Title of Paper

Picking Pumpkins, Changing Behaviors: How Agritourism can Influence Consumer Behavior towards Local Foods

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Sara Brune is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research interests focus on transformative tourism and its intersection with inclusive development.

Whitney Knollenberg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on tourism leadership and the influence of policy, planning, and partnerships in sustainable tourism development.

Kathryn Stevenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on children and nature, including identifying drivers of environmental literacy and understanding mechanisms of intergenerational learning.

Carla Barbieri is an Associate Professor in Equitable and Sustainable Tourism (North Carolina State University, USA) where she leads the “Agritourism & Societal Wellbeing” lab. She investigates the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of agritourism at the farm household and society levels. She also studies the sustainability of niche tourism.

Abstract (150 Words)

Consumers’ engagement in local food consumption is crucial for food systems sustainability and agritourism is considered a market outlet for local food consumption. Yet, there has been limited research on consumer behavior towards local food in the context of agritourism. The purpose of this work is to measure whether an agritourism experience influences consumers’ intentions to purchase local food. To achieve this purpose this study utilized a pre-post survey at agritourism operations in North Carolina. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to measure the influence of agritourism on intended consumer behavior. This study concludes that agritourism positively influences consumers’ attitudes and personal norms towards local food and intended local food purchasing. Altogether, this study builds towards an underexplored additional benefit of agritourism as a strategy to promote local food consumption and food systems sustainability.

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Picking Pumpkins, Changing Behaviors: How Agritourism can Influence Consumer Behavior towards Local Foods

Consumers’ engagement in local food consumption is crucial for food systems sustainability and agritourism is considered a market outlet for local food consumption. Yet, there has been limited research on consumer behavior towards local food in the context of agritourism. The purpose of this work is to measure whether an agritourism experience influences consumers’ intentions to purchase local food. To achieve this purpose this study utilized a pre-post survey at agritourism operations in North Carolina. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to measure the influence of agritourism on intended consumer behavior. This study concludes that agritourism positively influences consumers’ attitudes and personal norms towards local food and intended local food purchasing. Altogether, this study builds towards an underexplored additional benefit of agritourism as a strategy to promote local food consumption and food systems sustainability.