




































African Journal of Agricultural Marketing Vol. 1 (1), pp. 001-010, November, 2013. Available online at 
www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 
 
 

 

Full Length Research Paper 
 

The effect of demographic factors (in floriculture) in 
acquiring ornamental plants marketing as a profession 

 
Ehlinaz TORUN 

 
Department of Agricultural Administration and Marketing, University of Kocaeli, Kocaeli, Turkey. 

E-mail: ehlinaz.torun@kocaeli.edu.tr. 
 

Accepted 28 September, 2013 
 

There are several factors in acquiring a profession in the present day, that is, in the late 20th century 
and beginning of 21st century. The most important of these factors are demographic factors. Of those 
demographic factors, the characteristics such as gender, education level, income level and age are 
effective. Therefore, people prefer jobs suitable to their own socio-economic structures and gender 
when they begin to work. In this study, the demographic factors, the effects of gender, age, education 
level and income level on acquiring floriculture profession were investigated. The results obtained from 
the field study entitled the effect of demographic factors in the profession of ornamental plants 
marketing (floriculture) are quite impressive. In the survey conducted in the different points of the 
provinces Istanbul and Kocaeli, randomly selected 50 subjects were taken as sample and the data were 
analyzed by SPSS 16.0 program by using several statistical methods. 51 of the subjects were female 
and 99 were male. This situation shows that masculine station comes to the forefront in floriculture as it 
does in every profession. Mostly middle-aged or elder people do this profession. Additionally, 
education is also known as effective in acquiring a profession. However, there may be no need for 
education for some jobs. It was seen that 54 of the subjects were graduates of primary school, 60 of 
them were graduates of secondary school, 30 of high school and 6 of universities. This study indicated 
that people who are graduates of primary and secondary school were more in ornamental plants 
marketing (in floriculture) and education was not important for the profession of floriculture. 

 
Key words: Floriculture, marketing, occupational gender, socio-economic structure. 

 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
In a modern society, one of the important development 
tasks of an independent person is choosing his/her job. If 
a person wants to make the right choice in any subject, or 
in other words, make a healthy decision, first of all, they 
should know what they want and what opportunities they 
have to achieve them. After or favourably with this 
process, they should examine various options and 
evaluate how suitable they are to their wishes and 
conditions. People who do not go through these 
processes mindfully and regard fully will absolutely get 
disappointed. It is observed that while making an 
important decision like the choice of profession, some 
young people do not perform the development task 
mentioned above and thus become upset. There are 
some factors which make it difficult for people to make up 
their minds about which profession to choose. Young 
people’s beliefs and the generalizations they make about 
the world of business and human characteristics are 

 
 
 

 
some of these factors.  

The statement ‘In our country people cannot get the job 
they want’ is a wrong generalization. It is true that a group 
of young people cannot get the job they want because of 
poverty. However, not being able to get the job wanted is 
not only due to the lack of money. It is also observed that 
there are some wealthy young people who head for 
wrong fields. These people’s mistake results from their 
not questioning whether the job they want to acquire suits 
them or not (Kuzgun, 2008). While choosing their 
profession, some people are insensible. In addition, their 
living conditions and surroundings make them acquire the 
jobs they do not really want to do as their profession. 
Demographic factors also play a role in some jobs. One 
of these jobs is floriculture and now we will have a look at 
the factors effective in acquiring this profession and 
floriculture in general.  

A Florist is a person who provides, arranges, presents 



Ehlinaz               002 
 
 
 
 

Table 1. Export of ornamental plants in Turkey. 
 

 Years Value (1.000 dollars) 
 2000 12.956 
 2001 14.282 
 2002 22.299 
 2003 31.485 
 2004 37.748 
 2005 36.229 
 2006 40.522 
 2007 46.447 
 2008 45.524 
 2009 49.150 

 
Anonymous, 2010 b. Source: DTM. 

 

 
and sells cut flowers and indoor ornamental plants. 
Floriculture can be defined as buying, selling and 
marketing all types of flowers and flowery plants; 
producing soil for flowers and gardens; indoor and 
outdoor botanic decoration of houses, summer houses, 
offices, tourism resorts; all services for balcony and 
landscape gardening, from the project phase to the 
application and the maintenance agreement; offering 
irrigation, illumination, plant production and research 
service and selling of all kinds of special equipment; 
selling engines, machines, botanic vehicles, medicine 
and tools for agricultural activity and offering 
transportation services.  

A Florist plans material requirements, determines 
where to buy the flowers and equipment, classifies the 
flowers, cuts the flowers according to purpose, increases 
the stability of the flowers, prepares the pots or other 
containers of flowers, dresses the flower windows, 
prepares bouquets, arrangements and wreaths, deco-
rates indoor and outdoor areas, receives orders, deter-
mines prices and labels the flowers, does turnovers, 
keeps records of the orders, prepares submission forms, 
delivers the order and makes out an invoice.  

Today flowers and floriculture are not only ornamental, 
but they are also a profitable agricultural activity. Many 
countries in the world have realized this and started to 
earn money from flowers. African countries are trying to 
get rid of starvation and Colombia in South America is 
trying to get rid of drug traffic by growing and selling 
flowers. The yearly flower sales revenue of Colombia is 
over $500 million. Israel brings in $200 million by growing 
flowers in the desert and selling them. Holland sells 
flowers to all European countries. Both in Turkey and in 
the world, ornamental plants are examined under four 
headings: cut flowers, indoor (potted) ornamental plants, 
outdoor ornamental plants and natural flower onions. Cut 
flowers account for 57% of the total ornamental plant 
export, the live plants (indoor and outdoor plants) for 
24%, wreaths and moss for 13% and flower onions 
account for 6% (Anonymous, 2008). 

 
 
 

 
Ornamental plants sector started to become 

commercially important in the beginning of the 20th 
century, but it had started to develop as an important line 
of business especially in developed countries (in Holland, 
the USA and Japan) before the Second World War and 
then in some developing countries (in Colombia, Kenya 
and Israel) (DPT 2001:4, Doldur, 2008). Today, for many 
countries, ornamental plants sector has become an 
effective commercial sector contributing to economy and 
one of these countries is Turkey. In Turkey, 20 cities were 
producing ornamental plants in the early years. This 
sector, once common in the Marmara region, has started 
to move to the Mediterranean and the Aegean Regions 
due to their climatic advantages (Ay, 2009). Ornamental 
plants production and trade are developing rapidly in 
Turkey. Ornamental plants are produced in 28 cities in 
Turkey. The cities which have the highest production 
rates are Antalya, Izmir, Yalova and İstanbul respectively. 
Cut flower production made in the Marmara and Aegean 
Regions (Istanbul, Yalova, Izmir, Aydın) is usually 
domestic market oriented (Anonymous, 2010a).  

In Turkey, there is development not only in the 
domestic market but also in the foreign one. Turkey’s 
export of ornamental plants started 20 years ago and has 
had a steady growth. The main export product group is 
cut flowers, seedlings, saplings, indoor and outdoor 
plants, flower bulbs, moss and wreaths. The development 
of ornamental plant export in Turkey by years is given in 
Table 1.  

According to 2008 statistics, 60% of ornamental plants 
export of Turkey is done in Antalya. After the Province of 
Antalya, Istanbul (10%), Izmir (8%), and Yalova (6%) 
respectively are important cities in ornamental plants 
export. Due to the table land production made in Isparta, 
Burdur and Korkuteli Regions, export season has risen to 
10 months from 7 months. Today, Turkey exports 
ornamental plants to about 35 countries. The most 
important markets of Turkey in ornamental plants export 
are Holland, England, Germany, Russian Federation and 
Ukraine. In cut flowers export Holland, England, 
Germany, Russia and Ukraine; and in the live plants 
export Turkmenistan, Turkish Republic of Northern 
Cyprus and Hungary are the important markets. The 
ornamental plants export of Turkey has reached $45.5 
million in 2008. Turkey is in the 24th place in world 
ornamental plants export (Anonymous, 2009).  

Countries want to increase their export, but the 
inadequacy of the products (ornamental plants) they grow 
in their own hinterland and the socio-economic and 
cultural structure lead to an increase in the consumption 
of ornamental plants. In this case, countries start to 
import products to meet the demand. Countries cannot 
meet all the demand as the type and number of the 
ornamental plants they grow in their hinterlands is limited. 
For this reason, they import ornamental plants in order to 
meet the demand (Kelkit and Bulut, 1998). Ornamental 
plants farming is a general term, which is divided as cut 



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Table 2. The reasons by gender for being a florist. 
 
  The ideas of the florists about the reasons why they are doing floriculture business    

 

 
Gender Has no idea To learn the Its being an enjoyable 

Economic benefit Total   

 
profession  profession   

 

          
 

  Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 
 

 Female 15 29.5 12 23.5 12 23.5 12 23.5 51 34 
 

 Male 0 0.00 18 18.2 45 45.4 36 36.4 99 66 
 

 Total 15 10 30 20 57 38 48 32 150 100 
  

As Chi-square: 8.690, Df: 3, Asymp. Sig:0. 034, p< 0.05, Ho: hypothesis is accepted (that is, there is an important relationship). 
 
 
 
flowers, indoor ornamental plants, outdoor ornamental 
plants and natural flower onions farming. With a share of 
80%, cut flowers and indoor ornamental plants form an 
important group in the world market (Groot, 1998). 
 
 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
 
The article on “the effects of the demographic factors in acquiring 
the ornamental plants marketing (floriculture) profession”, 
announcements, books, Internet sources and the reports of the 
relevant institutions and organizations have been made use of. 
However, the survey study with the florists is the most important 
material of the research. As the method, a survey was done with 
150 subjects chosen with the random sampling method in different 
points of the provinces Istanbul and Kocaeli. The reason to choose 
these cities is their being industrial and having a high population 
density. The data obtained from these surveys were analyzed by 
several statistical methods and programs. With the SPSS 16.0 
program and crosstabs tables and the frequency and khi-kare (with 
95% reliability and 5% error margin) analysis, several comparisons 
were made and the data obtained were evaluated. 
 

 
FINDINGS 
 
Demographic characteristics 
 
Gender 
 
Gender identity is the personal conception of oneself 
according to their masculine or feminine traits. Gender 
identity is talked about as the psychological gender of 
individuals and it can also be defined as the existential 
femininity or masculinity of individuals (Bem, 1981). With 
the term gender, people usually mean the biological sex, 
and with gender identity they emphasize the psycho-
logical characteristics of the biological sex. According to 
the Gender Schema Theory, people adopt behaviours, 
manners and traits matching their gender identity. The 
individuals’ classification of their accepted gender identity 
may affect their data processing period (Yağcı and 
İlarslan, 2010).  

In the gender-oriented division of labour, socio-cultural 
factors and patriarchal cultural values are determinant in 
the participation and position of women in labour market 

 
 
 
(Anker and Hein, 1986: 11; Harttman, 2006; Özçatal, 
2009). In terms of profession, gender identity causes 
differences depending on a person’s being male or 
female. It seems that the careers of women have no 
importance in almost any sector and being a woman is a 
reference for them in determining whether they are 
suitable for the job or not (Torun and ẞener, 2009).  

In addition, women meet with obstacles while they are 
starting a job and throughout their occupational life. 
These obstacles are the conflict between the 
occupational life and traditional roles of women along with 
the social expectations fitting these roles (Torun, 2010). 
The findings obtained from the study conducted show 
that gender has an effect on acquiring ornamental plants 
marketing (Floriculture) profession. It is observed that the 
number of female managers is low, but the number of 
male managers is high. The reasons by gender for being 
a florist are given in Table 2.  

In the Khi-Kare analysis done to determine whether 
there is a relationship between the gender and reasons 
why the florists are doing floriculture business, it came up 
that the relationship between them is important according 
to the 95% confidence interval (reliability). In other words, 
gender is an important factor in the floriculture business 
and mostly men do it. Men have an idea of why they are 
doing this business, whereas most of the women florists 
(29.5%) do not have an idea as to why they are doing it. 
This result shows that gender is an important factor in 
acquiring floriculture profession. In the study conducted, 
out of 150 subjects, 51 were female and 99 were male. 
As seen in Figure 1, 34% of the florists are female, 
whereas 66% are male.  

It is also understood that, as in most of the professions, 
there are more males in floriculture too and gender is an 
important factor in doing this business. This situation can 
be explained by men’s being more pushing in commercial 
affairs than women and women’s falling behind in 
professional life because of their roles provided by the 
society. In the study conducted, gender and age ranges 
of the florists have been examined and the findings are 
given in Table 3. When Table 3 is examined, it can be 
stated that there is no difference in the gender and age 
range distribution between people doing ornamental 
flower marketing business. The percentage (71%) of 



Ehlinaz               004  
 
 
 

 
34% 

 
Male 

 
Female 

 
66% 

 
 

Figure 1. Gender distribution. 
 

 
Table 3. Gender and age distribution of ornamental plant marketers (Florists). 

 
The age distribution of florists according to their gender (age ranges)  

 Gender 20-30  31-40  41-50  51+  Total  

  Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 
 Female 15 29 9 18 27 53 0 0.00 51 34 
 Male 30 30.3 45 45.5 12 12.1 12 12.1 99 66 
 Total 45 30 54 36 39 26 12 8 150 100 

 
As Chi-square= 1.548, Df:2, Asymp. Sig.: 0.46, p> 0.05, Ho: hypothesis is rejected (that is, there is no relationship). 

 

 
 15% 

25%  

  
 

  Between 20-30 
 

  Between 31-40 
 

20%  Between 41-50 
 

  
 

  Over    51 - + 
 

  40% 
 

 
Figure 2. Age range of florists. 

 
 
women between the ages of 31 to 51+ is nearly the same 
as men’s (69.7%). There is no important relationship 
between the gender and age and according to Table 3, 
the relationship between the age and gender of the 
florists is not found meaningful according to Khi-Kare 
analysis done with 95% reliability. It can be interpreted 
that whatever the age and gender of a florist is, it has 
nothing to do with their choosing this job as their 
profession. 
 
 
Age 
 
In the analysis done in the study conducted, it is found 
that there is no relationship between the income levels 
and age groups of the people who have the floriculture 
profession. In addition, in no age range, there are people 
who have 100-900 TL monthly income. It is shown in 
Table 4, that in each age group, the level of income is 
between income brackets of 901-2500+ TL a month. 

 
 
According to Table 4, 66% of the people in the 31 to 50 
age group earn more income from the profession. 
However, there is a decrease in the employment rate and 
earning value when the age range decreases or 
increases. The probable reason is that when people are 
at an early age or old age, they have difficulty in taking 
risks and complying with the conditions of the competition 
in the trading area. According to the study conducted, 
age also has an important effect in acquiring floriculture 
profession.  

As seen in Figure 2 most of the florists are in the age 
range of 31 to 50; in other words, they are middle-aged. It 
is estimated that 15% of the florists are at the age of 20 to 
30, 40% are 31 to 40 and 45% of them are in the age 
range of 41 to 50 and no florists at the age of 51 or over 
are run into. In this respect, it could be said that people 
can do this job in their most active period and there is the 
advantage of being able to follow the innovations and 
technology and using them. Being a florist requires doing 
multiple jobs. For instance, floriculture (marketing 



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Table 4. The distribution of the monthly income and age group of the florists. 

 
   Monthly income distribution of the florists (TL/Month)  

Total 
 

 

 

Age 100-900 901- 1500 1501-2000 2001-2500+ 
 

 

   
 

  Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 
 

 20-30 0 0.00 6 14 18 43 18 43 42 28 
 

 31-40 0 0.00 3 4.5 33 50 30 45.5 66 44 
 

 41-50 0 0.00 15 45.5 15 45.5 3 9 33 22 
 

 51- + 0 0.00 6 66.7 13 33.3 0  9 16 
 

 Total 0 0.00 30 20 69 46 51 34 150 100 
  

As Chi-Square=3.054, Df: 4, Asymp. sig: 0.549, p> 0.05, Ho: hypothesis is rejected (that is, there is no relationship). 
 

 
Table 5. The distribution of florists according to gender and education. 
 
     V3 level of education    

Total 
 

 

 

Gender Primary school Secondary school High school College - University 
 

 

   
 

  Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 
 

 Female 18 35.3 9 17.6 24 47.1 0 0.00 51 34 
 

 Male 36 36.3 51 51.5 6 6.1 6 6.1 99 66 
 

 Total 54 36.4 60 40 30 20 6 4 150 100 
  

As Chi-Square: 5,459 df: 3 Asymp. sig.:0.141, p> 0.05, Ho: hypothesis is rejected (that is there is no relationship). 
 

 
ornamental plants) starts at the stage when the crops are 
produced and prepared for the market and ends in the 
consumers’ house.  

Meanwhile, the crops go through many processes and 
delivered in different ways to the customer in need. 
Ornamental plants and their producers and marketers 
think of what they will cultivate. Then they start 
ornamental plants production by investing capital. Next 
they grow types of plants according to the wishes of the 
consumers. For a successful marketing, the florist should 
know the taste and preferences of the consumer (the 
demand, in other words) and grow plants according to 
and deliver them to the consumer. 
 
 
Education level 
 
In general, a parallel structure is expected between the 
education level and the profession; however, in the 
floriculture business, it can be said that education level is 
not as important a factor as gender. As seen in Table 5, 
when the distribution of the education level of people who 
acquire floriculture profession according to gender is 
examined, it is seen that there is no difference and 
relationship. 35.3% of female florists are primary school 
graduates, 17% are secondary school and 47.1% are 
high school graduates. There are no university graduate 
female florists in the subject group. When it comes to 
male florists, 36.3% of them are primary school 
graduates, 51.5% are secondary school, 6% are high 
school and 6.1% are university graduates. In the Khi-kare 

 

 
analysis done between the gender and the education 
level of the florists, it is seen that the relationship between 
them is insignificant (Figure 3). After the survey 
conducted, it is observed that the education level of 
people who have the profession of ornamental flowers 
marketing is low. 36.4% (54) of primary school graduates, 
40% (60) of secondary school, 20% (30) of high school 
and 4% (6) of university graduates are florists.  

This shows that, in commercial affairs, a person needs 
to be at a certain age and have self confidence. In similar 
studies conducted, it is determined that education level is 
effective on behaviours. A study conducted by Atılgan et 
al. (2007) showed that as the education level of the 
producers in the province of Antalya in using chemical 
and organic fertilisers in the greenhouses increased, they 
started to give more importance to soil tests and do more 
farming in bigger greenhouses using more organic 
fertilizers. This also showed that there is an important 
relationship between the level of education and these 
parameters. 
 
 
Level of income 
 
Level of income is one of the indicators that determine 
the socio-economic status of people. To have an income, 
besides having a profession, a person needs to work 
somewhere and produce something. The most important 
variable of the socio-economic status is the profession of 
the individual (Coleman, 1983). In addition to this, other 
components, such as education, wealth and hometown 



Ehlinaz               006 
 
 

 
 45 

36% 
40%   

 

(%
) 40    

 

35     
 

le
ve

l 30     
 

25   20%  
 

Ed
u

ca
ti

o
n
 

20     
 

15     
 

10    4%  

5 
   

 

    
 

 0     
 

  Primary Secondary High University 
 

  School School School  
 

 
Figure 3. Education levels of the florists. 

 
 
 

 50   
44%  

 

(%
) 45 

   
 

   

38% 
 

40 
   

 

le
ve

l    
 

    
 

35     
 

      

in
co

m
e
 

30     
 

25  

18% 
  

 

20    
 

M
o

n
th

ly
 

15     
 

10     
 

5 
0% 

   
 

     

 

0 
   

 

     
 

  100-900 901-1500 2001-2500 1501-2000 
 

 
Figure 4. Monthly income of floriculture. 

 
 
 
Table 6. Montly income distribution of florists according to their education level. 
 
    Monthly income of florists (TL/Month)   

Total 
 

 

 

Level of education 100-900 
 

901 -1500 1501 - 2000 2001- 2500 
 

 

    
 

  Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % 
 

 Primary school 0 0.00 9 15.8 24 42.1 24 42.1 57 38 
 

 Secondary school 0 0.00 3 5.2 27 47.4 27 47.4 57 38 
 

 High school 0 0.00 12 44.5 12 44.5 3 11 27 18 
 

 College-University 0 0.00 6 66.7 3 33.3 0 0.00 9 6 
 

 Total 0 0.00 27 18 66 44 57 38 150 100 
  

As Chi-square=9,626, Df: 6, Asymp. sig.: 0,141, p> 0.05, Ho: hypothesis is rejected (that is, there is no relationship). 
 

 
are also important factors in determining the socio-
economic status (Coleman, 1983; Kalaycıoğlu et al., 
1998; Yağcı and İlarslan, 2010). Very high population 
density in Kocaeli and Istanbul, where the survey is 
conducted, enables the florists to maintain their income at 
a standard level. The most important factors of this is 
these cities’ being industrial cities with a high population 
and the florists’ (retailers) here being close to the flower 
producers. Because of these, the cost of purchase is low 
and there is surplus value in their incomes (Figure 4). 

 

 
The data showing the education and income levels of the 
subjects in the study conducted are given in Table 6. 
According to these findings, there is no important 
relationship between the education and income levels of 
florists because the education level of people having this 
profession is already low. Therefore, that there is no 
relationship between these two data is an expected 
situation.  

To survive and live a healthy life, people should have 
an adequate income or do a job where they will earn it. In 



Torun 6017 
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5% 
 
 
 

 

95% 
 
 
 
 
 

 Special Occasions  For  P leasure  

  
 

 
Figure 5. Reasons why consumers buy flowers. 

 
 
 
 

35% 

 

 Male 
 

Female 
 
65% 
 

 
Figure 6. Gender ratios of flower consumers. 

 

 
this study, the income levels of the subjects are examined 
and it is seen that they make enough profit to maintain 
their life standards in today’s conditions. It is determined 
that 20% of the florists earn 901-1500 TL monthly, 45% 
earn 1501-2000 TL, and 35% earn 2001-2500 TL. When 
it is considered that Istanbul and Kocaeli are industrial 
cities, this level of income will make floriculture one of the 
preferable professions. Both the high level of income of 
the consumers and the continual growth of these cities 
due to migration bring about an increase in demand. In 
this regard, this question might be asked: What affects 
the demand for ornamental plants? The demand for 
ornamental plants is affected by: 
 
(i) The number of consumers,   
(ii) The income level of consumers,   
(iii) The taste and preferences of consumers,   
(iv) The price of ornamental plants,   
(v) The price of other products used instead of ornament-
tal plants,   
(vi) Advertisements and sales-increasing activities.  
 
According to the study, consumers use flowers for two 
reasons: As a present on special occasions and for their 
own taste and pleasure. 
 
(i) Special  occasions:  On  New  Year’s  Eve,  special 

 

 
occasions (Mother’s Day, Teacher’s Day, Valentine’s 
Day, birthdays etc.), wedding receptions, festivals and 
acquaintance visits, consumers necessarily buy flowers 
and flower sales increase on these days.  
(ii) For pleasure: People’s use of flowers in their houses, 
gardens or offices and buying them for these purposes. 
The development of the flower demand depends upon 
the increase in the number of such people. 
 
According to a study conducted by Holdur (2008), in the 
other countries of the world, people buy ornamental 
flowers for similar reasons to the ones in Turkey. That is, 
he stated that they buy them for special occasions or for 
pleasure (Figure 5).  

In the study conducted, it is seen that most of the 
buyers of ornamental flowers and their derivatives are 
men. The most important reason of this is the opposite 
sexes’ assigning several meanings to flowers and flower 
types at certain times and men’s feeling that they need to 
buy a flower to the opposite sex at those times (special 
occasions). Women mostly buy flowers for pleasure and 
for occasions when it is necessary to buy them. In the 
study conducted it is seen that most of the flower 
consumers are male (Figure 6).  

65% of the consumers are male and 35% are female. 
The flower types the consumers prefer change depending 



Ehlinaz               008  
 
 
 
 

5%    
 

20% 
  

Orchid 
 

  
 

   

50% 

   
Rose  

   
 

   

Daisy 
 

   
 

    
 

25% 
  

Carnation  

  
 

   

 
 
 
 

Figure 7. Sales rates according to flower types. 
 
 
 
 

MARKETING CHANNELS OF CUT FLOWERS 
 
 

Limited liability flower production and  Intermediary people  FLORA  flower  production  and 
marketing cooperative  (Stockbrokers)  marketing cooperative 

     

 
 

Auctions in the cities 
 
 
 

FLOWER SHOPS-STREET HAWKERS AND STALLS 
 

 

CONSUMERS 

 
Figure 8. Channels used in the marketing of cut flowers (Source: Samilfidancilik.com). 
 
 

 
on the seasons, prices, people’s taste and the reason for 
the need. Research results of the most preferred flower 
types by the consumers in Kocaeli and Istanbul are given 
in Figure 7.  

Flower market is busy and changeable. As there are a 
lot of different types and species of flowers, the 
consumers may have unpredictable demands. Therefore, 
florists can increase and maintain the continuity of sales 
by guessing the wishes of the consumers in advance and 
retaining those flowers. Otherwise, they cause a 
decrease in the market share and thus affect the market 
growth rate negatively. According to the data on Figure 7, 
the sales rates of the flower types in the domestic market 
are as follows. With 50% Carnation sales have the 
highest rate, Daisy 25%, Rose 20% and Orchid has the 
lowest rate with 5%.  

According to this order, the types that are most 
preferred on special occasions are carnations, daisies 
and roses respectively. Apart from that the flower prices 
are also effective in preference order. The Orchid has the 

 
 

 
lowest sales rates because it is an expensive flower.The 
flower types that have the highest sales rate are the cut 
flowers. Therefore, the marketing channels used in the 
marketing of cut flowers are given on Figure 8.  

In our country, as in the other fields of agricultural 
activity, the businesses that do ornamental plant farming 
are small family businesses. There are 6 to 7 thousand 
floriculturists and more than 10 thousand florists in 
Turkey. About 5 thousand families in Turkey do cut flower 
business. Today most of the businesses that produce for 
the domestic market and market their product through the 
flower cooperatives have the characteristics of small 
family businesses. The internal marketing of the cut 
flowers in Turkey is done through flower cooperatives. 
Currently, there are two cooperatives based in Istanbul in 
Turkey. In the 20 flower auctions of flower cooperatives in 
14 cities, flowers of about 6000 floriculturists are sold to 
florists. The figures are not official but there are over 9 
thousand florists in Turkey and about half of them are in 
service in Istanbul (Anonymous, 2010c). Gender is a 



009       Afr. J. Agric. Mark. 
 
 

 
classification variable, which has been used in traditional 
marketing for a long time especially to determine 
consumer behaviours. However, in today’s rapidly chan-
ging world, it has become necessary to go beyond the 
traditional models in understanding consumer 
behaviours. At this point, we come across the term 
“gender identity” which we hear often recently and which 
will help the marketers come over the complexity of 
consumer behaviours (Yağcı and İlarslan, 2010). 
 
 
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 
 
As a result of the study conducted, it is seen that gender 
has an important role in acquiring the ornamental plants 
marketing (floriculture) profession and that mostly men 
prefer it. As in all professions, there is hegemony of men 
in this profession too. This situation results both from the 
social structure differences and the inadequate 
availability of the economic freedom of women in working 
areas and their not being as brave as men in taking risks. 
When women are acquiring a business or profession, 
they prefer the less risky ones or the ones with govern-
ment guarantee (teaching, nursing, pharmacy etc.). It 
seems that they would rather not be self-employed.  

Women’s acquiring floriculture profession will bring 
about more development in this sector and, in case of 
acquiring this profession; their sophistication and 
creativity will help them achieve more economic profit. As 
it will provide more circulation both in flower and side 
products sales, they will have a steady job and continuity 
in their financial income.  

Furthermore, when flower sales are examined, it is 
seen that the buyers are mostly men. This situation is an 
advantage in terms of female florists, but male florists can 
also make use of this advantage by employing a woman. 
Why and how? Because flowers are a symbol of 
elegance, beauty, best wishes happiness, sharing and 
many more things. When this symbol is combined with 
the sophistication and creativity of women, there will 
absolutely be an increase in flower and side product 
sales. Therefore, acquiring floriculture or ornamental 
plants marketing profession will be important both for 
women and men. How? Male managers (acquiring flori-
culture profession) will see that employing women and 
men trained for this sector will be much more beneficial 
for them.  

Age profiles are also as important in acquiring 
ornamental plants marketing (floriculture) profession. In 
the study conducted, it is observed that mostly middle-
aged or elder people acquire this profession. This 
situation reveals information about people’s undertaking 
economic risks. It seems that they do this business as a 
second job mostly after retirement or as a predecessor 
job. Education level of people has also revealed intere-
sting results in acquiring ornamental plants marketing 
(floriculture) profession. It is determined that people 

Torun 6019 
 
 

 
acquiring this job are mostly primary, secondary or high 
school graduates. University graduates don’t usually 
acquire this line of business. The most important reason 
of this is that besides the low number of schools on 
floriculture, the training on this area is done only as a 
course/subject in the other occupational groups (such as 
Landscape Architecture).  

In this study, that level of education in acquiring 
ornamental plants marketing (floriculture) profession is 
low doesn’t mean that education is unimportant. On the 
contrary, the level of education is very important in all 
lines of business especially in the ones including 
marketing. Today, our target market is made up of 
conscious-consumers and thus they have or want to get 
information about the products they purchase. For this 
reason, each profession expert should not only know the 
details of their business or profession, but they also have 
to have a good education on the relevant areas. As 
marketing is an extensive field, people should have the 
sufficient education and knowledge to become 
successful. In today’s circumstances, when the capitalist 
class prevails and imperialist powers show themselves, it 
seems inevitable that to compete with others and become 
successful, besides education and knowledge, we need 
to have the ability and the power to be able to use the 
tools and materials of the information age.  

In today’s circumstances, the income obtained from 
ornamental plants marketing cannot be underestimated. 
A monthly income rate of 1501-2500 TL cannot be 
regarded as little. This study coincides with the 2009-
2010 global crisis period. Getting these figures during this 
period can mean that these amounts will be higher in 
normal periods. In addition, if we consider that 
ornamental plants demand includes products appealing 
to taste and special occasions -the products other than 
the necessities- it can be said that, in terms of its being a 
promising job, the importance of acquiring this profession 
will increase much more.  

The types of flowers sold the most in ornamental plants 
marketing are carnations, daisies, roses and orchids 
respectively. This shows that cut flower types are 
preferred more by the consumers and that these are the 
most preferable types of flowers for special occasions. 
The reasonable prices of the flowers demanded the most 
are also one of the reasons why they are more popular 
than the other types. In other words, the supply and 
demand equilibrium in the market affects the sales 
amount and the price of the products. Therefore, it can be 
said that people who want to acquire ornamental plants 
marketing profession (floriculture) need to have 
knowledge and training on many fields such as the 
market and the protection and transportation of the 
products.  

Due to the problem of unemployment in the world and 
in Turkey as well in the present day, the effects of 
occupational education and training in terms of creating 
entrepreneurs and employment for the other individuals 



Ehlinaz               010 
 
 

 
while doing their own business, and the florists which are 
one of the agricultural marketing institutions that provide 
brokering service for the products produced and play an 
effective role on marketing were particularly investigated 
in this research. It was examined whether occupational 
education and training and education level were effective 
in doing this profession. In the research conducted, it was 
found out that education level was not effective; however, 
it was inferred that occupational education and training 
would be effective in marketing and creating employment. 
 
 
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