**1. Introduction**

The green industry (garden centers, nurseries, landscaping companies, etc.) generates over \$200 billion in annual revenue [1] and employs over 450,000 workers [2]. However, the retail garden center industry is highly seasonal and competes with many outside influences that can negatively affect sales, such as poor weather and competition from mass merchandisers [3]. According to Hodges et al. [4], mass merchants have acquired almost half the market share from smaller, local garden centers. Although mass merchants can offer prices that local garden centers cannot match, consumers are sometimes willing to pay higher prices for the increased selection, higher quality plants, and expert knowledge offered by small garden centers [5].

One factor limiting the expansion of garden centers and nurseries within the Great Plains region is marketing [6]. Insufficient funds for marketing is a common problem with smaller retailers who must try to find ways to generate maximum income potential with limited marketing and advertising budgets [7]. Small, family farms that have a yearly revenue not exceeding \$50,000 rely heavily on marketing directly to the consumer [8]. Family-owned garden centers are no exception and have traditionally invested the majority of advertising dollars on the Yellow Pages, print media, and direct mail [6]. Such print material most often includes newsletters and direct-mail promotional pieces that seek to educate consumers about sales or offer coupons for seasonal goods.

Although direct marketing of agricultural goods to the public has proven profitable with an association of increased sales [9], a limited marketing budget can prove detrimental to direct-mail marketing because the potential to reach the desired target audience is limited by the resource capital the business is able to allocate to the campaign [10]. Even though direct mail has limitations, such as a low response rate [11], it is still a highly popular resource [7] that can increase the volume of customers [12].

Incorporation of new-media marketing tools such as social-media has made it possible for businesses to communicate and engage directly with current and potential customers while building relationships [13–15]. Establishing a direct line of back-and-forth communication allows consumers to feel their feedback is valued and recognized, thereby increasing the probability of customers engaging in word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing via the digital sphere and physical circles [13]. Ultimately, WOM relies upon community engagement, and in today's digital age it is vital that garden centers create an interactive web presence that can be accessed across multiple platforms in order to facilitate consumer demands and promote WOM [16].

Many businesses are transitioning away from single-channel and passive marketing campaigns and have adopted more interactive strategies that encompass a wider variety of marketing channels [17]. Multiple-channel marketing (MCM) allows businesses to use specific media to market directly to a target audience [18]. Companies must recognize the wide array of channels that can influence consumers, including television, radio, magazines, and online sources. Organizations are starting to focus more on the possibilities of new-media marketing [19].

Businesses that decide to participate in MCM strategies must carefully consider the most efficient and effective channels [18]. Efficiency focuses on the cost per impression or the ability of a channel to reach consumers as economically as possible. In order to do so, marketers must have a clear and full understanding of its unique customer base. Multiple channel marketing must also be effective and yield high sales and positive brand image [18]. Modern businesses are using multiple traditional and new-media channels to market to consumers. Ultimately, the decisions on which channel to use are often the result of organizational tradition and "gut feeling" rather than statistical proof [20].

Marketing campaigns via new-media are free or low cost, and if used correctly, could lead to further promotion [21]. Properly integrating social networking tools can have a positive impact on sales, powerfully establish a company's brand, increase the salience of the business, position the company positively within the community, and reduce advertising costs [22]. However, sufficient and effective measurement practices must be implemented to determine if social-media marketing is successful and yielding a positive return on investment (ROI) [23,24]. Such measurement programs should focus on a social-media marketing campaign, and its ability to raise brand awareness, generate sales, produce customer advocacy, or encourage word-of-mouth marketing [25].

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of garden center stakeholders in the Great Plains region of the USA as they use social-media to market their business. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews of Kansas stakeholders explored the following research questions.


This qualitative study is informed by Grunig's [26] Public Relations Theory. Grunig [26] categorizes four models of communication that businesses and public relations (PR) practitioners rely upon: (1) press agentry; (2) public information; (3) two-way asymmetrical; and (4) two-way symmetrical communication. Model one, press agentry, is the least desirable and model four, two-way symmetrical, is the most desirable form of communication. Grunig offers these models to help classify how a business or organization approaches and practices PR.

Press agentry is narrow in focus. Practitioners of this form of communication are primarily concerned with disseminating information on the company's products and increasing brand awareness [26]. Companies that practice press agentry are not bound by truth, and all communication is asymmetrical and focused on a one-way transfer of information. There is no desire for feedback or understanding the customer through strategic research. The public information model evolved from the press agentry in that it focuses on the release and distribution of truthful information [26]. However, the flow of information is still one-way from the organization to the consumer. Unlike press agentry, there is some effort given toward understanding the receiver of information through items like surveys [26].

Model three and four are considered the more desirable models of PR [27]. Model three is the two-way asymmetrical approach. While this form of PR evaluates feedback from a company's target audience, the goal of communication is strictly focused on persuasion and convincing the public to either accept a specific point of view or coerce the consumer to purchase a particular product [26].

The final model is two-way symmetrical communication, and "research shows this model is the most ethical ... and effective approach to public relations" [26] (p. 308). Two-way symmetrical communication establishes constant communication between the business and all stakeholders to mitigate conflict. Businesses do this by understanding the needs and wants of stakeholders to "improve understanding and build relationships with publics" [26] (p. 39). Additionally, small-scale operations are more likely to use two-way communication practices [26]. In the digital sphere, two-way symmetrical communication can help organizations because listening to consumers via social-media allows a company to improve its products and more effectively target potential customers [28].
