PR - BUYING AN AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR FOR COMMERCIAL FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

The agricultural tractor market in South Africa and more particular the landlocked bread basket status of the North West province, near the productive Gauteng area is fiercely competitive with all the main manufacturers of tractors competing in this province. This led to the main objective of this study, namely to determine the factors that influence the buying behaviour of farmers in the North West province when they decide to purchase an agricultural tractor. The literature is founded in the buyer decision making process. The empirical study used quantitative research consisting of a questionnaire that captured responses on a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaires were distributed to the study population at farmer days and study group meetings. The results showed that 62% of the farmers are between the age of 35 and 54 years. The farmers indicated that financial concerns rate high in their decision making as they tend to buy agricultural tractors in “good” farming years. The results also indicated that the most important buying behavioural influences when a farmer buys a tractor are Economy and finance, Maintenance, Tractor convenience, Tractor management system, Dealer orientation, Mechanical performance, Delivery functionality and Infrastructure and supporting equipment.

Keywords: commercial farmer, buyer behaviour, tractor, factors, decision making