Abstract:
The increasing usage of smartphones by practitioners in various fields of expertise is attracting global attention.
However, scanty evidence exists on smartphone usage among rural farmers in developing countries. Using data
collected from 1286 rural farming households in five provinces in China, this study investigates the factors
influencing rural farmers’ decisions to use smartphones. The findings from a Probit model reveal that education, health condition, asset ownership, income levels, peers’ smartphone usage, internet access, cooperative
membership, access to credit, and off-farm work participation are the main factors driving smartphone usage
of rural farmers. The age of the farmer rather affects smartphone usage negatively and significantly. Further
heterogeneous analysis shows that the influences of factors on smartphone usage vary across the survey
provinces.
