Farm business marketing behavior and strategic groups in agriculture

In the agricultural marketing literature the marketing activities of individual farmers are not adequately described, and it is often assumed that the strategic behavior of farmers is relatively homogeneous. Likewise, the farm management discipline does not emphasise the marketing behavior of farmers. This contrasts with the business management literature that places considerable emphasis on the marketing and strategic activities of individual firms. Strategic group studies empirically identify groups of firms within an industry that follow similar business strategies. Although the investigation of strategic groups within the agribusiness sector has been identified as an important area for future research, only a small number of studies have examined strategic groups at the farm business level. This article presents the results of an analysis of farm business marketing and strategic management processes. These show that strategic groups of New Zealand intensive crop farmers exist, and the marketing, business, and management characteristics associated with following each distinctive strategy are described. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.