Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the way one farmers’ market organization used an e-newsletter to establish and maintain their brand image as a socially responsible local food outlet. This research analyzed managerial communication efforts to promote farmers’ market products through email marketing. This analysis also revealed the positive and negative brand images that the e-newsletter communicates and how those align or fail to align with public opinion about of farmers’ markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The author spent 2.5 years participating in the farmers’ market organization that comprises the focus of this study, and this included conducting multiple studies using interview, survey and ethnographic methods. The data set for the present study includes two years’ worth of marketing messages from the e-newsletter campaign, which included 31 e-newsletters. Thematic analysis (Terry et al., 2017) was used to discover the dominant messages and values present. Analysis extended to textual messages, images, timing, design and overall newsletter content.

Findings

The results show that the digital communications at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market (LFM) promoted messages of getting to know your local farmer, eating fresh and healthy food and supporting local products. Additionally, the market frequently attempted to make the market accessible by communicating operating days and times. Finally, the newsletter message analysis also revealed that the LFM brand could be characterized as lacking consistency, having poor organization, and using poor design principles.

Originality/value

This research extends the knowledge of how farmers’ market organizations engage in brand image management. While there are scores of studies on consumer preferences, we have very few that analyze the ways farmers' market organizations spread key brand ideas to consumers. Additionally, this research offers other implications for nonprofits, looking to improve their brand image with limited resources.

中文翻译：

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利用数字通信管理农贸市场品牌形象

目的

本文的目的是探讨一个农贸市场组织如何使用电子通讯来建立和维护其作为具有社会责任感的当地食品店的品牌形象。本研究分析了通过电子邮件营销推广农贸市场产品的管理沟通工作。该分析还揭示了电子通讯传达的正面和负面品牌形象，以及这些形象如何与公众对农贸市场的看法一致或不一致。

设计/方法/方法

作者花了 2.5 年时间参与构成本研究重点的农贸市场组织，其中包括使用访谈、调查和民族志方法进行多项研究。本研究的数据集包括来自电子通讯活动的两年的营销信息，其中包括 31 份电子通讯。主题分析 (Terry et al. , 2017) 用于发现存在的主要信息和价值观。分析扩展到文本消息、图像、时间、设计和整体通讯内容。

发现

结果表明，劳伦斯农贸市场 (LFM) 的数字通信促进了了解当地农民、食用新鲜健康食品和支持当地产品的信息。此外，市场经常试图通过传达营业日期和时间来使市场可以进入。最后，时事通讯信息分析还显示，LFM 品牌的特点可能是缺乏一致性、组织性差、设计原则差。

原创性/价值

本研究扩展了农贸市场组织如何参与品牌形象管理的知识。虽然有大量关于消费者偏好的研究，但我们很少分析农贸市场组织将关键品牌理念传播给消费者的方式。此外，这项研究还为非营利组织提供了其他启示，希望利用有限的资源改善其品牌形象。