Use of mobile phone technologies for accessing agricultural marketing information by grape smallholder farmers: a technological acceptance model (TAM) perspective
ISSN: 2754-1312
Article publication date: 2 May 2023
Issue publication date: 21 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Factors influencing the use of mobile phone technologies for agricultural market information access remain a mixed debate, and there are contradictive views among studies. This study examined factors influencing the use of mobile phone technologies for agricultural marketing information access. The study is anchored on the technological acceptance model (TAM).
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted with a sample size of 400 grape smallholder farmers. A structured questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to gather data. Descriptive, ordinal logistic regression and thematic approaches were used in data analysis.
Findings
The study confirmed grape smallholder farmers generally considered mobile phone technologies as an appropriate communication channel to stay informed about agricultural marketing information. It was found that reliable electricity supply, relevance, timeliness, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of mobile phone technologies influenced the level of agricultural marketing information access.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to a selected number of grape smallholder farmers in Dodoma, Tanzania, and leaves out those without mobile phones. Also, the study was cross-sectional in nature, so it may not be necessarily capable of consistently providing critical and consistent information about the same population over a series of times.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the body of knowledge by integrating the use of mobile phone technologies to access marketing information in informing policy and decision-making processes to promote grape marketing.
Keywords
Citation
Nyagango, A.I., Sife, A.S. and Kazungu, I. (2023), "Use of mobile phone technologies for accessing agricultural marketing information by grape smallholder farmers: a technological acceptance model (TAM) perspective", Technological Sustainability, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 320-336. https://doi.org/10.1108/TECHS-01-2023-0002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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