Strategic Planning in Agricultural Niche Markets

It is important to understand how niche markets evolve; how adaptive change is addressed through the adoption of niche marketing activities; and how firms strategically manage the niche marketing process. The research addresses the issue of why firms seek out niche markets and what leads these firms to success. Niche characteristics that are attractive to small and medium sized firms are examined to increase our understanding of how firms become specialized (highly adapted) for their chosen niche and thereby lessen the competition. Research propositions based on the following study objectives provide a framework to discuss findings: 1. Identify the characteristics of an attractive niche market. 2. Develop a normative model of the strategic planning process of small and medium sized enterprises. 3. Outline a conceptual framework for comparing the normative model developed with the actual strategic planning practices of agricultural niche marketers