Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: D05788
Notes:
Paper presented in the Agricultural Communications Section of the annual conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, Atlanta, Georgia, January 31-February 1, 2015. 24 pages.
20 pages, Knowledge of agricultural practices has declined in recent years, resulting in consumers becoming uncertain of where and how their food has been produced and the marketing tactics used to promote the product. Historically, the U.S. population’s rich agricultural heritage coincided with higher levels of agricultural literacy. Some scholars, however, have maintained that U.S. culture has begun to lose touch with its agricultural foundations. More recent evidence has demonstrated that consumers acquire knowledge about their food from various media, most notably the Internet and social media. Often these sources use incorrect information and promote food and agricultural marketing trends that may not be grounded in scientific data. In response, this historical narrative analyzed a reform effort that occurred in U.S. food labeling policy and practice in the 1900s, which contributed to food labeling issues and consumer distrust in the agricultural industry. Based on the findings of this investigation, we concluded that food labels were initially intended to provide consumers with more profound knowledge of the food they purchased. However, key legislative acts such as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act shifted the food labeling movement into a branding device to differentiate products and brands. We recommend that agricultural practitioners explore new ways to communicate their message more effectively. We also call for producers to incorporate more personal and emotional appeals when marketing agricultural products to better compete with third-party branding efforts.
Lancendorfer, Karen M. (author / Haworth College of Business), Atkin, JoAnn L. (author / Haworth College of Business), and Reece, Bonnie B. (author / Michigan State University)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
unknown
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 177 Document Number: C30374
14 pages., Online via UI e-subscription., Researchers analyzed the co-branding between the United Nations and the urban centers that are successful in becoming UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy. "Cities with this status have the potential to generate benefits from enhanced brand image, with associated economic and social rewards. However, it requires ongoing investment to create awareness among potential tourists and investors and in the development of enhanced pride and coordination among city residents and businesses."
16 pages, Branding agricultural products are popular in the online market, but little is known about consumers' preferences for agricultural product brands in an E-commerce environment. This study analyzed consumer preferences for three types of agricultural product brands and the interaction effect among them in an E-commerce environment with a choice experiment. Our results show that regional brand shows remarkable complementary effects on grower brand and store brand, implying regional brand can enhance the value of other brands. Also, we found that there is a substitution effect between grower brand and store brand. Interestingly, we find that consumers prefer cheap or expensive fuji apples rather than middle-price ones, implying significant consumption stratification in the Chinese online food market. This study also confirms the importance of the time window of delivery. This paper can provide critical information to optimize brand strategies of agricultural products in an E-commerce environment. [EconLit citations: D12, Q11, Q13]
Online via keyword search of UI Library eCatalog and Elsevier.com. Open access., Author offers "practical advice for developing, delivering and evaluating effective science communication initiatives, based on over a decade of experience as being a professional science communicator."
25 pages., via online journal., Designers are trained professionals who understand how to effectively visually communicate based on executing principles of design and an understanding of their audience. Within the beef seedstock industry, ad design varies widely in terms of technical effectiveness, but how do those differences affect potential customers? This study tested the effects of seedstock ad’s graphic design on the viewer’s trust and credibility among 561 Angus cattle producers. Our results show the graphic design of a beef seedstock ranch ad promoting an upcoming bull sale did not influence producers’ perceptions of trust and credibility. However, results did reveal better designed ads are positively related to producers’ trust of that brand. We suggest the study results were influenced by a first impression established through the brand description presented to all treatment groups, which illustrates beef seedstock buyers may be more reliant on other informational cues than design to inform their purchasing decisions. Future research is needed to parcel out effects of the brand information relative to the design aspects of the ad.
King, Audrey E.H. (author) and Boone, Kristina M. (author)
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
2017-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 163 Document Number: D08152
Notes:
Research paper presented in the Agricultural Communications Section, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) conference in Mobile, Alabama, February 4-7, 2017. 16 pages.
National Pork Board (author) and Lessing-Flynn (author)
Format:
Online document
Publication Date:
2015
Published:
United States: Public Relations Society of America
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10300
Notes:
3 pages., Via Silver Anvil Awards., Consumers have questions about how pigs are raised, and no one knows the answers better than pork producers themselves. Activist groups against pig farming have become increasingly active on social media, where the voices of pork producers were relatively silent. As the connection between pork producers and the food industry, the National Pork Board recognized the potential damage this could cause to the pork industry’s reputation. The #RealPigFarming campaign was born out of a need to engage producers in sharing stories from their farms, and contributing to online conversation about pork production. The results surpassed original goals by 2,730 percent.
16 pages, via online journal, One of the nation’s most important industries, agriculture, has adopted social media to communicate with consumers and the public. At the same time, traditional news media remains important to the agriculture industry because many consumers still receive information about agriculture from sources such as newspapers and television. Little literature at the time of this study explored how social media is used specifically as a media relations tool. The purpose of this study is to examine how agricultural organizations in Ohio communicate via social media and how the messages could impact central Ohio traditional media outlets’ coverage of agricultural issues. The study is grounded in uses and gratifications theory, and previous social media studies. Data were collected from seven Ohio agricultural organizations’ Facebook pages and four central Ohio news outlets. Researchers found that Ohio agricultural commodity organizations use social media, but not necessarily to communicate with the news media. The industry received limited news coverage during the time studied, and we were unable to discern a relationship between social media and news media coverage beyond a commonality of stories. By communicating the results of this study with agricultural organizations and researchers, effective social media strategies can be developed to guide the future of social media as a media relations tool.
Syngenta (author) and G&S Business Communications (author)
Format:
Online document
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
United States: Public Relations Society of America
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10303
Notes:
4 pages., Via Silver Anvil Awards., For years, males have dominated our image of agriculture. But in reality, women also hold important and diverse roles in the industry. G&S Business Communications launched a campaign for its client, Syngenta, to address this reality. As part of the campaign, Syngenta US joined the FarmHer movement as the presenting sponsor of the new television series “FarmHer on RFD-TV.” The FarmHer campaign helped nurture a relationship with this emerging group of customers, increase brand affinity among U.S. farmers and develop a stronger community among Syngenta employees to expand its diversity and inclusion initiative.
9 pages., Online via publisher., An adapted health-branding framework guided the 3-step mixed-methods approach to identify evidence for campaigns using a scoping review, comprehensive literature review (1990-2016), and key-informant interviews. Results showed that industry, government, and non-governmental organizations supported 13 campaigns that used various health-branding strategies.
Boman, Courtney (author) and Ellis, Jason (author)
Format:
Paper abstract
Publication Date:
2018-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D10006
Notes:
Abstract of paper presented at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) Agricultural Communications Section, Jacksonville, Florida, February 4-5, 2018., Describes the research concepts and methods used in this study. Includes no report of findings.
15 pages, The current study applied a “mixture-amount modeling” statistical approach—used most often in biology, agriculture, and food science—to measure the impact of advertising effort and allocation across different media. The authors of the current paper believe advertisers can use the mixture-amount model to detect optimal advertising-mix allocation changes as a function of their total advertising effort. The researchers demonstrated the use of the model by analyzing Belgian magazine and television data on 34 advertising campaigns for beauty-care brands. The goal is to help advertisers maximize desirable outcomes for campaign recognition and brand interest.
Online from publication. 4 pages., Suggestions from a New York City-based exotic fruit influencer and leadership developer Angela Scarfia in leading an online workshop about marketing produce brands and companies on social media.
Zagonel, Anissa (author), Baker, Lauri M. (author), King, Audrey E.H. (author), and Kansas State University
Oklahoma State University
Association for Communication Excellence
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 15 Document Number: D10433
15 pages., Via online journal., Investment of employees in a brand can lead to greater public understanding and positive impressions of a brand by external stakeholders. However, this can be challenging in public organizations with multiple brand segments and a large number of employees spread across great distance with limited funds for marketing. While previous work has looked at Extension agents, faculty, and volunteers’ brand perceptions, no studies have looked at communication services employees’ investment in the brand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how well employees in a university and Extension printing and mail entity understood the Extension brand and their investment in the brand. Research questions that guided this study were: 1) What perceptions and investment do communication services employees have in the Extension brand? And 2) what are employees’ perceptions of the organization’s branding and marketing efforts? Each of the 18 interviews included a series of questions focusing on employees’ story related to Extension and employees’ thoughts on branding and marketing efforts. Results in this study with communication services employees indicate these employees are not invested in the brand with the majority having little to no understanding of the mission of Extension. This contradicts previous research with employees in other brand segments of Extension. Implications of this work include a need for training on the Extension mission for communication services employees, a shift in culture to encourage investment in the brand, and inclusion of all Extension employees in the mission of Extension.
7 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). 7 pages., The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of psychological dependence between social networking sites addiction and attitude towards social networking advertising among a sample of rural students in South Africa. Findings indicated that "perceived ease of use positively supports psychological dependence." Authors interpreted the findings in terms of opportunities for establishing marketing relationships.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11940
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 1 page., Syngenta Group "unites the strengths of its four Business Units - Syngenta Crop Protection, Syngenta Seeds, ADAMA, and Syngenta Group China - under one umbrella."
Brubaker, McKayla (author), Settle, Quisto (author), Downey, Laura (author), Hardman, Alisha (author), and Oklahoma State University
Mississippi State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
United States: New Prairie Press
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10246
19 pages., Via online journal., Mississippi residents were surveyed to determine their perceptions surrounding the The Food Factor brand. The Food Factor is a weekly Extension mass media program that communicates research-based information about food, nutrition, diet, and healthy lifestyles. A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect information using Qualtrics. The sample consisted of a representative sample of 404 Mississippi residents over the age of 18. Nonprobability quota sampling was used to examine population segments related to sex, Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic populations, and other racial demographic segments. The respondents were asked about their use and awareness of The Food Factor, where they were split into viewer and non-viewer categories. Viewers were asked about their viewing frequency, perceptions and skills learned related to watching The Food Factor, and their nutrition-related behaviors. Non-viewers were also asked about their perceptions of The Food Factor between branded and non-branded The Food Factor episodes. This study found the The Food Factor brand lacked brand recognition and recall. However, the respondents had a slightly positive perception of the brand. Overall, this study could not conclude that branding of the episodes was making a difference in non-viewers’ perceptions, despite the fact that many previous studies have identified branding as an important strategy in social marketing. Recommendations include a consistent and increased use of the brand, such as subtitles or logos, and future research on the use of branding in social marketing program, social marketing in Extension, and the role of branding in mass media programs.
Lassoued, Rim (author) and Hobbs, Jill E. (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2014-05
Published:
Canada
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 127 Document Number: D02718
Notes:
Paper presented at the 2014 AAEA/EAAE/CAES joint symposium: Social networks, social media and the economics of food, Montreal, Canada, May 29-30, 2014. 31 pages.
Brubaker, McKayla (author), Settle, Quisto (author), Hardman, Alisha (author), and Downey, Laura (author)
Format:
Paper abstract
Publication Date:
2018-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D10011
Notes:
Abstract of paper presented at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) Agricultural Communications Section, Jacksonville, Florida, February 4-5, 2018.
Via print subscription., Digital experience director of Osborn Barr Paramore (ABP) describes some marketing steps taken, "bringing our digital experience and experiential teams together to create new activations that work across channels." Examples included a NASCAR race experience for DEKALB at Kansas Speedway and a geodesic dome activation at Farm Progress Show 2019 for Nutrien Ag Solutions.
"Experiential marketing can be interpreted many ways, but our approach helps brands create relationships with target audiences through immersive and memorable interactions." Approach used by Osborn Barr Paramore, agri-marketing communications agency, St. Louis, Missouri.
