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Home on the digital range: range-related Web outreach and ranchers' internet use

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dc.contributor.authorGhajar, Shayan, author
dc.contributor.authorFernández-Giménez, Maria E., advisor
dc.contributor.authorMeiman, Paul, committee member
dc.contributor.authorVaske, Jerry, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T06:40:52Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T06:40:52Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractAccess to the internet continues to improve in rural areas, ensuring ranchers will have increasing opportunities to use the Web to find information about management practices that may provide ecological and financial benefits to their ranches. While past studies have examined the role of the internet in informing daily decision-making by agricultural producers, no studies have focused specifically on describing and analyzing the use of the internet by ranchers in the Western United States. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to assess the extent and patterns of ranchers' internet use in Colorado and Wyoming, identify barriers to greater use, and establish a typology of Web use behavior by ranchers. We also assess a sample of current range-related websites by measuring the presence or absence of features and characteristics shown by past research to enhance potential impacts on site visitors. Our findings indicate that internet use is widespread, and that age, education, and risk tolerance can predict the extent to which a rancher will rely on the internet for day-to-day ranch management. A cluster analysis delineated four separate Web usage typologies among ranchers with which outreach personnel can determine the potential utility of digital outreach tools for their programming based on their target audience and topics of outreach. The website assessment found that educational sites in our sample could improve their potential perceived credibility and their potential impact on visitors' attitudes by using testimonials and quotations more frequently. Based on these findings, we recommend that rangeland outreach personnel determine the potential benefits of incorporating online outreach depending on which typology or typologies of Web-using ranchers they are targeting. Additionally, range-related websites should attempt to incorporate as many message characteristics and structural features as possible to maximize their potential perceived credibility by website visitors, and to increase their potential for altering their attitudes about a topic.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierGhajar_colostate_0053N_12255.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/82552
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.titleHome on the digital range: range-related Web outreach and ranchers' internet use
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineForest and Rangeland Stewardship
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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