Marketing Promotion of Texas Agricultural Products: The Rural Dimension of the GO TEXAN Program

The Texas Department of Agriculture launched the GO TEXAN marketing promotion program in 1999 to support Texas agricultural and food production. The underlying assumption is that if successful, the program would support directly or indirectly the demand for Texas agricultural production and the well-being of the state’s rural population. This research analyzes responses to an official 2008 survey sent to the GO TEXAN program beneficiaries. Overall, this study suggests that not all activities in the program have a clearly positive impact. Participation in trade shows, retail promotion and media events, and reverse trade missions seem to have a significant effect on sales increase as well as the use of the program logo on promotional items and web sites. The study also suggests that the relative impacts of event participation and uses of the program logo differ according to the group of member’s belonging, particularly when comparing the ‘‘mostly rural’’ vs. ‘‘mostly urban’’ categories. Consequently, if a state’s agricultural marketing program specifically attempts to reach producers from its ‘‘mainly rural’’ areas, an analysis may be needed to identify what specific types of promotion seem to generate the best results in those areas.