Wk4A

     As a budding gardener, I quickly chose to compare the two nurseries.  Green Thumb is, in fact, my local nursery, although I have shopped at Tree of Life before as well.  I believe that these two nurseries share a fairly common demographic.  However, the psychographics of their clientele is very different from the layout of their websites.

    Green Thumb is a larger nursery chain that offers a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants as well as general gardening supplies.  Their clean web design is similar to larger chain nurseries.  It's inviting and easy to search, with links to their regular blogs and plant information as well as their online shopping catalogs.  The pictures look like home magazine spreads--close up images of leaves and flowers.  Their target audience seems to be suburban gardeners looking to create well-manicured gardens and dress up their interiors with leafy palms.  Very Better Homes and Gardens.

    In contrast, local nursery Tree of Life leans heavily into the wild.  The site is just as cleanly laid out as Green Thumb's.  In fact, they are nearly identical in design.  But the difference in photography style is the key.  Tree of Life's photos are all nature-based.  Southern California coastal scrub and native wildlife are heavily featured in all photos, highlighting that the main bread and butter of this nursery is native plants.  Despite the very granola feel, it seems like Tree of Life is after the same demographic, suburban homeowners, but with a different psychographic.  Tree of Life is after the customers who want to return their homes to nature, who are eco-conscious consumers.  Their audience wants to have wild yards full of pollinator-friendly plants that are drought resistant.

    These two nurseries are after the same demographic: homeowners with land and money enough to spend on plants and gardening supplies.  The emphasis on outdoor gardening over indoor plants is clear on both sites.  Since plants, even native ones, are not an inexpensive purchase, it can be surmised that both companies are targeting homes with more money and time to devote to hobbies.  Tree of Life offers workshops that aim to better connect customers to the native soil, but those customers need to have the free time to do so.  

    It's fascinating to see how two businesses can be chasing the same demographic, but the psychographic is so very different.  Think Martha Stewart versus Stevie Nicks.  Economically they're in the same place, but their aesthetics are not.  Green Thumb also offers a wide array of native plants, but Tree of Life has made it their brand, whereas to Green Thumb it is merely a category of product that they sell.  this is not to suggest that one business is ethically superior to another, simply that the psychological profile of their intended customer are at differing ends of the spectrum.