2012 Ipsos Agricultural Communications Review
Like everybody, farmers are being presented with many new ways to get information. But unlike urban consumers, they deal with challenges that are unique to their industry. How do these factors influence their media consumption choices?
The
2012 Ipsos Agricultural Communications Review is a study designed to quantify
and evaluate the various methods used by agribusiness professionals to
communicate to Canadian farmers. 666
medium to large, mainly crop, beef, dairy and hog farmers in Western Canada,
Ontario and Quebec participated in a mixed methodology survey (primarily online
with some interviews conducted by phone) concerning their media habits and
attitudes toward information. The survey
was conducted in November and December, 2012.
*AdWest is reporting the data below with permission from Ipsos.
Print media (magazines, newspapers etc.), continues to be the cornerstone media channel for farmers looking for information on agricultural news.
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1. Primary Sources of Information for Agricultural News |
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What is the main source for information on agricultural news: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Print Media (Farm and Non-Farm magazines, newspapers etc.) |
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32.40% |
35.30% |
29.40% |
34.50% |
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Internet Websites |
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21.60% |
25.10% |
17.90% |
24.30% |
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Radio |
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12.90% |
11.80% |
12.80% |
15.30% |
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Television |
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6.00% |
0.70% |
10.20% |
5.70% |
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Meetings and Seminars |
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3.90% |
2.80% |
5.10% |
2.90% |
| Social Media | 2.00% |
2.10% |
2.60% |
0.00% | |
| Other |
21.20% |
22.20% |
22.00% |
17.30% |
Traditional local print (including local community weeklies and dailies) continues to be a key media channel for farmers, with approximately three-quarters of Canadian farmers receiving a printed local newspaper (weekly or daily). Overall receivership of local print media in Canada (77.3%) ranked well above all other print media including urban dailies (25.4%).
On the prairies those numbers skew slightly higher topping out with farmers in Alberta reporting 83% receivership of a local newspaper.
| 2. Receivership |
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Publications received on the farm in the past 12 months: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Local Community Daily or Weekly Newspaper |
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76.80% |
82.60% |
71.40% |
79.50% |
More importantly, farmers are engaged with their local print media. In the prairie provinces, farmers receiving a local print newspaper, opened or at least glanced through nearly all of the last four issues received. Moreover, about half of farmers read most of the publication with the vast majority report reading at least parts of their local newspaper.
| 3. Readership |
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| Assuming publication receivership, the number of the Last Four Issues read, at least opened or just glanced through: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Publication Type: |
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Local Community Daily or Weekly Newspaper |
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3.7 |
3.6 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
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Assuming receivership of a community daily or weekly newspaper, how many of the last four editions were read, or at least opened or just glanced though: |
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NONE |
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0.70% |
0.80% |
0.90% |
0.00% |
| ONE |
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3.60% |
5.10% |
2.70% |
2.50% |
| TWO |
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6.10% |
6.70% |
5.20% |
6.80% |
| THREE |
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6.50% | 5.20% |
8.70% |
3.70% |
| FOUR |
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81.90% |
82.20% |
80.60% |
84.50% |
| UNSURE |
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1.20% |
0.00% |
1.80% |
2.50% |
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4. Amount of Readership |
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Assuming receivership of a community daily or weekly newspaper, how much of the publication is read: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Read Most of It |
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47.30% |
46.80% |
43.50% |
57.50% |
| Read Parts of It |
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41.20% |
40.50% |
45.80% |
31.80% |
| Just Scanned Through It |
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11.10% |
12.70% |
9.70% |
10.60% |
| UNSURE |
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0.40% |
0.00% |
0.90% |
0.00% |
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| Number of Household Readers per Copy |
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2.4 |
2.3 |
2.6 |
2.2 |
*Based on Farms in AB, SK and MB
In terms of the types of content that attracts farmers to their local printed newspaper, not surprisingly, Local News is the tie that binds. In Canada, 82% of farmers report reading the Local News section. Local news was identified as popular across the spectrum of farm types with each of Field Crop Operators, Livestock operations, large farms and young farmers reporting it as typically read.
Similar to Printed Farm Publications, just under half of all farmers in Canada report reading advertising in their Local Print Media. However, farmers in Manitoba (56%) and Saskatchewan (55%) buck the trend with over half reporting they read advertisements.
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5. Content Read |
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Assuming receivership of a community daily or weekly newspaper, which sections are typical read: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Local News |
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84.50% |
83.10% |
85.50% |
85.10% |
| Local Community Events |
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75.40% |
72.60% |
77.30% |
77.00% |
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Classified Ads |
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71.60% |
65.70% |
76.50% |
72.60% |
| Regional News |
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51.80% |
53.80% |
48.60% |
54.70% |
| Editorial Opinions and Letters to the Editor |
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48.10% |
47.30% |
45.60% |
55.80% |
| Business |
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42.80% |
39.60% |
42.60% |
49.90% |
| Advertising |
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51.10% |
44.00% |
55.20% |
56.40% |
| Sports |
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41.20% |
33.60% |
40.90% |
57.90% |
| National News |
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30.50% |
28.00% |
30.00% |
36.70% |
| Columnists |
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31.20% |
32.20% |
27.40% | 38.40% |
| Weather |
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24.90% |
25.60% |
23.80% |
25.80% |
| Entertainment |
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23.90% |
19.70% |
25.60% |
28.80% |
| Lifestyle |
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15.50% |
15.90% |
13.40% |
19.90% |
| Other |
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0.50% |
0.80% | 0.30% |
0.00% |
| None/nothing |
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0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
Nearly two-thirds of farmers report taking action after having seen an ad in a printed local newspaper. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, a larger percentage of farmers report having purchased a product or service from the advertiser (35%). Once again, positive actions taken as a result of seeing advertising in local print media transcended all farm types. In terms of frequency, well over half the cases actions were taken at least sometimes.
| 6. Direct Response |
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Assuming receivership of a community
daily or weekly newspaper, what actions were taken as a result of seeing
advertisements in the publication: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Became aware of a company or product you were previously unaware of |
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32.50% |
33.70% |
31.80% |
31.90% |
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Purchased a product or service from the advertiser |
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32.00% |
27.40% | 35.00% |
34.50% |
| Requested more information about the product or company being advertised |
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31.90% |
29.90% |
38.30% |
21.00% |
| Visited the advertiser's website |
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23.30% |
22.80% |
25.00% |
20.50% |
| Were reminded of a company or product you had previously forgotten about |
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23.00% |
20.10% |
24.00% |
27.00% |
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Called the advertiser's toll free number |
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14.70% |
15.90% |
15.70% |
9.90% |
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Entered an advertiser's contest |
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14.00% |
11.80% |
15.10% |
16.00% |
| Recommended a product or service to a friend |
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11.70% |
11.70% |
12.00% |
11.20% |
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Scanned a QR Code |
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3.50% |
1.70% |
3.50% |
7.10% |
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Visited advertiser's Facebook page |
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1.30% |
0.00% |
0.90% |
5.00% |
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Followed the advertiser on Twitter |
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0.90% |
1.70% |
0.00% |
1.20% |
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Other |
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0.30% |
0.80% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
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None of the above |
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32.80% |
31.80% |
35.80% |
27.60% |
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Assuming some action was taken as a result of seeing advertisements in those publications, how often were those actions taken: |
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Prairies |
Alberta |
Saskatchewan |
Manitoba |
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Frequently |
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7.80% |
7.40% |
9.50% |
5.10% |
| Sometimes |
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62.90% |
65.40% |
59.90% | 64.10% |
| Rarely |
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27.10% |
24.50% |
27.90% |
30.80% |
| Never |
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2.10% |
2.60% |
2.70% |
0.00% |
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