| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
This study aims to investigate the marketing strategies of the local tea industry in the area of the Hakka town Yangmei in Taoyuan city. By promoting the local tea industry in Yangmei, it is hoped to activate the local economy, develop industries with local features. It is also hoped to accentuate the close relationship between the Hokka people and the tea industry and to highlight the features of the local industry which is peculiar to Yangmei yet has been dimmed by the tide of modernization. The tea industry was an industry that the Hakka people relied on, once prosperous and now on the decline. Yangmei was lined with tea gardens. With a glorious history of the tea industry, Yangmei used to be the second largest town that produced tea leaves in Taoyuan, which however has been rarely mentioned in the literature. In light of this, the present study taking Yangmei Xiou-tsai tea as an example has three research purposes: (1) to better understand the present situation Yangmei Xiou-tsai tea is in and the challenges it is faced with; (2) to analyze the marketing strategies of Yangmei Xiou-tsai tea via SWOT and 6P marketing strategies ; (3) to propose suggestions for promoting Xiou-tsai tea industry to the local government, private institutions and tea farmers.
Literature review and in-depth interviews were conducted in this study. The were 10 interviewees, including four farmers and tea traders, three administration staff, two scholars and one freelance writer. The content of the interviews lasting for about 16 hours were transcribed and were further analyzed by applying MAXQDA so as to pinpoint the qualifications the Yangmei tea industry has for development. Besides, with an analysis of SWOT and 6P marketing strategies, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the development of Yangmei Xiou-tsai tea were pointed out, the current situation Yangmei Xiou-tsai tea is in was clarified, and strategies to face future challenges were proposed. The results show that the strengths include a wide variety of products, approachable prices, excellent techniques to roast tea leaves, winning several awards, reliable and safe products, increasing publicity of the Xiou-tsai Tourist Tea Garden and Yangmei being where the headquarter of the Tea Improvement Plant is located in. The opportunities include collaboration of public and private sectors to highlight features of Yangmei local tea industry. These strengths and opportunities will help boost the development of Yangmei. The weaknesses include farmers being very conservative, with not much ambition and not good at marketing, aging farmers and insufficient amount of tea production. The threats include the relationship between public and private sectors not being well maintained and the history of tea industry not receiving due attention. To address the aforementioned weaknesses and threats, the following suggestions are proposed: (1) To encourage farmers to produce the Oriental beauty tea and to design and develop tea gift sets characterized with culture and creativity; (2) (3) Public and private sectors to collaborate and cooperate to develop and promote Xiou-tsai tea; (4) To encourage youth to get involved in the tea industry and to offer courses related to tea culture. It is hoped that with the efforts of the authorities concerned and stakeholders the tea industry in Yangmei can still inherit the tradition and continue to develop and thrive in the times of changing.
Keyword: Yangmei, tea industry, Hakka industry, industry with local features, marketing strategies | en_US |