Grape Farmers’ Subjective Norms about Implementing Vineyard Improving and Reforming Project and Factors Affecting It in Khoramdareh Township

Subjective norms are recognized to be one of the main factors influencing individuals’ behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting grape farmers’ subjective norms regarding the utilization of innovations for improving and reforming their vineyards. The study was conducted in the Khoramdared Township, located in the Zanjan Province of Iran using a cross-sectional and descriptive-explanatory research design. The data were collected using a questionnaire through structured interviews with a sample of 260 out of 3942 grape farmers, who were randomly selected by a multi-stage sampling technique. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and the construct validity and reliability were tested using the Categorical Principle Component Analysis method. Moreover, the Theta Coefficient for the reliability test of different constructs was obtained between 0.75 and 0.96. The subjective norms for using this innovation tended to be high, but it was higher for the farmers who were covered by the government’s orchard improving plan. Farmers’ subjective norms for adopting this innovation were explained by various factors in that 58 percent of the variance of the subjective norm construct was determined directly and indirectly by the variables of farmers' attitude towards the relative advantage of this innovation, attending extension training courses, informal information sources inside and outside their rural communities, governmental interventions in terms of being covered by orchard improving plan, trust to the information of specialists, household size, farmers' age, grape production yield.