Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2018.1547203
Agri-food companies in the social media: a comparison of organic and non-organic firms
Enrique Bernal Jurado
; University of Jaen, Department of Economics, Campus Lagunillas, Jaen, Spain
Domingo Fernández Uclés
; University of Jaen, Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, Jaen, Spain
Adoración Mozas Moral
; University of Jaen, Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, Jaen, Spain
Miguel Jesús Medina Viruel
; University of Cordoba, Department of Statistics, Econometrics, Operational Research, Business Organization and Applied Economics, Cordoba, Spain
Abstract
Organic agri-food products in Spain face major commercial prob- lems in the home market as a result of consumers’lack of informa- tion about this type of product and difficulties in accessing it, and the considerable price differential between organic products and their conventional equivalents. This study proposes that consider- ation should be given to social media as a factor for mitigating these commercial problems and improving the competitiveness of organic food companies. Specifically, the aim of this research was to examine the social media penetration and activity of olive oil sector companies and ascertain whether organic and non-organic operators present differences in this respect. To this end, a checklist was used to analyse the social media activity of 663 olive oil com- panies in total, comprising both organic and non-organic pro- ducers. The results reveal statistically significant differences in social media penetration and use by organic and non-organic operators, with the former being more active in these networks. Nevertheless, the social media efforts of organic operators are less effective, owing to the limited demand for their products.
Keywords
social media; organic operators; olive oil sector; data envelopment analysis (D.E.A.)
Hrčak ID:
228571
URI
Publication date:
22.1.2019.
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