| Summary |
Agritourism is one form of outdoor recreation that has the potential to provide economic and cultural benefits, with little to no environmental impact (Barbieri and Mshenga, 2008), making it a worthwhile pursuit in the mission to use sustainable tourism to maximize positive outcomes for both farms and their host communities. However, the lack of understanding towards the needs and motivations of customers is a major barrier to agritourism development (Srikatanyoo and Campiranon, 2011), lending to a level of uncertainty in designing marketing materials. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore which elements of photographs used in the marketing of agritourism are most effective at reaching consumers. The application of the grounded theory method serves as the methodology for identifying consistent themes in the data. Data was collected through focus group based discussion based on a set of photographs that represent potential visual marketing aids in agritourism. The photographs that served as the conversation platform during focus groups were all taken on pasture based livestock farms that participated in an agritourism pilot project in West Virginia. Participants selected for focus groups were stakeholders in tourism, including farmers who participate in agritourism, tourists who may or may not have visited a farm, and community members such as visitors center employees and restaurant owners. Considering that the three primary stakeholders in agritourism are agritourism providers, Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), and agritourists (McGehee, 2007), it was decidedly important to include responses from each of these segments. The conversation of each focus group was recorded and transcribed, and served as the primary source of data for this study. The transcriptions of the interviews were scrutinized through content analysis, and were subsequently coded according to the themes that emerged in responses. The data from this study identifies patterns of centrality within specific demographic groups involved in agritourism, and is intended to better equip farmers, agritourism coordinators, tourism planners, and destination marketing directors in the development of their marketing strategies by providing them with insight into the different reactions that photographs of agritourism might illicit for members of their potential audience. |
