Impact of COVID-19 on Consumer Behavior in Home Gardening

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped various aspects of life, influencing consumer behaviors and economic activities worldwide. This paper delves into the shifts in consumer preferences and shopping patterns for gardening products and services during and after the pandemic era. Through nationwide online surveys conducted from 2020 to 2022, we analyze changes in time spent and expenses on gardening and identify key demographic and pandemic-related factors influencing these behaviors during the pandemic era. We employed both generalized and standard ordered logistic regression models to assess the impact of various variables on the ordinal dependent variable. The findings reveal a significant surge in both time spending on home gardening activities and money invested in gardening products and services, especially among individuals who considered gardening beneficial for well-being and as a family activity. Notably, the preference for online shopping and mail delivery for gardening supplies emerged as a prominent trend during the pandemic, accompanied by a significant increase in the purchase of fruit plants, vegetable plants, and seeds, indicating that primary motivation for gardening was self-food consumption. These insights provide valuable guidance for businesses in the green industry, informing production, marketing practices, and economic recovery efforts post-COVID-19.