Abstract
Due to the sweeping influence of capitalism, most food processing is now done through standardized production workflows in order to quickly replicate and churn out a large quantity of products. This has led to an increasing number of homogenized and delocalized products flooding the market and a disconnection between consumers and local food producers. Penghu outlying island is rich in unique local agricultural products but seriously lacks brand images and channel strategies, as manifested in an unstable demand and supply, a high degree of homogeneity (in products) and the majority of farmers producing and selling their products autonomously. This study applies the local food system and actor–network theory as the basis of theoretical frameworks as well as agricultural practices in Penghu as the research object. We used field investigation, in-depth interview and the means–end chain method to examine important contextual factors’ influence on the local agricultural food system, important actors and challenges and key influential factors for local brand value that affect the development of the local agricultural food system in Penghu outlying island. The actor–network perceptual map of local brand value proposed in this study can help agricultural practitioners when making decisions and can formulate strategies for their products to increase the product visibility and recognition. This perceptual map can also facilitate the expansion of the target customers and channel distributions suitable for individual agricultural products. Our study presents the following recommendations: increase the manpower of agricultural practices through the working holiday approach; local government should provide support enabling agriculture producers to gain professional knowledge in marketing; and agriculture producers should form cooperatives which focus on the unique local agricultural products that are produced and marketed locally in Penghu.
Highlights
Food is often viewed as a key element that can be used to market and promote local brand value, while gastronomy has become the most direct means to experience the authentic local culture
Due to the strong level of competition on the international tourism markets, city branding strategies have played an important role in establishing strong brand identities for cities and effective promotional campaigns
This study modeled according to the research procedures proposed by [21] and [30] and selected agriculture producers in Penghu outlying islands as the study subjects by utilizing the local food system and actor–network theory as the conceptual frameworks
Summary
Food is often viewed as a key element that can be used to market and promote local brand value, while gastronomy has become the most direct means to experience the authentic local culture. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4186 from a high degree of homogeneity; (3) lack of brand image and creative marketing strategies; and (4) significant room for improvement in terms of channel distribution, because most farmers still produce and sell their products by themselves. This study applied actor–network theory to the analysis of agricultural food systems with a focus on the establishment of market networks, including topics such as agricultural production, consumption activities, as well as the inter-link between society, economy, ecological sustainability and the agricultural food system. The analytical results of means–end chain analysis would be used to examine the important attributes and factors of a local brand of agricultural products and the present research created an actor–network perceptual map of local brand value by studying the agriculture producers. Development of the local food system; (2) examine important contextual elements of the local food system as well as the important actors and bottlenecks in the local food system and (3) identify key influential factors for local brand value in Penghu
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