Research Activities

Stan Ernst, Extension Program Leader/Marketing Instructor

My applied research activities are focused in several inter-related areas:  food marketing; niche/direct marketing of food and farm products (including farm/farmers' markets; online sales); adoption and use of information technologies by farmers, rural residents, food retailers and food consumers; the effect of changing demographics on food markets and direct marketing.  I also occasionally do marketing or economic impact analysis in support of OSU Extension efforts in horticultural industries.  This page links you to various active and complete projects.

Regionalized food marketing programs.  This area of work addresses several activities to evaluate the Ohio Proud program. It came out of collaborations with the OSU Extension Direct Marketing Team and the Ohio Department of Agriculture.  Work is ongoing with first results expected early fall 2007.

Direct Marketing of Season Long Berry Enterprise.  This is a collaboration with colleagues in the department (Marv Batte, Greg Davis) and at the OSU South Centers (Shawn Wright, Tom Worley, Brad Bergefurd).  Our marketing work has looked at consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for things like "local" or specific production practices.  Marv maintains a website for the overall project.

E-Grocery/E-Agribusiness Working Group.  A set of projects over the past six years that look at the application of e-commerce to the grocery and food marketing industries. 

Ohio Green Industry Survey (2005 Ohio Landscape & Nursery Economic Impact Study).  One of those service projects. The latest version of research done by OSU Extension and industry groups since the 80's. Attempts to measure the economic impact of the "green" sector.