22 pages., via online journal, Agritourism is recreational travel for agricultural activities. While it provides many benefits, such as rural development and heritage preservation, many agritourism operators express challenges in marketing their operations. Social media is increasingly common in tourism marketing, but little research exists describing current marketing practices. Quantitative content analysis was used to describe 174 Oklahoma agritourism operations’ Facebook page activity in June 2018. Original posts created by the agritourism operations and community posts created by the general public had similar amounts of public interaction. Post interactions were not related to post length, and original post interactions were also not related to overall page likes. Live videos and traditional posts received the most interaction amongst types of original posts. Facebook event posts made by the agritourism operation received more public interaction than event posts made by the general public. Agritourism operators should focus on quality over quantity of information and be wary of creating posts in an “echo chamber” as only a small proportion of a large page following interact with posts. Marketing practitioners should avoid providing one-size-fits-all advice in Facebook marketing, as there was a large variety of Facebook activity observed. Future research should more specifically describe content of posts and consider perspectives of agritourism operators and visitors towards current Facebook marketing strategies.
12 pages., Article 452, Via online journal., Storytelling is a mode of communication in human interaction and is pervasive in everyday life. Storytelling in marketing is also a managerial application as a marketing strategy. Researchers of consumer psychology and marketing have devoted great efforts to developing theories and conducting empirical studies on this approach. However, in addition to narrative theories, many researchers are mainly concerned about the effect of telling a good brand story and its applications, such as advertising design and presentation. However, for those products that usually lacks branding, such as agricultural products, knowledge remains scarce about the relative impact of storytelling in marketing. Few researchers have explicitly developed a valid tool for measuring the effect of storytelling in marketing. To aid storytelling research in consumer psychology, this article conceptualized a construct of the effectiveness of storytelling in agricultural marketing and developed a measure with further validation. This scale consisted of 13 items with four subscales: narrative processing, affect, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The findings of this study supported a structural model with strong order among the four dimensions and good model fit. A discussion of the results and the theoretical and practical implications for consumer psychology and marketing practice are also addressed.
Chakrabarti, Anwesha (author), Campbell, Benjamin L. (author), Shonkwiler, Vanessa (author), and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut
Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, University of Georgia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019-03
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10441
16 pages., As consumer demand for food labeling becomes increasingly important, producers and retailers
can include various labeling to attract new customers. This study investigates Connecticut
consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for mushrooms marketed with various labels using
a latent class approach to identify classes within the market. Results reveal three market segments
(price/GMO-label, locally/organically grown, and traditional mushroom varieties). Overall, only
a third of consumers valued the “locally grown” or “organic” labels, so charging a premium for
these labels might alienate a majority of consumers. Finally, GMO labeled mushrooms are
discounted, but the non-GMO label receives little value.
2 pages, via online magazine archive, Several years ago, Farm Market iD saw that agribusinesses were struggling to use to the data and insights at their disposal to understand how they were performing in the market and needed modern-day data science to power decision-making. Given Farm Market iD's unique and powerful data and our ability to contextualize data to understand and interpret the agricultural market, we knew we had something valuable to offer.
6 pages., Via online journal., Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) and caneberries (Rubus sp.) are popular crops that can bring revenue to farms and may improve farm profitability. High and low tunnels can bring a number of benefits to growers, including season extension and improved berry yield and quality, as well as management challenges. Few studies in the literature report directly on grower experiences using tunnels. We report the results of interviews of 10 independent growers who use tunnels to produce strawberries and caneberries. The results echo previous studies finding improved yield and quality, and highlight benefits and challenges around pest, weed, and nutrient management. One novel finding is the role of season extension in creating marketing opportunities. Interviewed growers caution of a learning curve and the need to start on a small scale and grow gradually. Future focus for research should include improved ventilation and mechanization.
5 pages., via online journal, The growth of community gardens has created new opportunities for urban Extension personnel at a time when staffing resources continue to decline. To serve the integrated pest management (IPM) needs of community gardening populations, Extension educators in two urban counties developed an on-site program involving a demonstration kit and planning protocol that Extension educators, program staff, and master gardener volunteers can use to teach IPM. The program provides practical, research-based information to community gardeners, allows Extension to maintain a presence in urban centers, and provides outreach to audiences who may not have used Extension resources historically.
