Who shops at local farmers' markets? Committed loyals, experiencers and produce-orientated consumers

•Farmers' markets should be treated as an intangible, changing offer, decoded by individual groups of customers.•Market management should focus on the individual needs of different customer groups rather than on macro-market structure.•Consumer lifestyles form the basis of consumption behaviour in the farmers' market rather than demographic profiles.

Lifestyle segmentation, used to explore consumer attitudes, interests, opinions and values, is applied to a local farmers' market (the Otago farmers' market, in New Zealand) in order to build a profile of consumer motivations and behavioural drivers beyond simple demographic data. Prior research indicates a growing need for studies that seek to understand the intangible aspects of food selection and consumption. Farmers' market consumers are often treated as a homogenous group, with purchase and consumption decision making assumed to rest with tangible aspects of produce on offer, such as its organic nature or lower cost. The overall experience of the consumer within the food purchase environment is often overlooked. The current study finds that three distinctly different consumer segments exist within the farmers' market context, with those concerned with the tangible aspects of produce being the smallest group of consumers. Two consumer segments driven by differing experience-related motivations give the greatest insight into consumer behaviour in a farmers' market context, with committed, loyal consumers being concerned with relationships with sellers and producers, and experience orientated consumers motivated by the opportunity to interact with other farmers' market attendees.

Chinese Abstract生活方式细分是用来探究消费者态度、兴趣、想法和价值观的方法，它被应用到了一个本地农贸市场（新西兰Otago农贸市场），目的是在简单的人口统计数据之上建立一个消费者积极性和行为推动因素的数据资料。之前的研究表明，我们需要更多地通过研究来设法了解影响食品选购和消费的无形因素。农贸市场的消费者往往被当作一个单一的群体来进行分析，认为他们的购买和消费决策停留在被出售的农产品的有形属性，例如它是否有机或是否价格更低。消费者在食品购买环境中的整体体验往往被忽视了。目前的研究发现，在农贸市场环境中存在三个截然不同的消费群体，而那些关注农产品有形属性的消费者只是人数最少的那个群体。另两个群体是根据不同的体验相关积极性而划分的，一种是坚定的忠实消费者，他们的积极性建立在与卖家和生产者的关系上；另一种是注重体验的消费者，他们的积极性源自与农贸市场中其它参与人员的交流机会。这两个群体能让我们最深入地了解一个农贸市场环境中的消费者行为。