Pulkit Marwah

EDUCATION

BE (Biotechnology)
MS (Biotechnology)
PhD (Agribusiness and Applied Economics)

Scopus Publications

Impact of COVID-19 on Consumer Behavior in Home Gardening
Pulkit Marwah, Qiqi Chen, Yijie Hou, Yu Yvette Zhang, Hongmin Qin, and Mengmeng Gu
MDPI AG
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.


Impacts of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale on Consumers and the Horticulture Industry
Pulkit Marwah, Yu Yvette Zhang, and Mengmeng Gu
MDPI AG
In this study, we conducted a nationwide online survey, including discrete choice scenarios, to understand consumers’ purchasing behavior for flowering trees and shrubs for home landscapes in the US. In particular, we studied crapemyrtle, which is the most popular summer flowering tree in the US. This research evaluates the change in consumer willingness to pay for crapemyrtle plants due to pest infestation damage. Our study showed that the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for crapemyrtles will decrease, due to the changes in their attributes, such as flower density and bark color, if infested by crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS). We also analyzed the effect of consumers’ personal characteristics, including their risk attitude, on their willingness to pay for crapemyrtle plants.


Impacts of covid-19 on the green industry
Pulkit Marwah, Yu Yvette Zhang, and Mengmeng Gu
MDPI AG
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many horticultural businesses to alter the way they operate. This includes, but may not be limited to, changing hours of operation, working with limited staff, and restricting customer access indoors. This could result in several challenges for businesses. In this study, we evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 on the green industry in the U.S. and identify the challenges for businesses. Based on our research findings, the major challenges faced by businesses were not having enough employees and inventory to keep up with consumer demand during COVID-19. We also evaluate the effect of the pandemic on the sales of different plants, gardening products/services, and the overall revenues of businesses. For different types of plants included in the survey, landscape herbaceous flowers, landscape shrubs, and landscape trees showed the most significant increase in sales. In addition, for different gardening products/services, container plants, small plants, and soil and compost showed the most significant increase in sales. A total of 64% of the businesses reported higher overall sales compared to the same season’s previous year, while less than 24% of the businesses reported decreased sales. Moreover, over 46% of the businesses indicated that COVID-19 had positively affected their sales in 2020, while 31% thought that it had negatively impacted their sales. These findings imply a greater demand potential for plants and gardening products/services from consumers, during this pandemic.


Investigating producers’ preferences for crapemyrtle and their perceptions regarding crapemyrtle bark scale
Pulkit Marwah, Yu Yvette Zhang, and Mengmeng Gu
MDPI AG
Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) is the most popular summer flowering tree in the U.S. Its total value sold has almost doubled since 1998. Consumers prize crapemyrtles for their beauty and being relatively pest free. However, current crapemyrtle production and use might be affected by crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae), which has been confirmed in at least 14 U.S. states after its first sighting in Texas in 2004. In this study, we conducted interviews of business representatives. Our survey results indicate that producers anticipate a significant decrease in the value of crapemyrtle if infested with CMBS, and suggest industry demand for CMBS control. An important finding of our research is that a majority of businesses support science-based CMBS control research. Another important finding from our study is that most producers believed that benefits of CMBS control outweigh the costs. We used a relative importance index to illustrate the ranking of different attributes of crapemyrtles that producers consider while making decisions about growing/purchasing the plants. Flower color was found to be the most important attribute, followed by disease resistance. The most popular landscape plants that can potentially serve as alternatives to crapemyrtle, in the opinion of producers we surveyed, are Vitex agnus-castus (Texas lilac), Magnolia spp., and Hibiscus spp.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Impact of COVID-19 on Consumer Behavior in Home Gardening
P Marwah, Q Chen, Y Hou, YY Zhang, H Qin, M Gu
Horticulturae 10 (12), 1373 2024



How COVID-19 has changed consumer purchasing patterns in the horticultural industry
Q Chen, YY Zhang, P Marwah, Y Hou, M Gu
2023



Impacts of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale on Consumers and the Horticulture Industry
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Sustainability 14 (3), 1857 2022



Influence of COVID-19 on Consumer Purchasing Decision for Gardening Products
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
2022



Impacts of COVID-19 on the Green Industry
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Horticulturae 7 (10), 329 2021



Impacts of COVID-19 on the Horticultural Industry
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Preprints 2021



THREE ESSAYS ON CONSUMER RESEARCH AND MARKET ANALYSIS FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS: AN INTERSECTION OF AGRICULTURE, BUSINESS, AND ECONOMICS
P Marwah
2021



Investigating producers’ preferences for crapemyrtle and their perceptions regarding crapemyrtle bark scale
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Horticulturae 7 (6), 146 2021



Investigating Producer Preferences for Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica L.: Lythraceae) & Their Perceptions Regarding Crapemyrtle Bark Scale
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Preprints 2021



Donations to Food Banks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiment on impulsive vs deliberate nudges
S Lee, YY Zhang, RM Nayga
2021



Effect of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale on Crapemyrtle Industry and Consumer Demand
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
2019

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Investigating producers’ preferences for crapemyrtle and their perceptions regarding crapemyrtle bark scale
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Horticulturae 7 (6), 146 2021
Citations: 13



Impacts of COVID-19 on the Green Industry
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Horticulturae 7 (10), 329 2021
Citations: 12



Effect of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale on Crapemyrtle Industry and Consumer Demand
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
2019
Citations: 4



Impacts of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale on Consumers and the Horticulture Industry
P Marwah, YY Zhang, M Gu
Sustainability 14 (3), 1857 2022
Citations: 3



Donations to Food Banks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiment on impulsive vs deliberate nudges
S Lee, YY Zhang, RM Nayga
2021
Citations: 1