• Topics: Agricultural Education and Communication  | Writing  | Israel, Glenn D  |  Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program 

Reaching Diverse Homeowner Audiences with Environmental Landscape Programs: Comparing Lawn Service Users and Nonusers¹

Many of Florida's homeowners are not well-informed about the environmental impact of their landscaping practices. At the same time, they have placed great importance on lawn appearance and, by inference, on lawn fertilization (Knox, Israel, Davis, et al., 1995; Park Brown, 2000; Salazar, 1997). Of residents who used fertilizer, many applied it more frequently than recommended, did not follow the manufacturer's instructions, and did not use slow-release fertilizers that minimize the potential for nitrate contamination. Many lawn care service professionals also fertilized according to a schedule (as opposed to need), fertilized lawns more frequently than recommended and fertilized at rates higher than what is recommended (Israel, Pinheiro, & Knox, 1995).

The following study explores whether lawn care service users differed from nonusers and, if so, in what ways. Lawn care service users and nonusers are important market segments for the horticultural industry, as well as for Extension's Florida Yards & Neighborhood (FYN) program. FYN's goal is to reduce environmental impacts associated with improper landscape design, installation and maintenance. The program integrates an evaluation of site conditions and the use of appropriate landscape design, plant selection, irrigation, fertilization, pest management, mowing, pruning, and recycling practices. Educational seminars and workshops, handbook/workbook sets, on-line publications and articles in newspapers are used to teach residents about these topics. Understanding which homeowners attend Extension programs and why they do so is important for recruiting participants, conveying the importance of using recommended practices, and effectively teaching recommended landscape care practices (Israel and Hague, 2001). Thus, a key question is whether homeowners who use a lawn care service have different attitudes about landscape practices and whether they use different practices than nonusers of lawn care services.

A survey instrument was developed and mailed to 887 Florida residents in Lake and Orange Counties where FYN educational programs were being conducted by the Florida Cooperative Extension Service (FCES). The survey included detailed questions about fertilization practices, environmental attitudes and information networks, demographic characteristics and attributes of the residential property. Four hundred sixty-two respondents completed the survey, a 52% response rate.³

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Results

Of the 462 respondents, 113 (25%) reported using a lawn care service ("Users") and 349 (75%) did not ("Nonusers"). Lawn care service users differ from nonusers in several important ways. For example, respondents living in a house with a market value of $200,000 were twice as likely to use a lawn care service than those with a value of $86,000 (Figure 1).⁴ Use of a lawn care service also was lowest among homeowners in their early 40s and became much higher among those approaching retirement (Figure 2). Obviously, as elders become infirm, they must rely on professionals to care for the lawn and landscape.

When a homeowner or a family member had some involvement in caring for the landscape, he or she was less likely to use a lawn care service (Figure 3). Households in which the homeowner or family member did not have any involvement in yard care were much more likely to use a lawn care service, especially when the homeowner applied fertilizer. This suggests that some homeowners are able to carry out some yard care (i.e., fertilize the lawn) but prefer not to do the routine mowing.

Where homeowners got information about caring for their yard was important for distinguishing lawn care service users and nonusers. Recall that one-quarter of all respondents reported using a lawn care service. Almost no one was predicted to use a lawn care service if he or she also did not obtain information from lawn care or pest control providers (Figure 4). This means that homeowners who use a service also were more likely to rely on the service for information and many of these homeowners did not seek information from other sources. Conversely, those who got yard care information from neighbors and friends were predicted to be somewhat less likely (17 percentage points less, Figure 4) to use a lawn care service than those who did not get yard care information from neighbors and friends. Also, very few homeowners were predicted to use a lawn care service in the absence of information from a retail nursery/garden center or lawn care service (Figure 5). This reflects the fact that many homeowners who did use a lawn care service also relied on either the service or the nursery/garden center for information.

Finally, the predicted percentage of homeowners using lawn care services was larger for those with higher scores on knowledge about nitrate pollution than nonusers (Figure 6).⁵ This may reflect an association with other factors, such as education. That is, well-educated persons are more likely to hold professional jobs, earn higher salaries, live in more expensive homes, and use many channels to obtain information relevant to his or her interests.

Figure 4. 

Figure 5. 

Figure 6. 

Discussion

The results suggest that lawn care service users and nonusers differ in several ways, perhaps most importantly in how each group obtains information on caring for the yard (Figure 7). In order to reach the lawn care service user segment with FYN educational information, it will be important for Cooperative Extension to form partnerships with professionals in the lawn care service industry, as well as retail nursery and garden center owners/managers, to cultivate homeowners' demands for lawn care services that use Best Management Practices (BMPs). Though Extension faculty have conducted a number of educational programs focused on lawn and landscape BMPs for the commercial clients, this study suggests that increased attention is needed on communicating with customers about BMPs. For lawn care service professionals to make time to share information with customers or modify their business practices, it will be important to show how FYN practices can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce operating costs, and increase net profit. Likewise, nurserymen and garden center managers will need to be shown how involvement in FYN can help their business. Since lawn care service users already purchase goods and services at garden centers and nurseries, sale of Extension publications at these locations might be attractive to homeowners and profitable for businesses.

The nursery and landscape industries also might benefit from Extension programs that create better informed consumers of plants and landscape services. Informed consumers will make more appropriate choices for their landscapes, which in turn should lead to healthier landscapes and more satisfied customers. In addition, informed consumers can offer opportunities for new services, such as specialized environmental or “green” landscaping services for professionals who wish to cultivate a niche market.

Figure 7. 

References

Israel, Glenn D. and Glenn Hague. 2001. The Challenge of Environmental Education: A Comparison of Nonparticipants and Participants in Homeowner Landscaping Programs. Revision of the paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society in Washington, D.C., August, 2000.

Israel, Glenn D., S.B. Pinheiro, and Gary W Knox. 1995. Environmental landscape management practices: Assessing practices among commercial groups, May, Bulletin 306, Cooperative Extension Service, IFAS, University of Florida.

Knox, Gary W., Glenn D. Israel, G.L. Davis, Robert J. Black, Joe M. Schaefer, and Sydney Park Brown. 1995. Environmental landscape management: Use of practices by florida consumers, September, Bulletin 307, Cooperative Extension Service, IFAS, University of Florida.

Park Brown, Sydney. 2000. Relationship between situational and demographic factors and adoption of environmental landscape practices by Extension clientele. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Salazar, Bonnie. 1997. Social marketing study of individuals' environmental landscape practices, CSI File No. 6209.01, Chastain Skillman Inc., Tampa, FL.

SAS Institute Inc. 1996. SAS 6.12 [Computer software], Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.

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