Online Producers: Studying the Information Needs and Internet Seeking Behavior in the Agricultural Sector

Abstract

The agricultural sector is changing due to the advancing information technologies and the internet. Information is required by agricultural producers which cover all aspects of agricultural production including the processing of agricultural products on-farm or in rural areas. The abundance of agricultural information however does not necessarily imply better informed producers, especially if their information behavioral patterns are not studied. A review of the literature on producers’ information needs and an empirical study on olive and olive oil producers is presented. The theoretical construct of the survey is informed by Wilsons’ macro model of information-seeking behavior. This is employed in order to understand information needs, preferred information resources, as well as obstacles in information seeking of olive and olive oil producers. The survey provides new information behavior results for producers’ information spaces, which in turn are creating a new global business agricultural production model. Through this perspective appropriate information services can be developed in order to meet specific information needs and information behaviors in the agricultural sector.