Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation

Abstract

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the widely used direct marketing strategies for small-and midsized farmers. CSA programs are an important option for sustainable production and consumption. It helps growers generate income (improve financial security) and consumers obtain fresh local foods. Sustaining and growing CSA participation is critical in order to continue enjoying these benefits. We used a national online survey in conjunction with discrete choice models to investigate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle preferences, and different information outlets on the probability that a consumer is or will become a CSA member. The results indicate that the factors affecting current and future CSA participation differ substantially. While none of the demographic characteristics has a significant impact on current CSA participation, some of them significantly affect the probability that a consumer will become a CSA member in the future. Lifestyle preferences have a significant impact on current and future CSA participation. Although none of the information outlets examined affect current CSA participation, word-of-mouth and online sources significantly influence the probability that a consumer will join a CSA program in the future. These findings may have important implications for policy makers' and CSA farm managers' efforts to sustain future CSA development.

Factors Affecting the Dynamics of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Membership

“…This survey was distributed by Survey Sampling International (SSI), an international professional market research company, to its nationally representative consumer panels in the United States. SSI applied a quota sampling method to adjust demographics distribution, so that sample demographics closely matched that of the national population [27]. In the survey, we included a trap question (or a validation question).…”

“…Because of the increasing interest and trend in sustainable food consumption, a large body of literature has focused on the factors affecting CSA participation. However, previous research often simply divides consumers into non-CSA member versus CSA member based on the current status and examines the heterogeneity between these two groups [18,[26][27][28]. These studies did not consider other possible CSA participation status such as being CSA members in the past but having canceled their membership or never having been a member before but would like to try CSA in the future.…”

“…Based on the classification, we can determine the factors that affect the dynamics between different membership status. Different from past studies that focus on the investigation of the factors that affect a current or a future CSA membership, the objective of this study is to further determine the important factors such as barriers, motivation, and source of information [17,27] that help regain CSA consumers if they stopped their membership in the past. We also explore the factors that help attract more people to subscribe to the CSA program if they never joined it before.…”

Impacts of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Voucher Program on Food Lifestyle Behaviors: Evidence from an Employer-Sponsored Pilot Program

“…For instance, Galt has identified divergent characteristics associated with CSAs that have become economically viable and those which lead to farmer self-exploitation [32]. Vassalos, Gao, and Zhang have shown trends and challenges associated with shareholder retention [33]. Guthman, Morris, and Allen [34] as well as Macias [12] detail the barriers involved in including CSAs as a strategy for creating food security among low-income consumers.…”

Foodservice in a UNESCO Site: The Restaurateurs’ Perception on Communication and Promotion Tools

“…However, although different positions have been taken as its use, its power and collateral effects, it is generally considered a reliable and credible tool supported by a friendly evaluation [101][102][103][104][105][106]. The innovation in technologies and the increased popularity and diffusion of the use of Internet has led to the emergence of a new form of WOM, the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) [107][108][109][110][111].…”