REAL GOOD FOOD: MOTIVATIONS FOR CONSUMER PATRONAGE AT FARMERS’ MARKETS IN NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

This research paper examines the motivations underlying consumers’ patronage of farmers’ markets in Nova Scotia. This study utilizes qualitative methods in the form of semi-structured interviews with two participant groups, ten farmers’ market consumers and ten farmers’ market vendors, to identify participants’ shared lived experiences regarding farmers’ markets, utilizing thematic analysis. Three major themes were identified within the data and linked to three types of authenticity: moral authenticity, pure/literal authenticity, and approximate/symbolic authenticity. The three major themes included supporting local, product features communicating authenticity, and market experience. Price was an additional theme identified outside of the authenticity framework. A key contribution of the study is the emergence of community as a central influence on authenticity perceptions. This work contributes to and expands on existing literature on authenticity and intends to shed light on how the definition of authenticity differs among individual consumers.