| dc.description.abstract | Social media helps farmers located in geographically isolated rural areas stay connected to the world. Social media is an effective tool used in extension services and mass/distance education. Facebook is a successful social network site for information gathering and sharing. In Taiwan, Facebook's penetration rate is higher than in any other Asian country. The purpose of this study was to determine the influences of selected factors on the adoption of Facebook by Taiwanese smallholder farmers. The study examined the relationships between characteristics of smallholder farmers, innovation characteristics, stage in the innovation-decision process, and potential barriers to the adoption of Facebook. A descriptive and correlational research design was used for this study. Three hundred and fifty one smallholder farmers participated in the survey.
Nearly half of the responding farmers were at the stage of “implementation.” Sixteen respondents were at stage of “confirmation.” Ninety-seven respondents were at the stage of “knowledge.” Thirty respondents were at the stage of “no knowledge.” Most respondents had Facebook accounts. The most common usages of Facebook were to connect with friends, receive agricultural information, read daily news and information, share daily life stories with others, and share professional knowledge with others. Nearly half of respondents with Facebook accounts used Facebook for farm marketing purposes.
Respondents held positive perceptions of relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability and low complexity as characteristics of Facebook. Respondents held neutral perceptions regarding technology concerns, financial concerns, concerns about time, planning issues, and concern about incentives for the adoption of Facebook.
The respondents were significantly different in perception of Facebook based on years of farming experience, gender, age, education, and income. Responding farmers also expressed significant differences between their perceptions of potential barriers by years of farming experience, farm size, gender, age, education level, and income status. Significant negative relationships existed between smallholder farmers’ perceptions of Facebook and potential barriers to Facebook. Trialability, planning issues, relative advantage, compatibility, observability, education, complexity, technology concerns, and age served as powerful predictors of respondents’ stages in the innovation-decision process. | en |
