Motivations Underlying Consumers’ Preference for Farmers’ Markets in Klang Valley: A Means-End Chain Approach

Yeong Sheng Tey, Poppy Arsil, Mark Brindal, Chi Teen Teoh and Han Wei Lim
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Yeong Sheng Tey: Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Putra Infoport, Jalan Kajang-Puchong, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Poppy Arsil: Department of Agricultural Technology, Jenderal Soedirman University, Purwokerto 53123, Central Java, Indonesia
Mark Brindal: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae 5064, South Australia, Australia
Chi Teen Teoh: Putra Business School, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Han Wei Lim: Putra Business School, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: In an increasingly competitive market environment, understanding why consumers purchase fresh produce from farmers’ markets is pivotal to understanding the markets’ value and to strengthening the rural economy. This is the first study to employ a means-end chain (MEC) framework to analyze the motivations underlying consumer preference for farmers’ markets. The linkages between these motivators are important steps in understanding why consumers purchase fresh produce from farmers’ markets. Based on in-depth interviews with 212 shoppers at the farmers’ markets in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, we identified the attributes ‘fresh’, ‘nearby’, ‘variety’, and ‘cheap’ as the means of achieving self-directed personal values (e.g., ‘expenses are better managed’), security values (‘live longer’), and benevolent values (e.g., ‘close the ties’). The insights gained should prove useful to policy-makers and to the farmers’ market sector, allowing them to more effectively communicate with consumers from the basis of a better understanding of the attributes, benefits, and personal values influencing them.

Keywords: consumer choice; farmers’ markets; means-end chain; motivations; personal values (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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