Flathead borers cause extensive damage for specialty crop producers throughout the U.S. As specialty crop producers attempt to mitigate damage, various treatments are being utilized. Furthermore, flathead borers cause damage in landscapes. To this end, this research examines the impact of consumer awareness and perception of flathead borer, consumer views on potential treatments in their landscape and in specialty crop production systems, and how the purchasing decision for a tree, bush, etc. might change given different probabilities of the tree, bush, etc. being impacted by flathead borer. An online survey on a representative sample of U.S. consumers conducted in 2024 found that there is little consumer awareness of flathead borer, but consumer’s recognized damage when shown pictures of what damage looked like. However, consumers had definitive opinions about flathead borer treatments, notably negative opinions about chemical treatments, though this view was heterogenous in nature. Finally, purchase decisions were impacted by the probability of a tree, bush, etc. being impacted, such that consumers were more accepting of a higher probability for minor damage, but a low probability of major damage would decrease the probability of purchase. From this research, stakeholders and researchers get a better understanding of which treatments may have a negative purchasing impact.
