Comparison of Marketing Activities among the Rural Women of Omid Entrepreneurship Fund and Agricultural Development Specialized Holding Companies in Fars Province

One of the main contexts of womenchr('39')s participation in rural society is the creation of small businesses and entrepreneurship or self-employment. Microfinance funds and the Omid Entrepreneurship Fund have played a significant role in this regard. The main aim of study was to analyze the marketing activities of women entrepreneurs in the Agricultural Development Specialized Holding Companies and Omid Entrepreneurship Fund in Fars province. This survey study was conducted using stratified random sampling method and 307 individuales were interviewed through questionnaires for data collection. The main comparisons between the two women groups were done using T-tests. Based on the results, women entrepreneurs who are the members of Specialized Holding Companies had higher mean in terms of marketing methods awareness, marketing mixes, strategies and environmental factors than the members of Omid Entrepreneurship Fund. The members of the Specialized Holding Companies also were in a better position than women in the Omid Entrepreneurship Fund in terms of personality traits (success, risk-taking, creativity, and independence). In this regard, some applicable suggestions were presented in oreder to improve the marketing activities of rural women.