This thesis identifies the equine-related topics that are important to Texas
college-age horse owners and enthusiasts and the channels/sources they use to get
equine-related information. Little research has focused on this group to determine their
information needs. Therefore, two focus groups were conducted in 2008 in Texas with
college-age horse owners and enthusiasts to conduct a needs assessment. Participants
were separated into competitive and recreational groups depending on their level of
participation in the industry. They were asked what topics they consider important and
what channels/sources they use to gain desired information. Training was the most
mentioned topic overall, and the most mentioned by recreational participants.
Alternative medical treatments was the most mentioned topic by competitive
participants. Competitive participants reported a smaller number of topics as important,
indicating that they have specialized information needs. Recreational participants
emphasized broader, less specialized topics. Participants showed an interest in relevant
and controversial topics affecting the equine industry. Participants also used a
combination of channels/sources and competitive and recreational participants often placed importance on different channels/sources. Face-to-face communication was
important to both groups. Magazines were important to competitive participants, while
the Internet was important to recreational participants. Competitive participants doubted
the trustworthiness of sources available through the Internet, but wanted more reliable
sources to be made available in the future. Participants preferred to get information from
industry specialist sources, such as trainers, veterinarians, other owners and enthusiasts,
breed associations, and equine magazines. Participants’ perceptions of trustworthiness
were affected by the source’s ability to demonstrate equine-specific knowledge and the
source’s reputation and success among equine industry members. The results suggests
that the influence of the Internet has altered the traditional models of communication in
which source selection determines channel use. In this study, the participants’ Internet
channel selection often determined their source use. The results also suggests that
communicators wanting to reach this audience should target specific topics to
competitive and recreational audiences, use a multi-channel approach, establish
trustworthiness, and explore the changing role of the Internet in agricultural
communication.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3096 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Sullivan, Erin Alene |
| Contributors | Rutherford, Tracy |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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