The Impact of Using Social Media on the Business of Agricultural Transformation Industries Cooperatives in Isfahan Province

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using social media on the business performance of agricultural conversion cooperatives in Isfahan province with regard to the mediating role of social media marketing capabilities. The statistical population of the study consisted of business activists in this industry (including producers and distributors) of cooperative brands of agricultural conversion industries in Isfahan province (N = 230) that using random sampling method, 146 people were selected and the questionnaire was completed by visiting the companies in person or by e-mail. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that to confirm its validity and reliability, the questionnaire was provided to experts in this field and the necessary changes were applied to it, which was approved that Cronbach's alpha coefficient of variables (social media use, marketing capability and performance) are (0.940, 0.884 and 0.840), respectively. Structural equation modeling and SMART-PLS3 software were used to analyze the data. The first and second hypothesis tests showed that the significant effect of social media use on marketing capability was equal to 0.748 and on performance was equal to 0.254. Thus, the use of social media improves the performance of the cooperative business. Also, the significant effect of the effect of marketing capability on performance was equal to 0.359. As a result, the mediating effect of marketing capability between the relationship between social media use and cooperative performance was confirmed.

Keywords

• social media
• marketing capability
• business
• cooperatives