics that are more likely to influence brand awareness and willingness-to-pay were identified.