Conclusions and Policy Implications
In this research we attempt to disentangle consumers' preferences for the local attribute from their preferences for a marketing channel. Doing so is necessary to evaluate policies that are aiming to grow local food sales through the support of direct-to-consumer venues. By evaluating the demand for local separately from the demand for a channel, our experimental design allows us to identify consumers' WTP for each target of such policies. Specifically, we determine if consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food per se, and for local food sold at the grocery store, farmers market or urban farm. In addition, we examine if this premium is affected by the convenience of the point of sale, as well as, by being organically grown. Results from online choice experiments show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food. Moreover, while customers might think that shopping at direct-to-consumer venues provides some additional intangible benefits, they seem to value whether the food was produced locally more, and display an equal level of support for local farmers who sell their produce at different venues. As a result, they do not have a preference for where to buy local produce whether at farmers markets or grocery stores. Furthermore, consumers actually discount local produce sold at urban farms, probably due to the belief that these venues offer a good value for their money. Therefore, the fact that the direct sales of local food seem to plateau is less surprising, especially considering the increasing
