The factors affecting the marketing channel selection in sheep farming: A Turkish case study

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine sheep farmers' selection of marketing channels in livestock sales and the factors affecting their choices. The research data were generated from the survey data of 53 enterprises selected via simple random sampling method in Samsun province in 2019. In this research, descriptive statistics were used to determine some characteristics of the sheep farmers, and the chi-square test was employed to compare the farmers' characteristics according to the selection of the marketing channels. According to the results of the study, four marketing channels were identified to be efficient in livestock marketing. These were final consumers, brokers, retailers, and mixed channels. Besides, it was determined that the variables of selling additional products (milk, cheese, fleece) in the enterprise other than livestock, being a member of the Sheep and Goat Breeders Association, and the reason of choosing marketing channels had an impact (P<0.05) on the selection of marketing channels.