23 pages., via online journal, Cultured meat has yet to reach store shelves but is nonetheless a growing issue for consumers, producers, and government regulators, many of whom have taken to social media to discuss it. Using a conceptual framework of social cognitive theory and issues management, this qualitative content analysis investigated social-media discourse surrounding the topic of cultured meat in the United States by describing the content of the discussion in late 2018 and identifying individual influencers and communities of influencers engaged in the discussion. Data were collected from Twitter using listening platform Sysomos MAP. The thematic analysis revealed eight themes: legality and marketing, sustainability, acceptance, business, animal concerns, science and technology, health concerns, and timeline, and indicated that conflicting views and questions about cultured meat exist among conversation participants. Top influencers included philanthropists, government officials, journalists and writers, and animal-welfare advocates. These influencers were grouped into four distinct communities based on interactions with each other and other users. The topics identified in the analysis provide insight into ways in which communicators can enter these conversations, and influencer communities represent groups of users whose broad reach could more easily transmit pro-agriculture messages.
26 pages, This research is intended to initiate understanding of how obesity in the South persists even though the majority of inhabitants subscribe to a faith that discourages unhealthy lifestyles. Grounded in the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, this study examined Protestant evangelical Christians in the South (N = 11), who participated in semi-structured interviews. The first emergent theme was that, to these Southerners, the purpose of food is for sustenance and survival, as well as for bringing people together. Most participants reported having an average level of knowledge of nutrition and health. Furthermore, participants generally agreed that marketing or educational efforts had little effect on their understanding of nutrition. Another theme emerged when participants provided Biblical references to food or health. “The Body is a Temple” and “gluttony” were the most common Biblical concepts. All participants referred to taste or desirability as the driver of their food selections. Furthermore, most participants claimed habitual gluttony as a personal experience in their lives. This study concluded that subjects employed two modes of “trivializing” as a way of resolving dissonance. Some participants justified their eating habits based on Southern culture, while others explained that their church culture supported unhealthy eating as a means of gathering in fellowship.
22 pages, The purpose of this study was to identify the demographic characteristics, career motivations, and professional development of American equine journalists. An online survey was distributed to equine journalists identified through their professional organizational membership. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Equine journalists were found to be predominately female, Caucasian, and averaged 53 years old. Nearly half were exposed to the equine industry prior to their career and have been working in the industry for over 15 years. Respondents were well educated and were most motivated towards their career as an equine journalist because of their interest in horses. Over 70% of equine journalists in this study participated in one to 10 professional developments in the last year, with social media management as the most frequently reported topic. Other frequently reported topics were marketing, journalistic writing, and magazine publication. Recommendations for practice include recruiting agricultural communications minor or certificate students from specialized programs such as animal science, equine science, equine studies, or livestock. Future research should consider the influence of pre-career experiences on equine journalist career motivations and skill development.
10 pages, By-products like sawdust and straw are applied in compost bedded-pack barns (CBP) for cattle. These materials, which are gradually mixed with excreta and undergo a composting process, serve as a lying bed for the cattle. This study aims to assess the perception of consumers and farmers regarding the use of CBP during the grazing season of cattle for raising other animals or for growing food crops. This was examined by combining surveys with consumers from eight European countries and cattle farmers, focus groups with consumers, and in-depth interviews with individual farmers who implemented alternative uses of compost. The results showed that farmers preferred the compost bedded-pack system to the cubicle system in terms of sustainability and market aspects, although the cost of the bedding material required for CBP was seen as a significant negative aspect. Around half of all consumers indicated that the compost can be used for non-edible products and 26% indicated the compost can be used for raising other animals. Furthermore, 5% of consumers felt that compost should not be used for any other purpose. There were statistically significant differences between countries; therefore, regional specificities should be taken into account when marketing products from compost in CBP barns.
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.
18 pages., via online journal, As food products marketed as “gluten-free” become increasingly popular, many consumers start to exclude sources of gluten (e.g., wheat, barley, and rye) from their diets for both medical and non-medical purposes. The grain industry is facing a growing challenge to (re)boost consumers’ confidence in the healthiness and safety of its commodities. Using 561 participants recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk workers’ panel, this study implemented a 2 (pretzels vs. potato chips) * 2 (positive- vs. negative- frame) * 2 (wheat image vs. no wheat image) experiment to examine the effects of gluten-free labels on consumers’ perceived healthiness and safety of wheat, perceived benefits of labeled products, and their evaluation of the shown labels. Results showed that consumers evaluate the gluten-free labels most positively when they appear on products that could have contained gluten. For products that are naturally gluten-free, adding a gluten-free label only decreased consumers’ confidence in such labels. The presence of gluten-free labels increased consumers’ perceived benefits of the labeled products when they do not contain any misleading information (e.g., image of a wheat head). However, some gluten-free labels could have negative impacts on consumers’ perceptions of the healthiness and safety of wheat. Overall, food producers and marketers might have undervalued consumers’ literacy and overestimated their susceptibility to marketing strategies. We discussed the implications for food marketers, regulators, and communicators.
12 pages., via online journal., The increasing use of internet, especially the proliferation of social networks has offered companies of all sectors the opportunity to keep in contact with their consumers; getting their feedbacks and complains on a daily basis and even to create short online chains enabling consumers to buy their products. This trend is found to be rather limited in the case of food products. The main objective of this article is to deal with consumer’s perceptions towards the potential use of social media to create online short supply chains for food. Projective techniques (Sentence completion tasks) have been used in this study. As, they allow researchers to uncover motivations, emotions and beliefs that drive consumer’s perception and behavior which may not be detected by straightforward questioning. The findings of this study have allowed to obtain insight into those aspects that consumers regard as opportunities or barriers of such potential short food chains. The main aspect is to put food enterprises in the picture about what is going on in consumer’s mind. This might open new possibilities for food businesses to develop a new short food chain.
10 pages
e-ISSN: 2455-6270; p-ISSN: 2455-7455, In India even today more than half of the population is involved with agriculture thus making it the primary and important activity. Since most of the Indian population still lives in rural regions, so for this reason agriculture and related activities constitute the major source of revenue. Nonetheless, irrespective of the government's numerous efforts, there is still a huge disparity between a farmer's actual investment and the return on investment. As a result, the purpose of this research is to investigate the numerous factors
which impact farmers' attitudes about agricultural produce marketing. The study revealed that the majority of farmers belonging to the study region are low-income subsistence farmers who are more susceptible to agricultural hazards. Substantial farmers have better access to financing, but they do not contact financial institutions because of their large precautionary reserves.
