<p>Farmers in the digital age require accurate,
relevant farm-level data to make sound management decisions for their
operations. Mobile applications, or apps, are emerging as a valuable management
and decision-making tool for farm operators, but are still in their infancy as
a technological innovation. Farmer adoption and use of mobile apps has received
relatively little attention in the scholarly literature compared to more
established farm management tools and communication media. The researcher
examined Indiana farmers’ use and perceptions of mobile apps as tools for
management and decision-making. A theoretical perspective was developed from
the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model to guide
the investigation. Data on attitudes, behaviors, and demographic
characteristics were collected through interviews with 55 Indiana farmers in
late 2018 and early 2019. Quantitative interview items were analyzed through
descriptive statistics while open-ended items were coded for emergent themes.</p>
<p>Study participants reported a median age of 41
years and an average of 26 years farming. Nearly all study participants (98.2%)
considered mobile applications useful to farm operations. A smaller but
significant majority (76.4%) of participants rated mobile apps as easy to use.
In terms of content, the most common use of apps among study participants was
for general purpose utilities such as banking and messaging, followed by
weather and agriculture-related apps such as Granular and FieldNet. Ease of use
and content of application were among attributes considered most important by
study participants when considering adoption of new apps. About three-fourths
(76.4%) of the study participants indicated intentions to adopt additional
mobile applications in the future. </p>
<p>A series of items addressed study
participants’ awareness of open source technology. About three-fourths (72%)
indicated not previously having heard of the terminology. When asked to share
their thoughts on the term open source, a large majority (84%) of participants
provided vague or seemingly unrelated responses ranging from
cloud-related, to the capability of apps to exchange information, to software
being open to all users. </p>
<p>As part of the analysis, the researcher
categorized study participants into one of three adopter categories – early
adopters, early majority, or late majority – based on the length of time
participants reported using mobile apps, attitudes toward the technology, and
intention to adopt apps in the future. Cross-tabulation analysis revealed that
early adopters of mobile app technology did not differ significantly at the .05
level from later adopters in terms of age, years farming, or size of operation.</p>
<p>Finally, an empirical test was conducted to
assess utility of the Technology Acceptance Model for conceptualizing
behavioral intent to adopt mobile agricultural applications. As expected from
theory, correlational analysis revealed positive and moderately strong
relationships (p < .05) between perceived usefulness and attitude toward
mobile applications, and between perceived ease of use and attitude toward
mobile applications. The relationship between attitude and behavioral intention
to adopt additional mobile applications was statistically non-significant at
the .05 level, contrary to theory. The importance of exploring alternative
theoretical perspectives in future research is discussed.</p>
<p>Results from this research contribute to the
growing literature on how farmers assess and use mobile applications as farm
management and decision-making tools. Findings have implications for
application developers, as well as those involved in education and marketing of
mobile agricultural applications. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/8044295 |
| Date | 14 May 2019 |
| Creators | Jaclyn Renae Leeuw (6635954) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/Indiana_Farmers_Level_of_Adoption_and_Perceptions_of_Mobile_Applications_as_Agricultural_Management_Tools/8044295 |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds