Table 1. Theoretical constructs of technological acceptance of vegetatively propagated material. (Construct, Definition, Code and Statement wording) applied in the analysis: adapted from previous study of Naspetti et al. (2017) and statements modified to the vegetative propagation.
Construct Definition Code Statement wording
Attitude Towards Use A respondent’s positive or negative feeling associated with vegetative propagation AA1 I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would be acceptable for my company or my forest.
AA2- All things considered, I think that adopting vegetative propagation is not a good idea.*
AA3 I think that the adoption of a vegetative reproduction would be wise.
Perceived Ease of Use The extent to which a respondent believes that using a vegetative propagation would be effortless PEOU1- I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would require substantial restructuring of supply chain activities and processes.*
PEOU2 I think that the adoption of the vegetative propagation would not demand much effort.
PEOU3- All things considered, I think that the adoption of the vegetative propagation would require a large effort in training and advice.*
Perceived Usefulness The extent to which a respondent believes that using a particular production strategy will enhance his/her company performance or industry PU1 I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would improve the profitability of a company.
PU2- All things considered, I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would not prove useful for my company.*
PU3 I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would be advantageous for the industry.
PU4- I think that the adoption vegetative propagation would be too costly for the industry.*
PU5 I think that the adoption of vegetative propagation would increase the effectiveness of the industry.
Subjective Norm A personal perception of relevant opinions on whether to adopt the vegetative propagation SN1 I think that leading companies in the industry would favour the adoption of the vegetative propagation.
SN2 I think that most people who are important to my company would favour the adoption of vegetative propagation.
SN3 If it were widespread, I think that my company would favour the adoption of vegetative propagation.
Intention to Adopt An intention to adopt the vegetative propagation IA1- All things considered, my company is hardly to adopt vegetative propagation in the near future.*
IA2 All things considered, my company will adopt vegetative propagation in coming years.
* Denotes a reverse-scored statement.
Table 2. Target groups of respondents in the survey of perceptions towards tree breeding and vegetative propagation, number of respondents identifying themselves in each target group, proportion of respondents in each target group overall, experience regarding vegetative propagation presented, and the interest towards possibilities to improve certain traits in propagation material, with the scale from one (not at all important) to four (highly important); mean values presented with a standard error of the mean. Answers in each group with a mean value with ≥ 3.4 in bold and underlined. View in new window/tab.
Table 3. Results of acceptance of price increment (%) for improved traits in trees of categories of certainty “Definitely would pay” and “Possibly would pay”. Willingness to pay calculated as percentage increase (%) in both categories.
How likely would you accept a price increment
for… 		Definitely Possibly
plants with known characteristics 7.3 18.7
regenerable material of the same origin for decades 6.9 22.2
tailor-made wood as raw material for industries 7.7 16.4
production of desired secondary compounds 8.1 11.7
improved growth 15 15.7
shortened rotation time 12.1 15
improved wood quality (e.g., less / smaller branches) 9.9 16.4
improved resilience in changing climate 12.5 14.1
securing species’ gene pool from biotic and abiotic threats 13.6 13.8
improved fungal / decay resistance 11.9 14.5
improved resilience of ornamentals 8.9 23.6
desired special forms of ornamental trees 9.5 23
Christmas trees without need for shoot excision 15.4 21.1
Table 4. Risks related to vegetative propagation asked from the respondents in the survey in the survey of perceptions towards tree breeding and vegetative propagation, the mean values of answers on scale from one (not at all important) to four (highly important) overall presented with a standard deviation, and the proportion of respondents answering ‘Cannot say’.
Risk description Mean Std. Dev. Cannot say, %
Depletion in genetic diversity 3.01 0.76 5.90
Unknown risks related to vegetative propagation 2.95 0.80 12.70
Prejudices and false perceptions related to vegetative propagation 2.89 0.75 8.90
Too limited an amount of information available on vegetative propagation 2.88 0.76 9.70
Negative perception towards vegetative propagation in society 2.72 0.81 8.00
Relatively small gain when contrasted to the cost of vegetative propagation 2.70 0.79 23.30
Technology is not considered reliable on an industrial scale 2.66 0.70 13.40
Prejudices towards vegetative propagation in my industry sector 2.59 0.76 12.00
Table 5. Results of Factor analysis for technological acceptance and reliability of measurement; Code of Factors, Factors loadings and Communalities (see Table 1 for Code abbreviations).
 Code Factor  Communalities
FA1 FA2 FA3
PU3 0.749 0.335   0.673
PU1 0.725     0.583
PU5 0.716     0.553
AA3 0.681 0.434   0.653
SN3 0.673 0.353   0.578
SN2 0.646     0.495
AA1 0.632 0.479   0.632
SN1 0.618     0.406
IA2 0.597 0.425   0.543
PEOU2 0.49   –0.475 0.475
IA1- –0.318 –0.69   0.608
PU2- –0.302 –0.644   0.39
AA2- –0.38 –0.636   0.596
PU4-   –0.409 0.352 0.313
PEOU1-     0.723 0.540
PEOU3-     0.56 0.343
Explanation rate (%) 41.1 7.6 4.4  
Eigenvalue 7.01 1.8 1.2