Abstract
The aim of this exploratory study was to gather understandings about guerilla marketing of fresh organic agricultural products from the perspectives of: farmers, marketers and customers in Mauritius, considered being one of the thriving islands of the Indian Ocean and a success story of the African continent. Gathering fruitful insights about the penetration of fresh organic agricultural products via guerilla marketing—a novel, unconventional approach with its associated innovative, imaginative and surprise elements—in this lustrous market was interesting. Responses obtained from the supply and demand point of views, revealed that many were reluctant to consume fresh organic agricultural products but, promoting the latter via guerilla marketing could be beneficial. However, traditional marketing approaches were still much appreciated and thus, setting the right key performance indicators to measure success of the marketing of fresh organic agricultural products via guerilla marketing as compared to traditional marketing methods was vital.
Highlights
When food products, such as most fresh vegetables, are highly perishable, they are not traded internationally on a large scale [1] and modern storage facilities have yet to convince consumers that stored frozen agricultural products have the same freshness, nutrient loads and value as fresh ones
The methodology embraced 3 phases: phase 1) Marketers of 5 major wholesale and retail outlets were interviewed with open-ended questions to gauge their perceptions about the usage of guerilla marketing for fresh organic agricultural products, phase 2) a detailed consumer survey was done in which 300 consumers were questioned about the consumption of fresh organic products, their know-how about guerilla marketing and its potential impacts on them and, phase 3) 5 farmers involved in direct marketing of fresh organic agricultural products were interviewed through open-ended questions. 100% response rate was obtained and the respondents’ desire to stay anonymous was respected
Though 60% farmers and 100% retail outlets market fresh organic agricultural products, it was surprising to note that out of their total vegetable quota meant for sales, only a certain percentage was attributed to fresh organic agricultural products
Summary
When food products, such as most fresh vegetables, are highly perishable, they are not traded internationally on a large scale [1] and modern storage facilities have yet to convince consumers that stored frozen agricultural products have the same freshness, nutrient loads and value as fresh ones. (2016) Guerilla Marketing of Fresh Organic Agricultural Products. As per [4] a significant number of consumers have expressed a willingness to pay a premium for environmentally friendly (e.g., organic) and locally produced products. This implies that the marketing of such products should be done rapidly due to their perishable nature. As pointed by [5] the perishable nature of agricultural products resulted in urgency in the marketing of these products. Tactful marketing strategies should be adopted so as to ease the flow of fresh organic agricultural products towards consumers. This new study will focus on the perspectives of several key stakeholders regarding marketing of fresh organic agricultural products and guerilla marketing
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