**1. Introduction**

Ornamental horticulture businesses ranked among the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture in 2004, as a result of two decades of steady growth [1]. However, sales by individual nurseries have decreased over the last decade, mainly attributed to the Great Recession [2]. From 2007 to 2012, total sales of U.S. nursery and garden center products shrunk by 12.7%, whereas the number of nurseries and garden centers increased by 3.9% [3]. The ornamental horticulture industry is faced with numerous challenges to maintain successful businesses, including competition from mass merchants, which have acquired almost half the market share from smaller, local garden centers [4]. Ornamental horticulture business owners need to reevaluate marketing practices to meet changing consumer preferences, especially with the integration of the internet in the everyday lives of consumers [5,6].

New-media marketing—using digital methods including websites, HTML newsletters, and social media [7]—has provided new opportunities in the last decade for businesses to engage with customers. Marketing through social-media platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest, in particular, has allowed businesses to build and maintain stronger relationships with clientele based on customer-generated content [7,8]. In other sectors, businesses have incorporated social media into marketing practices at a rapid pace. A 2010 survey showed more than three-quarters (79%) of the 2100 organizations

surveyed reported having adopted, or were preparing, social-media initiatives [9]. According to a 2014 national survey of marketers, with 2800 respondents, 89% had adopted social media within the last five years [10].

The reasonable costs associated with deploying new-media marketing strategies are encouraging to family-owned horticulture businesses [6]. In the *Marketing in a Digital World, Small- and Medium-Sized Business and Consumer Survey*, Karr [11] showed that a majority of businesses surveyed (59%) spent less than \$100 per year to use social-media marketing on various channels. Onishi and Manchanda [12] noted new media, involving user-generated content, are primarily available for free, which is in contrast to traditional media. Moreover, new-media marketing tools can be used in conjunction with traditional-media marketing tools to increase business sales [12].

Little is known about the extent of new-media marketing activities in ornamental horticulture industries. One study, examining the level of Pinterest use by agricultural producers and businesses, showed considerable differences, between agricultural segments, in the degree of Pinterest use to reach customers [13]. The specialty crop segment, which includes ornamental horticulture industries, accounted for 9.1% (39 out of 428) of users, suggesting low use of new-media marketing tools by ornamental horticulture businesses. This study further indicated that agribusinesses and agricultural organizations were not using new-media marketing tools to their full potential.

This study aimed to explain how ornamental horticulture businesses are currently using new-media marketing, including engagement with customers, so that future outreach programs can be designed to help them make the most of new-media marketing efforts. Since this is the first study of its kind, it is limited in scope to get benchmark data on ornamental horticulture businesses. A questionnaire was developed to understand the scope of business, marketing practices, perceptions of new-media marketing, and the technological environment of business operators.
