Community and Cultural Entrepreneurship and Value Co-Creation in the Local Food Marketscape

Matthew M. Mars ()
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Matthew M. Mars: Department of Agricultural Education, Technology and Innovation, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: Local food entrepreneurs are confronted with unique challenges when it comes to sustaining their firms and scaling their pro-community impact within geographically confined marketspaces. Yet, the strategies for overcoming these challenges remain under-studied within the community development and local food literatures. The current study addresses this scholarly gap through a qualitative case study of a southern Arizona artisan baker who follows a community-supported business model that strategically engages customers as value co-creators and stewards of a sustainable and scalable local consumption space. The study is conceptually framed by a set of principles that span community entrepreneurship, cultural entrepreneurship, and value co-creation. Data include semi-structured interviews with the baker and a sample of customers ( n = 31), 20+ h of direct observations, and 3419 posts made within the bakery’s social media environment. The findings inform the theoretical development of a novel local food value co-creation model.

Keywords: community entrepreneurship; cultural entrepreneurship; local consumption space; local food entrepreneurship; value co-creation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16744-:d:1002817

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