Evaluating Farmers' Choice Processes in the Laboratory: Workshops with Flower Producers

This study describes the result of a research workshop on cultivar choice in which 26 specialized flower producers participated. The workshop consisted of several tasks aimed at measuring the individual quality level of the decision process (cultivar choice). The technique of the information display matrix (IDM) was introduced as a means to simulate the choice processes. The results of this study indicated that the performance in the IDM-simulation had some predictive power for the performance in real life, especially on turnover and yield. Further analysis of the tasks in this workshop could be used to detect weak spots in the individual decision making. The differences among growers with respect to their level of consciousness/awareness, (economic) rationality, and consistency were substantial.