Fertilizer plays a major role in the profitability of the farmer’s business, his/her future
success as well as the sustainability of his business. Fertilizer is also one of the most
expensive farm inputs, and therefore, has the ability to make or break the farmer. The
emerging farmer market segment is expanding and holds a great deal of potential for
fertilizer companies to supply the growing need of fertilizer in this market. Almost all
fertilizer marketing strategies of South African companies have been designed to cater
for the commercial farming sector; however, if fertilizer suppliers want to focus on the
emerging farmer market segment, they need to understand buying behaviour of
emerging farmers as well as their needs when developing strategies to utilize
opportunities in this developing market. This study aims to do just that by identifying
factors playing an important role in the buying behaviour of emerging farmers in the
Free State when purchasing fertilizer.
This study was conducted in two phases. During phase one, a literature review was
conducted; phase two consisted of an empirical study. Questionnaires were used as a
measuring instrument and were filled out by 32 participants to determine emerging
farmer buying behaviour. Data was analysed by means of descriptive statistics and
correlation analyses. The Coefficient of Cronbach’s Alpha was employed to verify the
validity of the data. The results show that four (4) factors; (i) Service, (ii). Brand, (iii)
Product and (iv). Learning/Psychological factors highly influence emerging farmers’
fertilizer purchase decision.
The study also finally draws recommendations and conclusions for managerial perusal. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11179 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Kole, Aron |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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