The Internet Using Potential for the Generic Promotion of Traditional Food

Abstract

The article regards the generic promotion of traditional food in Poland. This form of market-ing communication refers to the entire product groups, without referring to the particular goods, brands or manufacturers. This kind of promotion is especially important at the introduction stage of the market life cycle and is used in particular for product groups that carry the potential of social benefits. Traditional food, as a generic group, satisfies both conditions. Firstly, as a whole sector, it is in the initial phase of the life cycle, and secondly, the growth of its sales could poten-tially bring a number of benefits for the economy, tourism, cultural identity, local development, etc. Taking into account both arguments, the activities in the field of promotion of the generic traditional food in Poland remain the legal obligation of public entities, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Marshal’s offices. The activities in this field are also undertaken by the third sector organizations and the private companies. The author examines the issues of marketing communications carried out by these organizations in the context of the ongoing business processes digitization. She reflects on the level of using the promotional potential of web pages by regional governments and nationwide institutions. To answer this question 27 web-sites have been analyzed and based on her own set of criteria the author conducted a comparison. The conclusions have been included in four categories related to groups of factors: substantive content, functionality of sites, technical aspects and graphic issues. The article ends with a summary containing subjective author’s recommendations on possible changes