Research confirms a high level of interest in trends amongst target group

_{March 2021}

Research agency Motivaction regularly conducts research into consumer behaviour on behalf of the Flower Council of Holland. That keeps us constantly up to date with consumers’ preferences, and we can then respond best in our marketing approach. The current interest in our trends was measured at the end of 2020. Questions based on the views about trends formed part of the research into The Trend Collection Autumn/Winter 2020. The questions were focused on interior trends in general, and flower and plant trends specifically. The research findings confirmed again that trends are a good approach to inspire consumers with. 

International research
Motivaction carried out this research amongst consumers in the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The respondents were men and women aged between 18 and 70. Segmentation research had already told us that our target group, the Aesthetic Explorer, are interested in trend-led subjects. This study is now also included in other consumer segments.

Differences between the countries
In response to the question about how interested they are in interiors and design trends, a quarter of respondents on average indicated that they are very interested. This percentage is around 30% in Germany and France. It was noticeable that in the United Kingdom it is particularly young people aged between 25 and 34 who are interested in these trends (36%). In addition, on average around half the consumers in various countries are somewhat interested in trends. Only 28% of respondents indicated that they are not particularly interested in interiors and design trends.

Aesthetic Explorer most interested 

Within the Aesthetic Explorer target group in the four core countries, 59% indicated that they are very interested in trends. Another 36% of them are somewhat interested. This shows us that few people within this target group fail to stay up to date with new developments in the domain of interiors and design.  

Inspiration from the shop floor and TV
Consumers in all four countries find design and interiors inspiration firstly on the shop floor, followed by television programmes about homes and interiors. Facebook and Pinterest also provide many inspiring ideas, followed by interiors magazines, and the websites of interiors stores. We see few differences between the four countries here. 

F​rom inspiration to shopping
10% of all respondents indicated that they regularly search  for beautiful items if they come across them on television, in a magazine, or in a friend’s home. A much larger group (53%) also look for attractive trendy products, but less frequently. If we look specifically at the Aesthetic Explorer, 19%  actively search regularly, and over 67% slightly less frequently. 

Trends in flowers and plants

In response to the question “Do you believe that there are trends in flowers and plants?”, 27% replied “definitely” and 49% replied “possibly”. In the Netherlands, 39% of respondents are convinced that there are trends in flowers and plants. This also applies to one third of the French respondents. For Germany this percentage is 21%, and for the UK is was 16%.

Out of the interviewed Aesthetic Explorers, 44% said that they are sure that there are flower and plant trends. A 5th of them reported that if they have seen a flower or plant trend that appeals to them, they will adopt it regularly. 68% of this group said that they would respond to it from time to time.

Conclusion 
All in all, flower and plant trends are a good approach to inspire consumers. After all, six out of ten responds to it with a certain regularity, and amongst Aesthetic Explorers that figure is  almost nine out of ten. These are valuable insights for building future campaigns.

Want to know more?
For more information on this research please contact Monique Kemperman, campaign manager houseplants at mkemperman@bloemenbureauholland.nl. Or get in touch with UK Country Manager Chanel de Kock at cdekock@flowercouncil.co.uk.