THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT FOR LOCAL FARMERS’ MARKET

The role of psychological sense of community on willingness to pay for food at a farmers’ market was not investigated in the literature. This study examined the influence of two distinct forms of psychological sense of community, the traditional concept of sense of community and the concept of sense of community responsibility. Moreover, the present research investigated the role of reasons for buying local food products as a mediating pathway through which psychological sense of community leads to WTP for food at a farmers’ market. Participants were 409 Italian people recruited through snowball sampling as well as advertisements on social networks. Participants filled out a questionnaire including measures of psychological sense of community, the relationship between sense of community, reasons for buying local food products, and willingness to pay for food at a farmers’ market. Controlling for gender, age, and household income, results revealed that sense of community was associated with willingness to pay for food at a farmers’ market. However, sense of community responsibility was associated with willingness to pay an extra-price of approximately 15 percent for the costs of food at a farmers’ market, while sense of community was associated with willingness to pay more than such a small extra-price for local food. Mediation analyses revealed that community support and connection and quality of products (but not environmental reasons) mediated the association between sense of community and willingness to pay for food at a farmers’ market.