Challenges of digitization in the social economy in times of pandemic: the evolution of online presence and e-commerce in agri-food cooperatives

Eduard Cristobal-Fransi (), Natalia Daries (), José Ramón Cardona () and María de la Cruz Del Río-Rama ()
Additional contact information
Eduard Cristobal-Fransi: University of Lleida
Natalia Daries: University of Lleida
José Ramón Cardona: University of the Balearic Islands
María de la Cruz Del Río-Rama: University of Vigo

Agricultural and Food Economics, 2023, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: Abstract Online presence is essential for companies operating in the social economy. The health crisis resulting from Covid-19 has reinforced the need to access the Internet and develop online commerce. This paper analyses the online presence of Catalan agricultural cooperatives, their level of maturity in the development of e-commerce and the changes that have occurred during the years characterized by the restrictions resulting from the pandemic. To this end, content analysis and the eMICA methodology (Extended Model of Internet Commerce Adoption) were used to study the websites of various Catalan agricultural cooperatives. The model was applied to 104 cooperatives with an online presence in 2022, and the results were compared to a previous study conducted in 2018. The results indicate that although cooperatives have improved their online presence, especially in relation to online commerce, there is still much room for optimal interaction with their target audience. The pandemic and resulting restrictions on mobility forced a rapid deployment of e-commerce, often without sufficiently developing the interactivity of websites. The circumstances within the sample are varied, with wine cooperatives being the most mature in their use of e-commerce compared to olive oil and fruit cooperatives. The latter are the most deficient in their online presence and e-commerce development.

Keywords: Agri-food cooperatives; e-Commerce; Web content analysis; eMICA; Internet; Digital marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40100-023-00291-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:agfoec:v:11:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1186_s40100-023-00291-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nomics/journal/40100

DOI: 10.1186/s40100-023-00291-6

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural and Food Economics is currently edited by Alessandro Banterle, Liesbeth Dries, Andrea Marchini and Carlo Russo

More articles in Agricultural and Food Economics from Springer, Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().