Farm Store Deliverablee

7/30/2019 Farm Store Deliverablee

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Berea College Farm Store Project: Marketing and Consumer Survey Analysis

Anne-Sophie Gabriel

Berea College

Professor Eric Kinnamon

BUS 395 Internship

14 August 2013


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Farm Store Marketing Project 2

Introduction

The Berea College Farm was created to enable students to acquire knowledge and experience in

agriculture and natural resources. As the facilities expanded to include bigger projects, the need

for cost marginalization increased. The farm is certified organic and has been Animal Welfare

Approved by the state. The farm is a part of Berea Farmers Market as well. Considering the fact

that the revenue from the stand was not enough to cover all of the costs it takes to run the farm,

the idea for a Farm Store came to light. The new idea for the project implemented the creation of

a new business plan. The main goal of the Farm Store is to minimize cost of running the farms

facilities. The Farm Store is to be designed as a regional example of financial sustainability and

profit from which the students will be able to learn. In its marketing plan, the Farm Store will

enable Berea College Farms to expand its facilities. Seeing that the store will be open 25 hours

per week, management will be looking to increase the number of local customers and tourists

through a marketing plan.

Overview

The marketing aspect of the farm store project was created to learn and assess production

processes, pricing decisions to develop a new marketing plan. The results of the marketing

project are to help set up measurable goals for the farm and for future data collection.

The reason for conducting the surveys was simple: Having a clear idea of what the customer

needs, expectsalong with understanding who the customer base of a market isare an

essential of maintaining a successful balance between the shoppers and the company/businesss

goals. Since Berea College Farms is a part of the farmers market, creating a survey that would

accommodate for both the Farm Store and Farmers Market was ideal to get a better


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understanding of what the customers thought of the Markets products, the prices, convenience,

etc. The survey was to focuse on the general demographic of the shoppers, their opinion on the

convenience of the market, the importance of having locally grown foods available and their

expectations of Berea Farmers Market.

Creating the survey

Due to the fact that the surveys were going to be conducted during farmers market hours, it was

ideal to keep it short and somehow obtain crucial information. The process of the creation of the

survey encompassed many aspects of merchandise marketing based on consumer behavior and

decision making. To be able to gain relevant information, the survey was designed with the

consumers perspective in mind. Evaluating the demographic of the market requires asking the

audience their age, gender, location, income, household without being overly intrusive.

An ideal survey would keep the person who is taking it engaged and interested. An article titled

Online Research: Now & Next 2011 revealed three main points that proved to be great

difficulty. One of the pints advised the reader to consider the survey as a form of communication

that keeps the survey taker engaged (Puleston & Schillewaert, 1993, p. 557). This means figuring

out ways to ask mundane questions in an innovative and interactive way. The second point it

brought up was to keep the readers attention from the start of the survey. Some tips were to

warm-up the survey taker by introducing to the topic little by little. To put it in their own

words to keep the survey interesting, breaking the information into sound-bites, telling a story,

adding some imagery and humour, results in respondents investing more time in the survey and

giving more thoughtful feedback (Puleston & Schillewaert, 1993, p. 558). The third point it

brought up was focusing on social psychology. A good way to help a survey feel less


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overwhelmed with imposing open-ended questions was to give them an example of a well-

written response to establish a social benchmark that they copy (Puleston & Schillewaert,

1993, p. 558). Giving the survey taker the option of participating in autonomously is another way

of receiving authentic answers since the survey will then have taken more time to continue with

the survey (Puleston & Schillewaert, 1993, p. 558).

Another article revealed the way consumers make their decisions based on the amount of choices

they have presented to them. It article went on to state that the more options a consumer has, the

faster they will make choices which could possibly result in a poorer decision that leaves the

person less satisfied than they started off (Levav et al, 2012). The article also went on to state

that, Peoples cognitive limitations lead them to seek ways to simplify their decisions. [...]

cognitive constraints can drive people to simplify decisions by adopting a satisficing goal

(Levav et al, 2012, p. 586). The consumer behavior research was to see what kind environment

and elements had to be present to aid the consumer in making their choices. The information

from these two articles was used to create the survey for Berea Farmers Market.

To enable the effectiveness of the survey, questions were modeled after a report called Farmers

Markets: Consumer Trends, Preferences, and Characteristics, written by Ramu Govindasamy,

Marta Zurbriggen, John Italia, Adesoji Adelaja, Peter Nitzsche and Richard VanVranken. The

journal focused on the consumers knowledge of farmers markets in 1998.

Their survey took place in New Jersey from July to September 1997. Five hundred of these

surveys were passed out in 21 different farmers markets throughout North and Central Jersey

(Govindasamy et al, 1998, p. 3). 336 of the 500 questionnaires returned were found useful (p. 4).

According to the report, consumers considered the farmers market produce to be of higher


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quality (about 98.5 percent) and famers market prices were lower (p. 2). The average money

spent at farmers market was and out 16 dollars (1998). 56 percent thought there was a higher

variety of produce. 30 percent didnt expect the variety to change and 16 percent expect less

variety (p. 9). The top five common ways the shoppers learned about farmers market were s

follows: 50 percent said roadside signs, 49 percent by newspaper and passing by, 42 percent by

word of mouth and 15 percent by flyers (p. 15). According to the results the most popular

method of recognition for the farmers markets in the area was by roadside signs. At the end of

the report was a survey used as a reference to create the survey for Berea Farmers Market.

Method

Participants

Participants in this study consisted of 52 females, 16 males and 8 who did not disclose their

gender for a total of 76 between the ages of 18 and over.

Procedure

The entire data collection process lasted a span of six weeks from June 22 to July 20. The

surveys took place every Tuesday from 3:30-6:30PM and every Saturday from 9AM to 12PM for

a total of twelve days. The shoppers were to come to the survey booth willingly and to

participate in the survey. Each survey took about 3-5 minutes to complete and as a token of

gratification, a Farmers Market bumper sticker was given to each person who took the time to

complete a survey.

Results


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Advertisment

Figure 1

As seen in Figure 1, 45% of the market goers had first about the market through word of mouth.

The second most popular choice, with 26% of the participant votes, was other. The other

column had an option where the survey taker could write in their form of discovery some of

which were working in the ANR department, vendor, newsletter and Facebook. The

least popular columns were Radio, TV and Magazine.


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Visits and Spending

Figure 2

Based on the average responses, shoppers came to Berea Farmers Market once per week which

averaged out to be about 44% of the shoppers, which meant that 40% of the shoppers come to

market for times per month. According to Figure 2, the second most popular answer, with a

percentage of 20, came from people who were visiting or shopping at the farmers market for the

first time. The third most popular response came from the shoppers who shopped at the farmers

market once every month who made up 13% of the chart in Figure 2. Fourth and fifth most

popular answers come from shoppers who frequented once every two weeks (two times every

month) and twice per week (eight times every month). On average, shoppers spent about $316 on


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groceries. The percentage of their shopping budget shoppers spent at farmers market average

out to be 14.

Expectations

Figure 3

When it came to the shoppers expectation of the produce at farmers market, 73% thought that

the prices of the products were higher than retail stores, 21% thought that the prices would stay

the same and 7% thought that the prices were lower than they expected farmers market produce

to be. Fifty-nine percent of the market goers thought that variety was higher than they expected

at a farmers market and ninety-nine percent of the that the quality of the produce was going to

be better that of a retail store.


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Priority and Distance

Figure 4

For this question, the shopper was allowed to only pick one of the choices given. The most

important conditions that shoppers took into consideration while looking for a place to purchase

produce were quality (39), freshness (21), price (8) and convenience (5).

The average distance that shoppers were traveling to come to farmers market in Berea was

about 14 miles. The most popular form of transportation for the shoppers was driving. The least

popular form of transportation was biking.


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Most Popular Products

Figure 5

According to the results, the most popular products at Berea Farmers Market were as followed:

vegetable (71), fruits (51), baked goods (41), pork (6), poultry (6) and nonfood items (11).

Seventy-one out of seventy-six participants selected vegetables as the main product that they buy

at Berea Famers Market. The least selected option was the nonfood category. This category only

had 11 people and had an average percentage of fourteen.


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Factors of the Farmers Market that Are Important to the Shoppers

Figure 6

The last section of the survey focused on the participants view of what they thought was

important regarding the farmers market. The options consisted of sentences the participant could

choose to either agree or disagree with depending on how strongly they felt about the statement.

The statements were measured on a scale of 1-6 where the higher the number was, the more the

participant strongly agreed. Supporting local farmers and buying local were important factors to

the shoppers. These two options scored the highest on the importance scale with an average of

5.6. The factor that scored the least was the importance of price. According to the results, the

price of the products do somewhat matter to the shoppers.

Discussion

The main reason for the survey conduction was to get an overview of who the shoppers of Berea

Farmers Market were. The results of the survey showed that 68% percent of the shoppers who


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came to the market while the survey was being conducted were females and 21% were male. The

rest was undisclosed. There were many limitations to this study because it was not a

representation of everyone who comes to the market. Since the survey was conducted during the

summer, some of the shoppers who typically come to the market during the fall, winter and

spring seasons were not present. On the terms of fist time visits, it is possible that the 20% is

larger than the normal average percentage of first time visitors. This could be to the fact that

there was a 5K run on the first Saturday this survey was conducted. Since it was summer, a lot of

tourists come to visit from out of state which also helped contribute to the large number of

market first timers.

Price is an important factor to the market goers (see Figure. 6). The reason it scored so low was

because the question was negated. In the survey the questions says, The prices of the products

do not matter to me. Since the average answer for the question was somewhat negative on the

agreement scale. It is safe to say that the participants did not agree with the statement which

meant that price was actually an important factor but could be looked over when it come to the

quality of the product when (see Figure 4). This can also be seen with what the participants were

expecting when they came to market (see Figure 3). Of the participants, 73% expected the prices

to be higher than that of a retail facility and 99% expected the quality of the products to be

higher than the quality of the products of retail facilities.

When evaluating the survey itself, some things will have to be adjusted to pertain to the Farm

Stores future surveys. Some of the items that come to mind are the choices for the popular

products, the age category and the way the advertisements options are set up. The popular

products section was missing options that shoppers wrote in items such as Beef and Goat.

The age category will have to spread out to get a more detailed overview. The advertisement


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section of the survey would in the sense that the Magazine and Radio option would be

omitted. The new options would be Facebook and Newsletter since these are what most

participants included.

Instead of traditional marketing, the style of marketing that both Farmers Market and the Farm

Store are focused on is direct marketing. This is where their strength lies. The difference between

direct marketing and traditional marketing id the way the products are sold. Direct marketing

relies on the differences in produce because products vary with each consumers unique taste and

preferences. Traditional marketing involves selling a commodity and not looking at the

difference in products. Traditional marketing is more focused on the pricing of the products

(Stern & Swisher, 2003, p. 1).

The Farm Store and Farmers Market are basically based on direct marketing because they both

deal with the customers on a daily basis and because of that they can provide their customers

with products they will likely not find in larger retail stores. Another way direct marketing is an

advantage is the fact that both can focus on the differences between them and retail stores

through the diversity, quality and the convenience of products. An example of convenience is the

fact the Farm Store will be able to offer ready-to-eat food to customers. Vendors are able to offer

bread and bakery items shoppers will most likely not find in a retail store. Another example is

the difference in the quality of flavor of the products. This can make a big difference. According

to an article written by M.E. Swisher and James Sterns, Consumers often list taste and freshness

as the top reasons for buying directly from farmers. Producers who get their products to

consumers the same day they are harvested will always win on this issue. (p. 2)


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In conclusion, the Farmers Market and the Farm Store have a lot of potential to draw in a bigger

audience in terms of consumers through different marketing techniques. Since the most popular

style of advertisement has been word of mouth, expanding the form of advertising leaves many

choices open. Passing out flyers and possible newspaper ads will likely increase awareness of the

markets. Social media marketing is becoming a largely popular platform for marketing. The next

steps of the project moving forward would be to conduct another survey directed towards the

Farm Store and to set up a secure internet presence through Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, website

with an independent domain, etc. Cooperative marketing between both the Farm Store and

Farmers Marketing is always an option with the likelihood of a wide range of positive results.


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Sources

Govindasamy, R., Zurbriggen, M., & Italia, J. (1998).Farmers markets: Consumer trends,

preferences, and characteristics.New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Levav, J., Reinholtz, N., & Lin, C. (2012). The Effect of Ordering Decisions by Choice-Set Size

on Consumer Search.Journal of Consumer Research, 39(3), 585599.

Puleston, J., & Schillewaert, N. (2011). Online Research: Now & Next 2011. The Market

Research Society (Vol. 53, pp. 557560).

Swisher, M. E., & Sterns, James. (2003).An Overview of Small Farm Direct Marketing(pp. 1

4).


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Berea Farmers Market Survey

Thank you for your time taking this survey, all of your data would be taken

anonymously and kept anonymous.

What is your age?

(under 18) (18-24) (25-30) (31-40) (41-54) (55+)

What is your gender?

Male Female

How did you find out about the Berea Farmers Market?

Roadside signs Newspaper

Passing by Magazine

Word of mouth Flyers

Radio Television

Internet Other (specify)

____________________________________

How often do you come to Berea Farmers Market?

Once a week Once in two weeks Twice a week

Once a month This is my first time

On average, how much do you spend on groceries a month? $__________

What percent of that do you spend at Berea Farmers Market? ___________%


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How did you expect the produce at Berea Farmers Markets to be different from that

of other retail facilities?

a. In terms ofquality

Better Worse Same

b. In terms ofvariety

Better Worse Same

c. In terms ofprices

Higher Lower Same

When deciding where to purchase produce, which do you consider most important?

(please select only one)

Convenience Price

Quality Freshness

About how far do you travel to get to Berea Famers Market? ______(in

miles)

What is your form of transportation to Berea Farmers Market?

Walking Biking Driving

What products do you typically buy at Berea Farmers Market?

Pork Poultry Vegetable Fruits Baked Goods

Nonfood

Please flip over, more question on back.

How do you feel about the following statements? Use 1-6 if:


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1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Somewhat disagree

4. Somewhat agree

5. Agree

6. Strongly agree

_____1.Buying locally is very important to me.

_____2. Supporting local farmers is important to me.

_____3. I shop at farmers market due to my lifestyle choices.

_____4.The way the produce is grown important to me.

_____5. The cost of products has the most effect on what I buy.

_____6. The farmers market location is convenient for me.

_____7. The farmers market times are convenient for me.

_____8. I am able to find everything I need when I come to Berea Farmers Market.*

_____9. The prices of the products do not matter to me.

_____10. I shop at farmers markets due to my lifestyle choices.

*If 1-3, what would you like to see more of?

_______________________________________________________

Comments or suggestions:

_____________________________________________________________________________

______________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

________________


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_____________________________________________________________________________________

________________

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS SURVEY!


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Berea Farmers Market Survey - Mapped and Coded

Thank you for your time taking this survey, all of your data would be takenanonymously and kept anonymous.

What is your age?

(under 18): 1 (18-24): 2 (25-30): 3 (31-40): 4 (41-54): 5 (55+): 6

What is your gender?

Male: 1 Female: 2

How did you find out about the Berea Farmers Market? 0 or 1

Roadside signs Newspaper

Passing by Magazine

Word of mouth Flyers

Radio Television

Internet Other (specify)

____________________________________

How often do you come to Berea Farmers Market?

Once a week: 3 Once in two weeks: 2 Twice a week: 4

Once a month: 1 This is my first time: 0

On average, how much do you spend on groceries a month? $__________

What percent of that do you spend at Berea Farmers Market? ___________%

How did you expect the produce at Berea Farmers Markets to be different from thatof other retail facilities?


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a. In terms ofquality

Better: 1 Worse: -1 Same: 0

b. In terms ofvariety

Better: 1 Worse: -1 Same: 0

c. In terms ofprices

Higher: 1 Lower: -1 Same: 0

When deciding where to purchase produce, which do you consider most important?(please select only one) 0 or 1

Convenience Price

Quality Freshness

About how far do you travel to get to Berea Famers Market? ______(inmiles)

What is your form of transportation to Berea Farmers Market? 0 or 1

Walking Biking Driving

What products do you typically buy at Berea Farmers Market? 0 or 1

Pork Poultry Vegetable Fruits Baked Goods

Nonfood

Please flip over, more question on back.

How do you feel about the following statements? Use 1-6 if:

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Somewhat disagree

4. Somewhat agree


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5. Agree

6. Strongly agree

_____1.Buying locally is very important to me.

_____2. Supporting local farmers is important to me.

_____3. I shop at farmers market due to my lifestyle choices.

_____4.The way the produce is grown important to me.

_____5. The cost of products has the most effect on what I buy.

_____6. The farmers market location is convenient for me.

_____7. The farmers market times are convenient for me.

_____8. I am able to find everything I need when I come to Berea Farmers Market.*

_____9. The prices of the products do not matter to me.

_____10. I shop at farmers markets due to my lifestyle choices.

*If 1-3, what would you like to see more of?_______________________________________________________

Comments or suggestions:___________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS SURVEY!

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