Gabriela Sullivan

Research Summary
As citizens in the United States become more concerned with how their food is
produced and where it comes from, farmers have the opportunity to connect with
consumers and educate them on how the food they eat everyday is grown. Since
consumers have a renewed interest in their food, researchers want to know why
consumers buy local food. By understanding the factors that drive consumers to buy local
food, farmers and companies alike can develop effective marking materials to attract
buyers to their local products.
Researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Georgia conducted
research with the purpose of discovering the best way to predict why Floridians buy
Florida-grown blueberries using the Theory of Planned Behavior. The Theory of Planned
Behavior is a model used to forecast the behaviors of participants. It is composed of three
variables: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. In this experiment
researchers added two additional variables, past experience buying Florida blueberries
and self-identity/moral obligation to buy Florida-grown blueberries, to see if these
additional variables have an effect on the consumers aspiration to buy Florida-grown
blueberries.
To carry out the experiment, researchers sent out an online survey, asking
participants a series of questions to gain insight into the participants approach to buying
local blueberries. The questionnaire consisted of both 5-point, rating questions and 5-
point, bi-polar, semantic differential scales. When formulating the questions, researchers
took into consideration previous research, which indicated that people have different
definitions for what it means to have locally grown produce. To avoid misunderstandings,
researchers defined local as any produce grown in Florida and decided to focus solely on
blueberries. Before releasing the survey to the public, researchers pretested and pilot
tested the survey to guarantee that there would be no errors in the surveys performance.
The participants were recruited through an outside marketing firm using a technique
called crowdsourcing. Since researchers had a non-random sample of participants, they
took the initiative to measure the coverage error of the experiment to confirm that the
results of their experiment are reliable despite the non-random sample of participants. At
the end of the study, the researchers compared their sample demographics to the U.S.
Census Bureau data on the state of Florida and found that there was not a significant
coverage error.
The results from the experiment indicate that the three variables, attitude,
subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, in the Theory of Planned Behavior
are factors that contribute to a participant’s decision to purchase local blueberries. Both
the additional variables of past experience and self-identify/moral obligation also increase
the foreseeability of the participant’s plan to purchase Florida blueberries. Based on the
conclusions reached in the experiment, it is imperative that blueberry farmers form a
connection with their consumers. The nature of a consumers experience purchasing local
blueberries is a factor in determining whether or not the consumer will buy local
blueberries in the future. The interactions farmers share with their consumers can shape a
consumer’s self-identity/moral obligation to purchase local blueberries. Forming quality
relationships with consumers should be a top priority for blueberry farmers to ensure that
consumers’ future decisions reflect their knowledge of farming and ultimately benefit the
blueberry industry in Florida.