Analysis of E-Marketing Channels of Palm Oil in Ohafia Lga , Abia State.

This study analyzes the adoption of e-marketing channels for palm oil in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. The specifics objectives were : to describe the socio- economic characteristics of palm oil marketers, analyse the cost and returns , identify and analyse the available e-marketing channels, analyse the level of adoption of e-marketing channels , determine the factors influencing adoption of e-marketing channels and lastly analyse the problem encountered by palm oil marketers in the study area. The study employed a multistage sampling technique, purposive and random sampling, to select 60 respondents which were Collected through a well structured questionnaire. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, cost and return model , adoption index and ordinary least square multiply regression. The results of the socio-economic characteristics of the palm oil e- marketers showed that 56.7% of respondents are female, and 45% are within the 49-58 age range. Most respondents (78.3%) are married, and 50% have secondary education, and have approximately the mean household size of 6.14 persons per household respectively. The results also showed that the marketers have a mean annual salary of 182967.01 naira. The results for Cost and return showed that a total cost of # 4164571.1 was incurred , #4,855,307.8 marketing margin was realised. The study analysed the available e-marketing channels in the study area , and the results showered that Facebook emerged as the predominant e-marketing being used with 75% of the respondents. The results also shows that an adoption index of 0.75, indicating partially adoption of e-marketing channels. The study compared the determinant of factors affecting E-marketing channels of palm oil using ordinary least square multiple regression analysis. the exponential functional form provided the lead equation with an R2 of 0.494 , indicating that 49.4% of the variation in e-marketing was accounted for by the explanatory variables in the model .The adoption of e-marketing channels were positively influenced by the age at (P>0.01) and level of education at (P>0.05) and Years of internet usage at (P>0.05). the major challenges / problems faced in adopting e-marketing include poor network connectivity ,high cost of Transportation, lack of access to good roads and high cost of subscriptions (data) in the study area . I recommend that’ the government and the service providers should collaborate in enhancing network connectivity. And the government should also look into the road infrastructures and help reduce the height cost of transportation.