Preferences of locavores favoring community supported agriculture in the United States and France

Various retail outlets are available for consumers to access local foods including grocery stores, farmers' markets, and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. This study purports that consumers' selection of retail outlets for local foods depends on a tradeoff between the degree of assurance on credence attributes offered at the outlet, and the associated time and convenience costs. Empirically, survey responses from U.S. and French individuals are analyzed. Ordered logit model results suggest distinct motivators for local food consumption in our samples: support for local farmers among U.S. respondents and respect for the environment among French respondents. Latent class models identified consumer segments that valued CSA participation consisting of a quarter of the U.S. sample and three fifths of the French sample. Individuals within these CSA-inclined segments in both samples preferred bundle mixes with greater variety and the ability to provide input on the content of the bundle.