Innovation and selection of family farms’ marketing channels in Henan Province under the “Internet+” environment

Abstract

With the continuous improvement of China’s market economy and the intensification of global integration trends, the relationship between the supply and demand of China’s agricultural products has also undergone significant changes. From the previous short supply to the current oversupply, the sales of agricultural products have become a key factor restricting the development of the Chinese rural economy. Solving the problem of agricultural sales has become the internal driving force to promote the steady development of family farms, which is also the fundamental purpose of this paper. Therefore, this paper makes an empirical analysis of the factors influencing the choice of agricultural products’ sales channels among 170 family farms in Henan Province using a logistic regression model. The results show that selling agricultural products from family farms to consumers, enterprises, and large sales households are the main sales channels, accounting for 17.3%, 15.3%, and 15.2% respectively. The proportion of Internet sales ranks seventh among the eight channels, which has not been widely recognized. The regression results and assumptions are verified. The brand and certification of family farms’ agricultural products, business form of a farm, and understanding of the Internet have a significant impact on the choice of sales channels. According to the weight of influencing factors, the paper puts forward four suggestions for the selection and innovation in sales channels of family farms’ agricultural products.