Impact of Marketing Communication Strategies on Consumers’ Acceptance and Brand Equity in Malaysian Fertilizer Industry

The agriculture sector has a profound effect on Malaysian people, economy and
environment. Studies show that communication plays an important role in agricultural
industry, helping agriculture businesses such as fertilizer manufacturers/suppliers to
grow and prosper, builds relationships, strengthens the effectiveness of organization
and allows farmers to learn about one another. Knowledge on agronomic factors is also
one of the important factors for the farmers in increasing productivity. Farmers can be
educated and valuable information can easily be transferred through accurate
communication channels and it is important to educate farmers with up-to-date and
relevant information. The fertilizer industry, on the other hand, is faced with numerous
challenges with regard to communication. This conceptual paper is intended to look
into the marketing communication strategies employed by the fertilizer industry in
Malaysia in order to communicate with the farmers. This study also enhances the
understanding on the relationship of marketing communication strategies on
consumers‘ acceptance and brand equity. Several hypotheses are developed and
recommendations for future studies are proposed.