The Role of Trust and Risk Aversion in Farmers' Used Machinery Transactions

Results of a nationally representative survey of US farmers link previously validated survey measures of risk aversion and interpersonal trust to farmers’ intended use of online venues for transacting used equipment. Other factors affecting online purchase propensity includes the quality of farmers’ relationships with local equipment dealerships. Understanding the factors that impact farmers’ use of internet market venues is crucial as rural internet penetration deepens, farm equipment needs grow more specialized and local offline markets thin. These results may also help explain past observations of severe discounting of used farm equipment sold in online venues.