The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers

The attitudes of farmers in relation to the importance of different people as information and opinion sources (InfS) for different phases of the decision-making process were studied in 91 Costa Rican dairy farmers. The InfS studied were: Family members, Other farmers, Technical advisors, Farm staff...

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Autores principales: Herrero, Mario, Solanoa, C., Leo, H., Pérez, E.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2003
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1749
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author Herrero, Mario
Solanoa, C.
Leo, H.
Pérez, E.
author_browse Herrero, Mario
Leo, H.
Pérez, E.
Solanoa, C.
author_facet Herrero, Mario
Solanoa, C.
Leo, H.
Pérez, E.
author_sort Herrero, Mario
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The attitudes of farmers in relation to the importance of different people as information and opinion sources (InfS) for different phases of the decision-making process were studied in 91 Costa Rican dairy farmers. The InfS studied were: Family members, Other farmers, Technical advisors, Farm staff and Commercial agents, while the phases were: Problem detection, Seeking for problem solutions, Seeking for new practices and Seeking for opinion. A Multidimensional Preference Analysis (MDPREF) was used to obtain a two-dimensional map of preference of the farmers. A factor analysis was used to define new variables representing the farmers' predilection towards the InfS. A canonical correlation analysis was performed to find-out simple and canonical correlation between farmers'/farms' characteristics and the InfS preferences. Informational profiles in the population were defined through a Cluster Analysis. The MDPREF suggests that Family members and Technical advisors were the most preferred InfS. However their relative importance changed throughout the phases. Farm staff were rated in third place and their role became more important in the ‘Problem detection’ phase. Other farmers and Commercial agents were, in general, the less preferred information sources. The former became slightly more important in the ‘Seeking for new practices’ phase. The canonical correlation analysis found three low-medium correlations between the farmers'/farms' characteristics and the InfS factors. These correlations showed that the farmers' age, educational level and dedication and the farms' characteristics of area, herd size and distance to population centres had significant influence on the preference of the farmers towards different information sources. The cluster analysis found nine groups of similar farmers according to their preferences towards informational sources. Some implications mainly for extension activities are also stated and discussed. The importance of different informational sources slightly change throughout the decision-making steps, the family and farm staff being the most preferred information sources.
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spelling CGSpace17492025-11-12T04:31:48Z The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers Herrero, Mario Solanoa, C. Leo, H. Pérez, E. dairy farms milk production The attitudes of farmers in relation to the importance of different people as information and opinion sources (InfS) for different phases of the decision-making process were studied in 91 Costa Rican dairy farmers. The InfS studied were: Family members, Other farmers, Technical advisors, Farm staff and Commercial agents, while the phases were: Problem detection, Seeking for problem solutions, Seeking for new practices and Seeking for opinion. A Multidimensional Preference Analysis (MDPREF) was used to obtain a two-dimensional map of preference of the farmers. A factor analysis was used to define new variables representing the farmers' predilection towards the InfS. A canonical correlation analysis was performed to find-out simple and canonical correlation between farmers'/farms' characteristics and the InfS preferences. Informational profiles in the population were defined through a Cluster Analysis. The MDPREF suggests that Family members and Technical advisors were the most preferred InfS. However their relative importance changed throughout the phases. Farm staff were rated in third place and their role became more important in the ‘Problem detection’ phase. Other farmers and Commercial agents were, in general, the less preferred information sources. The former became slightly more important in the ‘Seeking for new practices’ phase. The canonical correlation analysis found three low-medium correlations between the farmers'/farms' characteristics and the InfS factors. These correlations showed that the farmers' age, educational level and dedication and the farms' characteristics of area, herd size and distance to population centres had significant influence on the preference of the farmers towards different information sources. The cluster analysis found nine groups of similar farmers according to their preferences towards informational sources. Some implications mainly for extension activities are also stated and discussed. The importance of different informational sources slightly change throughout the decision-making steps, the family and farm staff being the most preferred information sources. 2003-04 2010-05-28T19:34:45Z 2010-05-28T19:34:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1749 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Solanoa, C.; Leon, H.; Perez, E.; Herrero, M. 2003. The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers. Agricultural Systems. 76(1): 3-18
spellingShingle dairy farms
milk production
Herrero, Mario
Solanoa, C.
Leo, H.
Pérez, E.
The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title_full The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title_fullStr The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title_full_unstemmed The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title_short The role of personal information sources on the decision-making process of Costa Rican dairy farmers
title_sort role of personal information sources on the decision making process of costa rican dairy farmers
topic dairy farms
milk production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1749
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