Aquaponics has been an emerging industry with steady growth for quite some time. Its development has shown a strong increase in academic papers alongside a unique set of foci and considerations particular to the practice. However, despite the progress made in the industry, aquaponics is still taken to be a hobbyist practice, with trends treating the practice as a poor analogue to hydroponics. Data analyses ran through Google Scholar, keyword searches, Google Trends, and sentiment analyses indicate that considerations for aquaponics on the industry level do not coincide with a consumer basis and show little overlap with the research community. In order to maintain appeal and marketability for aquaponics, it is necessary to bridge the gap between consumer and industry expectations through an analytic approach through its online presence.
A multifaceted approach was used to gather analytics. Python was used to scrape Google Scholar for the keyword “aquaponics” and found a steady increase in
scholarly articles , with trends and associated keywords similar to hydroponics. Google Ads and keyword planning showed very little technical terms and a focus on “how-to” and instructional. Very few specifics were associated with keyword “aquaponics” and the only prominent brands were at-home, hobbyist builds under 10 gallons. Google Trends indicate that aquaponics is still treated as a counterpoint to hydroponics, with searches in decline. Curiously, organic appeal was not a concern. Hydroponics and aquaponics seemed to have respective location “territories”, where hydroponics had a heavier sense of brand trust. Finally, using R software to datamine social media and perform sentiment analyses showed a neutral sentiment towards aquaponics, with primary keywords focusing on at-home hobbyist levels.
Following as an extension of the research presented at the World Aquaculture Society 2020 Hawaii conference (Keeping Interest in Aquaponics Alive: a Composite Look at Trends, Keywords and Sentiment Analyses in the Industry), this presentation further details the limitations of aquaponics set forth from the consumer perspective and seeks further measures to translate the mitigated focus from the online community into a positive presence that could help increase the success of current operators. Aquaponics has a decisive market in US and global locations, but lacks brand awareness, consumer understanding, and little knowledge of large-scale operators and nuances that could positively influence purchase decisions. It is necessary to focus on outreach and community-driven strategies to capitalize on opportunities to shift the public opinion.