Exploring Agriculturalists' Use of Social Media for Agricultural Marketing

Exploring the Impact of Ohio Agricultural Organizations’ Social Media Use on Traditional Media Coverage of Agriculture

“…Facebook is the most popular social networking site used among agricultural organizations because it is well-known among the target audience and has received the most scholarly attention (Tweeten, 2014). Agriculturalists are using Facebook to "agvocate," tell their stories, and communicate with consumers and the public (White, et al, 2014). Although Facebook has been an effective social media platform, agriculturalists believe it is important to build interconnectivity between different types of social media in order to be more successful (Meyers, Irlbeck, Graybill-Leonard, & Doerfert, 2011).…”

Journal of Applied Communications vol. 99 (4) Full Issue

“…Previous research on agriculture's use of social media found those who are providing the information find this form of online communication to be worthwhile and effective (Meyers et al, 2011;Moore et al, 2015;White et al, 2014). However, others have found only a small number of agriculturists are using social media tools (Doerfert, 2012;Shaw et al, 2015).…”

“…These participants started using social media because they wanted to combat negative or incorrect information about agriculture (White et al, 2014). In a study of agriculturists in three states, Shaw et al (2015) found Facebook was the only social media tool used frequently for both personal and business use.…”

“…While these individuals represent an important audience, they are not the consumers who need to be reached most to encourage a better understanding of the agricultural industry. In their study of why agriculturists used social media, White et al (2014) said the participants wanted to combat negative or incorrect information about agriculture. Practitioners need to be creative and seek innovative ways to draw in readers from a broader base to fully extend their information to those outside the traditional audience.…”

“…A qualitative study of agriculturalists' use of social media for agri-marketing revealed participants were positive about using social media to communicate about their own agricultural operations and the industry as a whole (White, Meyers, Doerfert, & Irlbeck, 2014). These participants started using social media because they wanted to combat negative or incorrect information about agriculture (White et al, 2014).…”