Full metadata
Title
Direct-marketing strategy conceptualization for small farmers in Iowa: decision-making activities and their parallels to the design process
Description
This study explores the processes of designing strategies. The context of this research is scoped to the direct-marketing activities of small farm operators in eastern Iowa. The research intent is to explore and articulate trends in decision-making processes that assist small farm operators in eastern Iowa with direct marketing farm-to-table products, to explore and articulate how the design process creates differentiated value, and to explore and articulate the relationship between the design process and the way that small farm operators in eastern Iowa conceptualize their direct-marketing strategies.
The research design takes a post-positivist approach and uses a grounded theory methodology. The study does not have a starting hypothesis but instead starts with the research intent described previously. Convergent mixed methods and a flexible plan are used for data collection including semi-structured interviews and surveys with key concepts operationalized into Likert scales. The participants are selected from eastern Iowa farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) directories. For the qualitative data analysis, a grounded theory method is used to code interview response data, categorize the codes into related groups, and let the themes and sub-themes emerge from the data. For the quantitative data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics are calculated on the aggregate data set.
The study finds that small farm operators are making strategic decisions about marketing mix variables such as product quality and relationship building, there are statistically significant correlations between design concepts and direct-marketing strategies, and that farmers designed their strategies by using the design process.
The research design takes a post-positivist approach and uses a grounded theory methodology. The study does not have a starting hypothesis but instead starts with the research intent described previously. Convergent mixed methods and a flexible plan are used for data collection including semi-structured interviews and surveys with key concepts operationalized into Likert scales. The participants are selected from eastern Iowa farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) directories. For the qualitative data analysis, a grounded theory method is used to code interview response data, categorize the codes into related groups, and let the themes and sub-themes emerge from the data. For the quantitative data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics are calculated on the aggregate data set.
The study finds that small farm operators are making strategic decisions about marketing mix variables such as product quality and relationship building, there are statistically significant correlations between design concepts and direct-marketing strategies, and that farmers designed their strategies by using the design process.
Date Created
2019
Contributors
- Larew, Hart (Author)
- Brooks, Kenneth R. (Thesis advisor)
- Cheng, Chingwen (Committee member)
- Mejia Ramirez, German (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
ix, 116 pages : illustrations
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.55616
Statement of Responsibility
by Hart Larew
Description Source
Viewed on December 9, 2020
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: M.S.D., Arizona State University, 2019
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 111-116)
Field of study: Design
System Created
- 2020-01-14 09:18:21
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 2 months ago
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