Exploring consumer motivations for frequent visits and high spending at farmers' markets

Abstract

Farmers' markets (FM) must be able to adapt to keep up with changing consumer preferences. Using 274 in-person surveys of consumers in several FMs our objective is to identify the influence of respondents' lifestyle characteristics, distance from the FM, and FM characteristics on the likelihood of being a frequent FM customer and spending over $50. Results indicate that the likelihood of visiting FM over five times per season and spending more than $50 increases with FMs open on weekends and that have 11–50 vendors and a wide variety of products. We also provide suggestions for policymakers and FM managers.