How to Deliver Environmental Sustainability Messaging to Plant Consumers
May 5, 2026 Environmental sustainability has become a central issue in floriculture, particularly in floriculture systems characterized by inputs of water, energy, fertilizers, and pesticides. At the same time, consumer expectations for sustainable products have increased, with purchasing decisions increasingly influenced by environmental attributes.
Despite this shift, a disconnect remains between production practices and consumer understanding. Growers often implement best management practices (BMPs) such as water conservation, integrated pest management (IPM), and energy-efficient greenhouse systems, yet struggle to communicate these effectively. This has been a reported mismatch for more than 10 years, so it is not a new issue.
Strategy 1. Translate Production Practices into Consumer Benefits
Horticultural production systems often rely on technically complex sustainability practices, including nutrient management, water recycling, and biological pest control. However, environmental communication research consistently shows that consumers respond more strongly to outcome-based framing rather than technical descriptions.
What does this mean in more simplistic terms? What do consumers get out of you doing better nutrient management, recycling, or other practices? These don’t have to be first-person benefits; they can be broader societal benefits that affect the consumer. This aligns with findings that perceived environmental benefit, rather than technical accuracy alone, drives willingness to pay.
If you are looking for a concise list of environmental benefits, Grace Cotting, Charlie Hall, and I are writing a series of articles, the “Environmental Benefits of Plants,” hosted on the Journal of Environmental Horticulture website, translating science-based environmental benefits into layman’s terms that you can use to communicate with.
Strategy 2. Transparency, Trust, and Credibility
Trust is a foundational component of sustainability communication. In fact, you can think of trust as the foundation of consumer loyalty. In horticultural markets, consumers often lack detailed knowledge of production systems. As a result, there’s been an increasing reliance on credence attributes. The consumer must recognize the credential to give it full credence. What they don’t understand, many times they ignore. Highly sophisticated consumers seek out information like credentials.
Avoid vague claims. In fact, using more specific terminology and claims to describe a practice that you are using (in a few words, if possible!) can lead to a higher willingness to pay for sustainability products rather than more generalized wording. For example, instead of “sustainable pots” (vague), try “industrial compostable pots” (specific).
Strategy 3. Framing Sustainability as Value, Not Trade-Off
Communicating how sustainable practices contribute to value within floriculture businesses can positively influence consumer perceptions. These benefits may include enhanced longevity (e.g., “longer lasting flowers”), improved or maintained quality with fewer inputs, and reduced waste.
Value framing is a communication strategy that presents information in terms of its benefits, relevance, or utility to the audience, rather than focusing solely on technical features or production attributes. In sustainability communication, particularly within floriculture, this involves linking environmentally responsible practices to outcomes that consumers care about, such as product quality, longevity, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with personal values.
Framing sustainability in this way aligns with behavioral economics research, which demonstrates that consumers are more likely to adopt sustainable products when benefits are emphasized over costs.
Historically, sustainability has often been perceived as increasing costs or compromising product quality. However, horticultural research indicates that many sustainable practices can enhance both production efficiency and product performance. For example, energy-efficient greenhouse technologies can reduce input costs and lower emissions, while water-efficient irrigation systems improve plant quality and reduce water and fertilizer losses. If you’re implementing one or more of these practices, tell your consumers about their value.
For four more additional environmental sustainability messaging strategies and examples, please read the original article found on the Sustainabloom website.
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