The Role of Electronic Marketing on Improving the Sustainable Livelihood Capital of Rural Households in Gorgan County

The challenges of marketing agricultural products are access to buyers and the distance from sales centers.Recent advances in information and communication technology have solved many of these challenges, enabling rural households to improve their sustainable livelihoods with electronic commerce.The aim of this study wasinvestigating the role of electronic marketing on improving the sustainable livelihood of rural households in Gorgan.It is descriptive-analytical in nature and applied in terms of its purpose.In this study, households in 9 villages of Gorgan city totaled 7863, of which 366 households were selected based on Cochran's formula as a sample size.Using a five-option Likert scale, a researcher-made questionnaire was created for this study.Cronbach's alpha rate of 0.725 was used to confirm the content validity of the questionnaire and itsreliability.Data were analyzed using Friedman, Kramer's Phi, two-sided chi-square, and Spearman statistics in SPSS.Preparation of the map was carried out using ArcGIS software.There is a significant relationship between electronic marketing and personal characteristics of people, including age, education, occupation, and skill, as demonstrated by the results. Electronic marketing has been effective in improving the livelihood capital of rural households by increasing interest in learning new skills, reducing middlemen's roles, and enabling the ownership of tools and agricultural equipment as well as livestock.For this reason, it is important to train residents in rural areas with electronic marketing skills continuously, so that by working in this field, more people, especially educated youth in rural areas, wouldbe able to achieve extensive employment, stable incomes, and longevity.