=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1152/paper17
|storemode=property
|title=The Use of Social Media Among Students of Technology Agriculture and their Role In Promoting Agribusiness
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper17.pdf
|volume=Vol-1152
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/VassiliadouVAM11
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==The Use of Social Media Among Students of Technology Agriculture and their Role In Promoting Agribusiness==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper17.pdf
The Use of Social Media among Students of Technology
Agriculture and their Role in Promoting Agribusiness
Sophia Vassiliadou, Margarita Vogiatzi, Theodore Amygdalas, Dimosthenis
Mpoutakidis
Department of Agricultural Development and Agribusiness Management, Lab of Computer
& Multimedia, Alexander Technology Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece, e-mail:
vasiliadou_sofia@farm.teithe.gr, mvogia@uom.gr, theodore@farm.teithe.gr,
dboutak@farm.teithe.gr
Abstract. The world economy is changing due to the use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT). The ICTs affect and change the entire
socioeconomic framework. Consequently, new forms of communication are
created which facilitate the flow of information around the world, like “social
media”. Social media brought people “closer” by facilitating the interaction
between them. Social media appeal mainly to younger people since young
generation mostly “exploits” Internet and new technologies.
The paper examines the relationship between the students and social media
platforms. Thereby, it presents the use of social media platforms by students
aged 19-31. Specifically it examines how much time they spend “socializing”
through social media and the reasons they use them. Moreover, students
evaluate the most important advantages and disadvantages of social media. In
addition, the paper studies to what extend students believe that agribusiness can
benefit by the “exploitation” of social media platforms.
Keywords: Social media, social networking, agribusiness, ICTs
1 Introduction
The exponential growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as
well as the development of Internet during the last two decades has changed the
business environment to a large extent. Governments, companies and organizations
exploit through the ICTs new potentials and opportunities that are presented. The
growth of the ICTs, the broadband technology and the wireless third generation
technologies led to innovative ideas, new products and services and at the same time
improved the flow of information in the companies. The companies, due to the new
potentials, opportunities and new business processes offered by the ICTs, were able
to reduce their costs and adapt to the new business and social framework that has
been created by new technologies.
A major outcome of the growth and exploitation of the ICTs and the Internet was
the creation of a new type of “website” that helped people create, share, chat and
modify user - generated content, “the social media”. Today there are hundreds of
social media platforms worldwide. There are different types of platforms that the user
_______________________________
Copyright ©by the paper’s authors. Copying permitted only for private and academic purposes.
In: M. Salampasis, A. Matopoulos (eds.): Proceedings of the International Conference on Information
and Communication Technologies
for Sustainable Agri-production and Environment (HAICTA 2011), Skiathos, 8-11 September, 2011.
203
can join and use such as social networks, blogs and discussion groups. (Hanna, et. al.
2011, Xiang and Gretzel, 2010, Pitt and Berthon, 2011)
Social media are very popular especially among younger users. They are very easy
to access since there is more than one way to log in social media platforms like
mobile and computer-based technology. The most popular platforms of social media
are the social networking platforms. These platforms allow users to interact thought
personal profiles they create and they can invite friends to access those profiles and
send e-mails, share photos, videos and audio files with each other. The profile the
user creates includes photos, various personal information, video and audio files.
Examples of such platforms are Facebook, Wayn and MySpace. (Kietzmann, et. al.
2011, Yates and Paquette, 2011)
The popularity of the social media leads to a new communication framework
where individuals have the power to interact, collaborate and share information.
Through that process individuals create a new trend that influences on a large extent
the way companies interact with the customer. (Hanna, et. al. 2011, Mangold and
Faulds, 2009, Freberg, et. al. 2011)
In that way the social media democratized the on-line communication and shifted
the power to the users since previously the companies, through their marketing
strategy, could control the flow of information provided to the customer, create new
trends and influence people on a large extent. (Kietzmann, et. al. 2011)
Social networks can also improve collaborative governance processes by
facilitating, (i) the generation, acquisition and diffusion of different types of
knowledge and information about the systems under management (Crona and Bodin,
2006), (ii) mobilization and allocation of key resources for effective governance (
Carlsson and Sandstrom, 2008), (iii) commitment to common rules among actors
fostering willingness to engage in monitoring and sanctioning programs ( Scholz and
Wang, 2006), and (iv) resolution of conflicts (Hahn et al., 2006).
The Greek reality of Social Networks according to research firm MRB, shows that
a 72% of Greek users have profiles on Facebook, 36% have a personal page on
YouTube and about 18% of Greeks have a Twitter profile. In addition, a 30% of
online users have at some point start (and still maintain) a blog and a 52% of online
users have made online purchases (MRB, 2009, 2011).
According to another survey approximately one third of the Greek advertising
companies embody the possibilities of social media in marketing strategies while
only about 26% of the Greek enterprises are using Facebook as branding, target
marketing and promotional tool (Burson Masteller, 2010).
Today more agribusinesses are oriented to Internet, and use it as a tool for
information, advertising and communication with their clients and colleagues. The
on-line presence of agribusinesses is expected for those interested in establishing and
growing their trade (Seretakis et al., 2010). This presence has become more
interactive and turns to new communication frameworks.
Twitter, Facebook and other social media have built their reputation by helping
people keep in touch with family and friends, but this seems to change. A growing
cadre of professionals, among them agronomists and farmers are harnessing social
media as a tool for communicating with fellow colleagues, consumers and future
clients about the business of agriculture.
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This paper aims at exploring the level of social media use by students of
agriculture and their opinions about the influence of social media on agribusiness.
2 Methodology - Materials
The survey was conducted in March 2011, by the Laboratory of Computer &
Multimedia of the Department of Agricultural Development and Agribusiness
Management (AD), of the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki. The
method used for this paper was the completion of questionnaires. A questionnaire
with questions, of close and open type, was completed by each one of the students.
Questionnaires were distributed to the students of the 2nd and 4th semester of the AD
Department, attending the courses of “Informatics II” and “Database Management”.
Questionnaires were delivered and collected by hand. At the time of the collection,
there was maximum response level. The questionnaire includes fifteen questions,
divided in three groups. The first set of questions aims at collecting information
about the use of social media among students. The next set of questions focuses on
social media and their use in education and communication regarding agricultural
issues. Finally, the last group of questions concerns the presence of agribusinesses in
social media and the outcomes.
The statistical analysis was performed with Ms Excel 2007 statistical package.
3 Results
3.1 Quantitative Features
The sample of the survey was comprised 57,14 % by women and 42,86% by men.
The use of social media by females reaches a 51,79% and a 37,5% by male as shown
in Figure 1.
Fig. 1. Percentage of female and male students using social media
205
The number of male and female students that do not use social media is equal.
Regarding the time spend on-line by students the majority of the students, a 41,07%
stay on-line less than two hours daily. A 33,93% stay on-line for about two to
maximum five hours and a 14,29% spend over five hours daily on-line.
In addition, a 62,50 % of students spend the majority of their on-line time in social
media and stay on-line less than two hours daily, while a 19,64% of students spend
from a minimum of two to a maximum of five hours in social media daily. At the
same time a 7,14% of students spend over five hours daily in social media as shown
in Figure 2.
Fig. 2. Daily time spent on-line by students
One of the main reasons for using social media is spending time, as pointed out by
a significant number of students (57,14% ). The other reasons with descended order
are networking (19,64%), sharing interests (10,71%) and other (1,79%) as shown in
Table 1.
Table 1. Reasons for using Social Media.
Reason Percentage
Networking 19,64%
Share of interests 10,71%
Killing time 57,14%
Other 1,79%
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Regarding the most favorite social media platform, first comes Facebook with the
devastating 80,56%, followed by Twitter (8,93%), and Myspace (5,36%), as shown
in Figure 3.
Fig. 3. Most popular social media platforms
Among their social media contacts students, of the Department of Agricultural
Development and Agribusiness Management, have at a 42,86% befriended with a
contact of agricultural interest or agricultural occupation or agribusinesses as shown
in Figure 4.
Fig. 4. Percentage of social contacts of agricultural interest
Students believe that the use of social media by agricultural firms can enhance and
promote agribusinesses in a percentage of 85,71%. They suppose that encouragement
of agribusiness can be achieved in certain ways like: addressing to a new and bigger
207
audience (31%), better advertising of the products (37%) and improved promotion of
the image of the company (32%) as shown in Figure 5.
Fig. 5. Enhancement of Agribusiness through social media
3.2 Qualitative Features
Positive effects of the use of social media on students are considered to be
enjoyment (58,93%), new ways of informing (53,57%), dating (44,64%), easier
exchange of views ( 35,71%) and contribution to knowledge (23,21%) as shown in
Figure 6.
Fig. 6. Positive effects of the use of social media on students
208
Negative effects of the use of social media on students are violation of privacy
(53,57%), alienation of people (51,79%) and waste of time (33,93%) as shown in
Figure 7.
Fig. 7. Negative effects of the use of social media on students
Finally, students do not use social media for the following reasons in decreasing
order: violation of privacy, personal contact, unsafe environment, electronic listing,
and absence of time, as shown in Figure 8.
Fig. 8. Reasons for not using social media
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4 Conclusions
The Internet has changed and became more interactive than it was before.
Consumers’ behavior is what defines the business strategy and if consumers use the
internet more than ever to learn about new products, to shop online, to criticize and
exchange views with other consumers, e-commerce is the channel through which is
carried an advertising dialogue between companies and consumers. Nowadays a
company's presence in electronic markets is inevitable.
New trends in communication technologies changed social contacts and lead to
new forms of interaction like the online communities. The interest of agriculturists in
social networks is motivated by the fact that social networks are an important channel
that provides information to people and in addition can be used as a target marketing
and promotional tool.
Young students, who study subjects regarding agriculture, are familiar with the
recent evolutions in technology issues and use social media services mainly to
communicate, to spend their time and to retrieve information. The percentage of the
students who use social media to retrieve information is lower compared to the other
two services. The interest of the students in social media is considerable and the need
for a better and more systematic approach is requested.
The use and number of Social Media platforms dramatically increased and are
showing great potential in issues such as:
• The expectation for knowledge / information and the identification (of people)
against the contractually mass media. People can be open to new things like,
socializing, entertainment, communication, innovative ideas, dissemination of good
practices and governance techniques regarding all disciplines and sectors of
economic development, including natural resources and agriculture
• The cheap advertisement of products and the creation of new Brands which can be
an asset for agribusinesses
• The opportunity for small businesses to communicate with more clients than
through traditional channels
The rise of social media can support efforts of open innovation and enable agro-
companies to develop channels of communication with customers, academics and
experts, which before could not be reached. Farmers on the other hand, are advised to
first establish goals for how to use the tools, become familiar with what opportunities
these tools have to offer and then develop a strategy for using these tools.
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