Gardeners’ Past Gardening Experience and Its Moderating Effect on Community Garden Participation

Jae Ho Lee and David Matarrita-Cascante
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Jae Ho Lee: Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
David Matarrita-Cascante: Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Studies on participation in community gardens have revealed that gardeners’ participation is driven by functional and emotional motives. Most studies, however, have failed to recognize gardeners’ diverse characteristics. To fill this research gap, this study examined the moderating effect that variations within gardeners has on their participation, particularly as in the case of past gardening experience. The data for this study were obtained through a survey administered in three plot-based community gardens in Austin, Texas. Results revealed that increased gardening experience bolsters the effect of emotional motivations on garden participation, while no effect was shown in the relationship between functional motivations and participation. The importance of gardeners’ past gardening experience on emotional motivations is discussed as it relates to sustained participation in gardening.

Keywords: past gardening experience; allotment gardens; plot-based community gardens; long-term gardeners; garden participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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