Agricultural Economics
M. Zandi Nasab; M. Ghaffari
Abstract
Introduction Organic agricultural products play an important role in the food basket of the community health development. Many researchers have proven that organic agricultural products are better and safer for human health, and unhealthy products are a threat for society. Increasing health problems ...
Read More
Introduction Organic agricultural products play an important role in the food basket of the community health development. Many researchers have proven that organic agricultural products are better and safer for human health, and unhealthy products are a threat for society. Increasing health problems and food-related diseases have made consumers to give more attention to these products purchase. There has been an increase in organic products popularity due to their health benefits and positive environmental impact.Shahdone store is one of the natural, complete and organic products stores in the country that serves online and in person with the aim of providing healthy, complete and natural raw materials. Healthy nutrition and modification of consumption pattern towards healthy, whole and natural products is one of the main goals of this collection. The focus of the company is on online sales and trust plays an important role in this type of purchase. To improve the business and introduction of this type of trades in Iran, word of mouth, especially electronic word of mouth, are very important and since this study examines the antecedents of intention to use electronic word of mouth in purchasing organic agricultural products at Shahdone, it will be beneficial for the company. The study focused on organic agricultural products, which are useful for the development of Shahdone and similar companies operating in the field of agriculture, to understand consumers' intentions and attitudes toward word of mouth. Also, for people in the community whose health is important, this research can be effective in promoting organic products. Therefore, the present study investigates the impact of social capital dimensions and trust on social media, attitude toward electronic word of mouth and intention to use electronic word of mouth in purchasing organic products.Materials and MethodsThe statistical population of this study consisted of all consumers of organic agricultural products in Shahdone stores, who used the products of this company during the collection of research data in February of 2018. The population was considered unlimited and 476 samples were selected using available sampling method. To collect data, a questionnaire containing 42 questions was designed by reviewing the literature on research variables. Also, two questions were compiled to measure demographic variables (education, gender). To measure and confirm the validity of the questionnaire, content validity, construct validity were examined. In order to evaluate the content validity, a number of questionnaires were distributed among university professors and premiers. Sensibility and comprehensibility of the questions and the appropriateness of the variables were examined. Experts opinions were used to improve questionnaire questions. For construct validity, factor analysis was used in the form of measurement model. Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. According Cronbach alpha coefficient, the questionnaire has a satisfactory reliability. SPSS and LISREL statistical software were used to analyses the research data and test hypotheses.Results and Discussion The findings of this study showed that attitudes toward electronic word of mouth are influential on the intention to use electronic word of mouth in purchasing organic agricultural products, on the other hand, there are some antecedents before obtaining attitudes toward electronic word of mouth which include; social capital in social media and trust in social media.Conclusion The results of the first and third hypotheses of the study indicate that voluntary social media participation has an impact on competency and behavioral stability, but the second hypothesis was not confirmed. Social media engagement when it comes to the sense of altruism and volunteering to give information, it gradually builds the ability to influence people, so having people on social media and through social media can impact others. The results of hypotheses fourth, fifth and sixth indicate that adherence to social commitments in social media affects the competence of influencers, the honesty of reputable people and their behavioral stability. People who are committed to social commitment, including indicators of doing the right thing, observing fairness, performing social duties, and a sense of responsibility to the community can help and influence others as a worthy person. Hypothesis seventh states that collaboration in social media affects its competence. The eighth and ninth hypotheses were not confirmed. People who help others, and have expertise in organic products, can play a vital role in people health. The results of the tenth and eleventh hypotheses of ethical-cultural interactions in social media influenced the competence and honesty of reputable people, but the twelfth hypothesis of ethical-cultural interactions in social media did not support behavioral stability. Expanding the culture of using healthy products will allow more people to participate in organic products. One of the problems with organic products is the exaggeration of the benefits of organic products, which should be minimized by cultural planning for these products. Hypothesis thirteenth states that common values in social media influence the competence of influencer and fourteenth and fifteenth hypotheses were not confirmed. Having commonalities and closeness of ideas makes others more important to people. When people are close to each other, they are more concerned about others and try to pay more attention to the consequences of their suggestions. The results of hypotheses sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth indicate that influential competence, honesty of reputable people, and respect for behavioral stability in social media influence attitudes toward electronic word of mouth. Hypothesis nineteenth states that attitude towards electronic word of mouth influenced intention to use electronic word of mouth in purchasing organic agricultural products, this hypothesis was confirmed. The emerging attitude towards electronic word of mouth led to intention to use electronic word of mouth. Organic farming, or acceptance of information by the individual, before purchase.
M. Davari Torshizi; M. Ghorbani; M. Daneshvar Kakhki
Abstract
Introduction: Almost all rural communities in Iran are exclusively engaged with agriculture, therefore farming remains the largest source of income for them. Agriculture can be a major driver of growth for the Iranian economy. Therefore, increasing factor productivity in the agricultural sector is essential ...
Read More
Introduction: Almost all rural communities in Iran are exclusively engaged with agriculture, therefore farming remains the largest source of income for them. Agriculture can be a major driver of growth for the Iranian economy. Therefore, increasing factor productivity in the agricultural sector is essential and by growing population rate, the need to invent more productive systems is highlighted. In this regards, smallholder agriculture, which is marked by low productivity should be transformed into agribusiness corporations which could foster the income and productivity of enterprises. Regarding the effective role of agribusiness corporations in enhancing agricultural productivity, and providing livelihoods and employment in rural communities, this study aimed at investigating the impact of location decision, social and human capital factors on the longevity of an agribusiness corporation called Khezri Agribusiness Corporation located in Khezri Township from Sothern Khorasan province. The reason for choosing Khezri Corporation as the case study was that according to surveys, this corporation has been one of the most successful agricultural associations for many years and has been able to create job opportunities to stop migration towards big cities. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to expendably investigate the factors affecting the continuity of an agribusiness corporation in Iran.Materials and Methods: In order to achieve the objectives of the research, a well-structured questionnaire has been designed according to the literature review and using the opinions of university professors and experts of Khezri Agricultural Corporation. In this study, location factors, social capital and human capital are three main structures that are assessed by providing the information extracted from the questionnaire, and then, the impact of each structure on the continuity of the corporation's activity has been investigated based on indexing method. Each of the structures consists of different dimensions, and each dimension is measured by a number of items or questions using a Likert spectrum. Simple random sampling procedure was used to obtain the size of sample. At the end, the sample size was estimated at 45. Applying a systematic random sampling technique, the respondents were selected and the final questionnaire was distributed among them. At the primary analysis, 15 questionnaires were excluded from the analysis due to the large size of missing information. A total of 30 questionnaires were selected for further analysis. It is worth noting that in most cases, the questionnaires were tried to be completed in the form of interviews to increase the accuracy of the work.Results and Discussion: Study findings suggest that location, social and human capital factors are at a high level of importance in the studied corporation. From the viewpoint of respondents, social capital had the greatest impact on the longevity of the corporation, followed by location and human capital. Furthermore, the communication dimension in social capital, the infrastructure factors in the location decision and the non-cognitive abilities in the human capital have been identified as the most influential components on the longevity of Khezri Agricultural Company's activities. Among the infrastructural factors, the criterion of "existence of basic resources" such as water wells, aqueducts, qanats, underground aquifers, etc. is the most effective criterion. According to 93.3% of respondents, this factor has a moderate to high impact on the corporation's location.Conclusion: We recommend effective communication and planning in improvement of communication between organizational units and communication between managers and employees needs to be strengthened. Internalization of the organization's vision, mission, and goals, implementing a goal-based management plan, and applying the suggestion system in the organization and investing in formal and organized training are recommended as well to sustain the agribusiness corporations. It must be noted that given that the findings of this study are largely in line with the research background, its recommendations are expected to be applicable to the other agricultural business corporations in Iran. In addition, as we formerly discussed in the introduction of this paper,despite the benefits of agricultural corporations, few of these companies are currently active in the country. Therefore, analysis of factors affecting farmers’ decision to be involved in establishing agribusiness corporations should be the subject of future research.