The Solutions for and Challenges ahead of Launching a Rural e-Marketing System: the Delphi Technique

Despite rural access to communication and information technology in the last two decades, there has been a decline in the rural population. The use of cyberspace seems essential for the development of rural business and e-marketing has the potential to provide a wide range of employment opportunities. In this regard, the present study was carried out with a practical purpose, using a qualitative method (the Delphi technique) in order to determine the strategies and challenges related to the establishment of a rural e-marketing system. The Delphi panel included 26 university professors and government-based experts from academic institutions and government agencies across the country. The research process, which started in September 2019 and continued to April of the following year, encompassed three stages with a combination of traditional (the first round) and electronic (the second and third rounds) Delphi. Data was collected through questionnaires; the first-round questionnaire was used as the basis for the questionnaires of the second and third rounds. As regards establishing a marketing system, eight strategies (related to marketing mix and marketing organization) and four types of challenge (economic, social, legal, and technological) were brought to light. The experts’ consensuses was that the organizational structure of the system would have to be non-governmental and provide tourism services, handicrafts, crops, and dried fruits simultaneously; use a public-private postal system; and apply a sales model called the transaction service model. Finally, considering the Covid-19 crisis, the findings were discussed and some suggestions were made.