Champine V, Tamlyn K, Jones MS, Balgopal M, Bruyere B, Solomon JN, Niemeic RM. (2025). An Audience Segmentation Study of Native Plant Gardening Behaviors in the United States. Landscape and Urban Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105272
Abstract
Audience segmentation can be used to identify target audiences in environmental public engagement and communication, but few studies have used segmentation to study biodiversity conservation behavior. This study used segmentation to better understand perceptions and behaviors around different types of actions related to native plant gardening. With a United States representative survey (n = 1,200), we measured social-psychological beliefs and intentions to engage in personal-sphere, social diffusion, and civic action behavior. A latent class analysis (LCA) revealed four distinct classes (i.e., groups) within the population: Disengaged, Personal Sphere-Ready, Social Diffusion-Ready, and Civic Action-Ready. Each class comprised approximately one-quarter of the United States population. We found that certain groups are more receptive to individual, or personal-sphere, behavior while others may be more receptive to social diffusion behavior (i.e., encouraging others to act) or civic action behavior. The groups varied by key distinguishing characteristics: perceptions around civic action, previous personal-sphere and social diffusion behavior, and intentions to engage in personal-sphere action. Findings revealed opportunities to create tailored public engagement strategies to engage different groups in urban biodiversity conservation behavior.