CONSUMERS’ PREFERENCES FOR SUSTAINABILITY ATTRIBUTES WHEN SELECTING A PLACE TO PURCHASE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN SPAIN, FRANCE & MOROCCO

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze consumers' relative importance of economic, social and environmental factors when selecting a place to purchase fruit and vegetables in order to establish new strategies according to consumer's preferences and optimize Short Food Supply Chain models. For that purpose, we analyzed consumers' acceptance and preferences using AHP methodology as a multi-criteria decision analysis. Data were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire completed by 180 consumers from Spain, France and Morocco. Results showed some heterogeneity across countries. In general terms, in Spain consumers demand a nearby shopping place, with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that are sold in bulk without packaging. In France, consumers give the highest relative importance to a place with seasonal and locally produced fruits and vegetables, with diversity of the products offered at lower price. This behavior was also similar to consumers in Morocco. In addition, results showed the existence of an "attitudebehavior gap"; that implies that consumers' stated environmental and social concerns does not always translate into actual purchase behavior. In this sense, carrying out awareness campaigns, new marketing strategies and the implementation of farmers' markets in urban areas emerges as a strategy for the implementation of the SFSC model in cities in order to promote the consumption of local products, to ensure fair trade and generate employment in the region. The AHP approach seems to be a reliable tool for analyzing consumer preferences. However, due to the diversity of cultures and traditions in each country analyzed, it is necessary to explore into the behavior of consumers according to segments and localities and complement these studies with consumers' willingness to pay techniques and thus delve into the "attitude-behavior gap".