Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Hikaru H. Peterson / Aleksan Shanoyan / Nurseries and garden centers face challenges to stay economically viable, particularly in rural areas. Their efforts to advertise horticultural products through traditional methods seem insufficient to increase their sales. Marketing through new media is receiving more attention by businesses across various industries. In order to assess whether this growing interest in new-media is applicable to the green house industry, it is important to determine their impact on business performance and the factors driving its adoption. Few studies report the impact of social media on nurseries and garden centers performance. The literature on technology adoption shows that network and learning effects play a critical role in agricultural technology adoption (Bandiera and Rasul, 2006; Baerenklau, 2005), while perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have been identified as the major factors of adoption of information technology (Davis, 1989; Lorenzo-Romero et al., 2014). This study builds on the known factors of agricultural and information technology adoption to determine the key variables affecting the extent of use of new-media marketing in the green industry. Using a survey, data were collected from 161 nurseries and garden centers across the United States. Results indicate that the network effect had a robustly, positive effect on the extent of use of new-media marketing in the green industry. The estimated network effect was statistically significant in the models using frequency of online marketing use, frequency of social media use and hours of social media use as the respective dependent variables measuring the use of new media. Other statistically significant factors include the percentage of retail sales, the perceived usefulness, and the city population. The study also found that new-media marketing, measured by the number of hours spent on social media, had a positive impact on sales for nurseries and garden centers making more than $200,000 a year. By providing evidence of new-media marketing effectiveness, these results contradict the belief that sales do not increase immediately after a social media campaign, suggesting a low return on investment. Besides this evidence, the magnitude of the network effect and the differences in critical factors driving adoption across firm size are key information to tailor training programs and make informed policy decisions to support marketing efforts.

Master of Science / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / Garden centers are facing increasing market pressure from big-box retail stores that offer similar products at more competitive prices but lack a quality produce and exceptional service. In order to differentiate themselves from big-box stores, garden centers must build relationships with their customers which can increase marketing reach. Marketing ability and reach is limiting the expansion of Kansas garden centers which spend the majority of their advertising dollars on traditional media. However, social media can be an effective method for not only understanding consumers but also developing profitable relationships with customers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders of metro and non-metro garden centers as they use new media to market their business. Findings indicate garden center stakeholders prefer to use traditional media channels to market to their customers, lack a clear strategy and objectives related to new-media marketing, and are not effectively implementing relationship marketing principles.

<p>The study Packning i tid och rum (Crowding in Time and Space) is a Master Thesis in Human Geography within Geography, presented at Södertörn University College.</p><p>The aim is to investigate the connections between time and space, more particularly, geographical changes over time. This is done by focusing on the Study of Land use as a phenomenon and on-going processes in demarcated areas. Distinct areas are given special interest, i.e. how they are used. The study deals with three different kinds of sites in three levels of scale: a market garden, cemeteries and a residential area.</p><p>The main focus of the study is on the cemeteries. Sources to geographical data and other pieces of information are geographical systems, statistics, interviews, own observations, and photographs. This material has been worked up with simple statistic methods, map studies, and qualitative methods. The Time Geography and the New Regional Geography are used as a theoretical framework. There is an ambition to search for general understanding. The work is strongly inspired by the geographer Torsten Hägerstrand’s work and approach. It is also influenced by Systems Theory.</p><p>The results confirm that there is a closer crowding of geographic objects in time and space within the cemeteries. Chorological changes could indicate similar processes at the garden center and residential area. Space is a limited resource and packing problems need to be solved. Some strategies to achieve that aim are found. At the end is discussed if closer crowding, needs more of register, measuring and restrictions and that some things are accepted to take large place in space since they are temporal.</p> / <p>Studien Packning i tid och rum är ett examensarbete i ämnet geografi, inriktning kulturgeografi, vid Södertörns högskola.</p><p>Syftet är att utforska sambandet mellan tid och rum och då som geografiska förändringar över tiden. Det sker genom att studera markanvändning som fenomen och pågående processer i avgränsade områden. Speciellt intresse ägnas åt hur ytor disponeras. Tre olika slags områden studeras: en handelsträdgård, begravningsplatser och ett bostadsområde.</p><p>Tyngdpunkten i undersökningen ligger på studiet av begravningsplatser. Geografiska data och annan information har hämtats från geografiska informationssystem, statistik, intervjuer, egna observationer och fotografier. Materialet har bearbetats med enkel statistisk metod, kartstudier och kvalitativa metoder. Som teoretisk ram används tidsgeografi och den nya regionalgeografin. Det finns en ambition att söka efter generell förståelse. Arbetet är starkt inspirerat av geografen Torsten Hägerstrands arbete och synsätt. I arbetet finns även inslag av systemteoretiskt tänkande.</p><p>Resultaten visar att det sker en tätare packning av geografiska objekt i tid och rum på kyrkogårdarna. Korologiska förändringar kan tyda på liknande processer i handelsträdgården och bostadsområdet. Utrymmet är en begränsad resurs och packning är ett problem att lösa. Olika strategier för att hantera trängseln observeras. Avslutningsvis diskuteras förhållandet att ju tätare packning desto mer av registerhållning, mätning och restriktioner fordras och att vissa saker tillåts breda ut sig i rummet om de är tillfälliga.</p>

The study Packning i tid och rum (Crowding in Time and Space) is a Master Thesis in Human Geography within Geography, presented at Södertörn University College. The aim is to investigate the connections between time and space, more particularly, geographical changes over time. This is done by focusing on the Study of Land use as a phenomenon and on-going processes in demarcated areas. Distinct areas are given special interest, i.e. how they are used. The study deals with three different kinds of sites in three levels of scale: a market garden, cemeteries and a residential area. The main focus of the study is on the cemeteries. Sources to geographical data and other pieces of information are geographical systems, statistics, interviews, own observations, and photographs. This material has been worked up with simple statistic methods, map studies, and qualitative methods. The Time Geography and the New Regional Geography are used as a theoretical framework. There is an ambition to search for general understanding. The work is strongly inspired by the geographer Torsten Hägerstrand’s work and approach. It is also influenced by Systems Theory. The results confirm that there is a closer crowding of geographic objects in time and space within the cemeteries. Chorological changes could indicate similar processes at the garden center and residential area. Space is a limited resource and packing problems need to be solved. Some strategies to achieve that aim are found. At the end is discussed if closer crowding, needs more of register, measuring and restrictions and that some things are accepted to take large place in space since they are temporal. / Studien Packning i tid och rum är ett examensarbete i ämnet geografi, inriktning kulturgeografi, vid Södertörns högskola. Syftet är att utforska sambandet mellan tid och rum och då som geografiska förändringar över tiden. Det sker genom att studera markanvändning som fenomen och pågående processer i avgränsade områden. Speciellt intresse ägnas åt hur ytor disponeras. Tre olika slags områden studeras: en handelsträdgård, begravningsplatser och ett bostadsområde. Tyngdpunkten i undersökningen ligger på studiet av begravningsplatser. Geografiska data och annan information har hämtats från geografiska informationssystem, statistik, intervjuer, egna observationer och fotografier. Materialet har bearbetats med enkel statistisk metod, kartstudier och kvalitativa metoder. Som teoretisk ram används tidsgeografi och den nya regionalgeografin. Det finns en ambition att söka efter generell förståelse. Arbetet är starkt inspirerat av geografen Torsten Hägerstrands arbete och synsätt. I arbetet finns även inslag av systemteoretiskt tänkande. Resultaten visar att det sker en tätare packning av geografiska objekt i tid och rum på kyrkogårdarna. Korologiska förändringar kan tyda på liknande processer i handelsträdgården och bostadsområdet. Utrymmet är en begränsad resurs och packning är ett problem att lösa. Olika strategier för att hantera trängseln observeras. Avslutningsvis diskuteras förhållandet att ju tätare packning desto mer av registerhållning, mätning och restriktioner fordras och att vissa saker tillåts breda ut sig i rummet om de är tillfälliga.