Journal on Policy & Complex Systems Vol. 2, Issue 2, Fall 2015 | Page 33

Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
( SD = 1 ), and were nearly half as likely as consumers to have a college education . Consumers were largely motivated to interact with the food hub for health , environmental , and sustainability issues , whereas producers were somewhat motivated by similar issues but much more so by classical economic motivators related to profit and entity survival . Nearly all of the consumers interviewed ( 19 of 22 ) reported that the producers ’ online profiles were important to their purchasing decisions , and they rated their level of trust in the information provided as very high , with a mean of 4.7 on a Likert rating scale of 1 – 5 ( SD = 0.5 ). As a typical example , one consumer participant , when asked whether or not she trusted the information in the producers ’ profiles , commented that she had “ no reason not to .”
For each of 14 different values ( price , convenience of food preparation , nutrition , freshness , familiarity , novelty , convenience , variety , supporting of local economy , relationship with producers , communicate with vendors , food production practices , food safety , and treatment of animals ), consumers responded on a 5-point Likert scale to describe the level of importance of each of the values in determining their participation with the food hub . The average Likert value for each of the 14 values was scaled from 0 to 1 , where 1 indicates a strong preference for the given value , and 0 indicates very little interest in that particular value ( see Table 1 .)
Table 1 . Consumer agent persona preference values for food hub and producer parameters
The participants ’ responses to these questions were statistically analyzed ( using a hierarchical cluster analysis ) to enable the categorization of consumers into different personas ( Everitt , Landau , Leese , & Stahl , 2011 ). This method for interviewee selection and persona development has been widely used ( Adler , 2005 ; Aquino & Filgueiras , 2005 ). The output of this analysis resulted in the development of four distinct personas : Locavores , Pragmatists , Frugalists , and Idealists ( Krejci et al ., 2016 ). The Locavore is a consumer who feels strongly about supporting the local economy and obtaining the freshest foods possible . The Pragmatist is a consumer who values food safety , freshness , and nutritional content , but tends to take a moderate view on other attributes associated with food purchase . The Frugalist is a highly price-conscious consumer , and the Idealist represents a consumer who feels strongly about all sustainable values and is motivated by serving
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