Psychosocial drivers influencing local food purchasing: beyond availability, the importance of trust in farmers

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough consumers bought more local food during the changing context of pandemic COVID -19, this positive modification may not become a stable habit afterward.MethodsTo understand this change in drivers of consumers' intention to buy local food, we investigated the role of perceptions of various intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of local food, its perceived quality, price and availability, and consumers' trust in local food producers. We also investigated the role of sociodemographic variables as well as the moderating role of consumers' stage of change (i.e., absence, reduction, maintenance, and increase) in the purchase of local food.ResultsStructural equation modeling results on a representative sample of Italian consumers (N = 511) showed that local food availability is the main driver of purchase intention (β = 0.20; p = 0.001), especially among consumers who have changed their habits toward buying local food (reduction stage = β = 0.24; increase stage = 0.30; p = 0.001). In addition, trust in local food producers was found to be a key antecedent to consumers' perceptions of local food as environmentally friendly (β = 0.57; p = 0.001), healthy (β = 0.55; p = 0.001), authentic (β = 0.58; p = 0.001), tasty (β = 0.52; p = 0.001), socially sustainable (β = 0.59; p = 0.001), and as a product with a good appearance (β = 0.55; p = 0.001).DiscussionOverall, these results improve our understanding of which food attributes should be emphasized in communication to promote the purchase of local food.

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“…The foregoing findings addressing the potential barriers to the development of the local food market are reinforced by findings from a study by Carfora and Catellani ( 63 ), who identified availability as the most important element in local food decision-making. This is valid both in terms of seasonality and of space, as the possibilities differ in urban and rural settings.…”

“…Farm gate sale seems to be organizationally simple and financially advantageous for both clients and sellers, moreover, the opportunity to visit farmers and see with their own eyes where their food comes from is very attractive for customers. This may be related to consumers’ need to obtain food from a trusted source, because as the study by Carfora and Catellani ( 63 ) states, trust is one of the three decisive factors (along with availability and health) motivating consumers to buy local food.…”

“…It requires a transition from understanding food as a commodity to a common good, including the roles of farmers as stewards of the agricultural landscape and a close community (79,80). At the state level, logistics and distribution issues should be addressed to encourage the availability of local food (63). On a regional scale, we point out that a great challenge for local or regional food policies lies in a systematic development of urban and peri-urban agriculture that contributes to regionally based resilience of agri-food territorial systems.…”

“…It requires a transition from understanding food as a commodity to a common good, including the roles of farmers as stewards of the agricultural landscape and a close community ( 79 , 80 ). At the state level, logistics and distribution issues should be addressed to encourage the availability of local food ( 63 ).…”

“…Therefore, more attention should be paid to ensuring food and nutrition security, with a focus on vulnerable groups of inhabitants, such as low income families, children, elderly, etc. ( 4 , 16 , 63 ). It is necessary to make sustainable and healthy diets more affordable and accessible via a mix of policy measures, including educational programs and the presentation of good practices to improve food literacy ( 83 ).…”