International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences June 2016, Vol. 6, No. 6 ISSN: 2222-6990 44 www.hrmars.com A Research on Determining the Education Level of Seasonal Ornamental Plant Growers and Marketing Methods in Kocaeli Ehlinaz Torun Kocaeli University, Arslanbey Vocational School, Department of Marketing and Advertising, 41285 Kartepe/KOCAELI/TURKEY E-mail: ehlinaz@gmail.com; ehlinaz.torun@kocaeli.edu.tr DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v6-i6/2178 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v6-i6/2178 Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to examine the education level of growers working in Kocaeli – a city located in the Marmara region where ornamental plants are grown densely – and to find out if they received any vocational education before. It is also aimed to study the marketing methods for the plants pertaining to those who received vocational education and see what advantages vocational education provides to growers. The main material of the study is formed by a face to face questionnaire study done with 20 enterprises (growers) that operate in Kocaeli and own trade registers. The questionnaires were conducted on March 28 – April 10, 2015 in Kocaeli. The questionnaire consists of 38 questions prepared to serve various purposes for different researches. The data obtained through the questionnaire was analyzed by the SPSS program. It was seen that 30 percent of the growers who participated in the research were graduates of a university/college and received vocational education, while 70 percent of them were graduates of a priŵarLJ, seĐoŶdarLJ, or high sĐhool, ďut didŶ’t reĐeiǀe aŶLJ ǀoĐatioŶal eduĐatioŶ. It was determined that 80 percent of the growers market and sell their plants, and 90 percent of the growers use new technologies. Key Words: Growing Seasonal Ornamental Plants, Vocational Education, Ornamental Plant Marketing, Education, Kocaeli. 1. INTRODUCTION Today, with the industrial and technological developments, a continuous migration has been going on from rural areas to urban areas. As a result of this, people feel exhausted both physically and mentally in the hectic pace of city life. People become urbanized, yet their souls always long for the wonderful beauty of nature. With indoor and outdoor ornamental plants, which are grown in our environment, in the parks and gardens of the city centers, longing for the green is tried to be fulfilled to some extent. Therefore, ornamental plant growing holds a significant place in our country, like it does in the whole world. Ornamental plant sector gained a commercial importance at the beginning of the 20 th century, but especially after world war II, it developed as a significant branch of commercial activities