Abstract
Before consumers choose what and how much fruit to buy, they first decide where to buy it. To address the choices of stores for fresh fruits, this study investigated the influence of market attributes and customers’ attitudes toward their purchasing decisions. Data from a web-based survey of 1658 U.S. consumers were used to conduct multinomial logit regression to investigate the factors guiding their choices regarding four types of stores: chain, independent, club/warehouse, and direct-to-consumer. We found attitudinal scales and market attributes have different effects on the choice of marketplace for fresh fruits. Driven by price and convenience, most consumers prefer chain stores when buying fresh fruits, whereas those same factors deter them from choosing independent and ethnic stores for fresh fruits. The supply of local fruits, friendly atmosphere, and access to desirable fresh fruits positively influenced consumers to purchase fruits at local markets. Our findings can provide insight regarding food retailers and farmers targeting fresh fruit consumers. For example, our findings highlight the importance of providing a friendly atmosphere and outstanding customer service to positively influence purchasing behavior.
Americans are consuming more fresh fruits than ever [Bentley, 2017; U.S. Department of Agriculture-Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS), 2018]. To illustrate, the U.S. per capita consumption of fresh fruits grew by 12% between 2010 and 2018 (Kenner, 2020). Increasing fresh fruit consumption is likely driven by health benefits, as well as dietary guidelines promoted by federal and local governments (Schauder et al., 2019). For instance, the fact that consumption of fresh whole fruits has been reported to extend life expectancy and reduce disease risk is likely to encourage consumption (Lusk and McCluskey, 2018; World Health Organization, 2001).
The rising demand for fresh fruits has impacted revenues and profitability of food retailers, including grocery stores. In 2016, produce departments of grocery stores generated nearly $48 billion in sales, and ≈32% of that was attributed to fresh fruits, making it one of the most lucrative fresh food categories (USDA-ERS, 2018). Similarly, direct-to-consumer (DTC) farm sales increased more than 170% between 2008 and 2015; this growth was primarily driven by fresh produce sales (U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2016), including fresh fruits. This sales increase can be explained by increasing purchasing power, customer motivation to participate in local food systems, and the promotion and growth of local outlets (Ferdinand et al., 2017; Figueroa-Rodríguez et al., 2019). The DTC marketplaces include community-supported agriculture (CSA), farmer’s markets, on-farm stores, and roadside stands.
To respond to the rising demand for fresh fruits, farmers and food retailers have increased their product mix and product form (e.g., ready-to-eat), and they have adopted marketing strategies to differentiate themselves from other retailers (Brunori et al., 2016). These differentiation strategies include using food labels that convey food attributes, delivery options, prepackaged fresh products, and other “out-of-the-box” foods aimed at increasing the market share and consumer experience for fresh produce. Yet, markets are rarely homogenous, and the proliferation of food labels seems to be generating skepticism and changing demands among consumers (Sirieix et al., 2013; Vega-Zamora et al., 2018). Most of these changes in fresh fruit consumption have been linked to consumers’ attitudes toward health benefits and place of purchase (Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002; Uyttendaele et al., 2014). Acquiring a better understanding of what consumers want, how their preferences change, and how to immediately address these changes, is not only a success factor for farmers and food retailers but a survival one when abrupt market changes occur (Freire and Rudkin, 2019).
The high levels of dynamism and competition present in fresh produce markets have forced food retailers to be more proactive in identifying consumer preferences and their decision-making process (Barrena et al., 2017). To gain a better understanding of the changes in consumer demand, several researchers have investigated what drives consumers to purchase and consume fresh fruits. Researchers have reported fresh fruit purchases can be driven by product attributes and consumer attitudes (Bir et al., 2019; Canova et al., 2020; Lancaster and Torres, 2019; Massaglia et al., 2019; Torres et al., 2020; Witzling and Shaw, 2019). For example, consumers are increasing their knowledge of the benefits of eating fresh fruits (Canova et al., 2020) and valuing the experience of eating fresh fruits (Torres et al., 2020). Massaglia et al. (2019) found that when choosing fresh fruits, consumers were mainly influenced by intrinsic and sensory product attributes such as origin, freshness, and seasonality. Mugera et al. (2017) reported that consumers’ preferences for nonsensory fresh fruits attributes include food safety and nutritional content. Torres et al. (2020) reported the search (size and lack of bruises), experience (flavor), and credence (local and pesticide-free) attributes favored by fresh fruit consumers.
Researchers also found that attitudes have a key role in consumer decision-making (Roininen et al., 2001; Verneau et al., 2016). Woo and Kim (2019) found a relationship between attitudes toward purchasing green food products and buying intentions. Individuals wanting to reduce the environmental damage caused by agriculture tend to prefer purchasing organic foods. Torres et al. (2020) identified different consumer attitudes guiding melon (Cucumis melo) consumption. For example, consumers who valued health and a variety of fresh fruits in their diets were also those consuming fruits most often. Four attitudinal scales have been extensively used in the literature to understand consumer food choices: General Health Interest (GHI), Craving Sweet Food (CSF), Food Pleasure (FP), and Variety Seeking in Foods (VSF). The GHI scale indicates consumer preferences for attributes related to health (Roininen et al., 2001). Consumers with higher ratings on the CSF scale tend to perceive sweetness as a desirable fresh fruit attribute (Saba et al., 2019). The FP scale has been associated with better nutritional status or larger food intake (Davidenko et al., 2015). Finally, the VSF scale has been correlated with an increase in fruit consumption (Nakagawa and Kotani, 2017; van Trijp and Steenkamp, 1991).
Most research has focused on the product attributes and consumer attitudes when purchasing fresh fruits; however, more recently, researchers have linked the selection of an outlet as the first step in the consumer’s purchase decision-making for fresh fruits. Gindi et al. (2018) proposed that fresh fruit purchases follow a hierarchical process whereby the selection of the marketplace is the first decision that leads to determining the purchasing behavior. Therefore, we expect that before consumers choose what and how much fruit to buy, they first decide where to make the purchase. We also expect that distinct marketplace characteristics and consumer attitudes may differently drive the decision to choose a primary marketplace for fresh fruits.
This study takes a step back from the product attribute literature to understand how marketplace attributes and consumers’ attitudes influence the choice of primary market for fresh fruit purchases. Although consumer preferences for fresh fruits are well-documented in the literature, what guides them to choose among a wide variety of marketplaces is not sufficiently detailed (Arsil and Li, 2018; Gindi et al., 2018; Kumar and Smith, 2018; Massaglia et al., 2019). Only a few studies have investigated the drivers and barriers faced by shoppers at specific food stores (Lenk et al., 2018), and most of those studies have focused on consumers’ choices of DTC markets (Arsil and Li, 2018).
The goal of this study was to investigate the factors guiding the choice of marketplaces for fresh fruit purchases. The four widely used attitudinal scales (i.e., GHI, CSF, FP, and VSF) were studied to predict the consumer choice of marketplace. By aligning the consumer attitudinal scales predicting market choice and marketplace attributes, this study shed light on the marketplace choices among fresh fruit consumers. We also investigated what demographic characteristics and purchasing behaviors influence consumers to purchase fresh fruits at different market outlets. The combination of intrinsic and extrinsic consumer characteristics predicting the marketplace choice comprised the unique approach of this research. Using data from an online survey, we conducted an attitudinal assessment of fresh fruit consumers at four market categories: chain stores, club stores or warehouses, independent grocery stores, and DTC markets. Chain stores included large traditional grocery stores such as Walmart (Bentonville, AR) and Meijer (Grand Rapids, MI). Club stores included wholesale warehouses selling products in bulk quantities, such as Costco (Issaquah, WA) and Sam’s Club (Bentonville, AR). Independent grocery stores included independent, ethnic, and natural grocery stores. Finally, DTC markets included farmer’s markets, roadside stands, at the farm, and CSA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to use attitudinal scales and marketplace attributes to understand what drives consumers to choose their primary marketplace for fresh fruits.
Data and methodology
Data description
Data from this study were obtained from a web-based survey of fresh fruit purchasers in the United States. The questionnaire was approved by the Institutional Review Board for compliance with ethical standards for human subjects (number 1807020586). Questionnaire development was guided by a review of the literature and interviews with researchers and extension personnel working in food systems, consumers, and fresh fruit retailers. Similar to the work by Torres et al. (2020), the survey was distributed by LightSpeed GMI (Bridgewater, NJ) during late Summer and early Fall 2018 to potential respondents who were part of their proprietary opt-in panel of U.S. households.
We recruited respondents who were at least 18 years old and purchased fresh fruits at least once during the 12 weeks before data collection, a timeline that overlaps with the highest consumption of fresh fruits (Curtis et al., 2019). This timeline was also chosen based on the abundance of fresh fruits available in the market channels (Chatziprodromidou et al., 2018). The sample of surveyed participants was recruited to be representative of the U.S. population based on age, sex, and pretax income based on the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS). For example, the proportion of 18- to 34-year-old individuals in our sample was 30.4% compared with 30.1% in the 2017 ACS. Similar comparison rates were achieved for respondents between 35 and 54 years of age (32.8% vs. 33.1%), 55 and 64 years of age (16.0% vs. 16.7%), and those 65 years and older (20.8% vs. 20.1%). The proportion of women in our sample was 47% compared with 51% in the 2017 ACS. Respondents who earned less than $50,000 in 2017 represented 44.8% of our sample (compared with 42.1% in the ACS). Respondents with household income ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 comprised 44.8% of our sample (vs. 44.7% in the ACS). Finally, those reporting household income more than $150,000 comprised 10.37% of our sample (vs. 13.2% in the ACS).
The sample of this study comprised 1658 respondents after eliminating respondents for a variety of reasons (i.e., failure to pass attention checks, identical responses in a section, and incomplete responses). To gain a better understanding of the market attributes guiding consumers, we categorized respondents based on their primary market for fresh fruits based on four main groups of outlets: chain stores [66% (N = 1095)], club/warehouse stores [5% (N = 85)], independent grocery stores [18% (N = 304)], and DTC markets [11% (N = 174)].
We asked respondents about the importance they placed on the following market attributes when purchasing fresh fruits at their selected primary marketplace: market availability, availability of desirable fresh fruits, prices, market proximity, fresh fruits selection, friendliness of the market, convenience, supply of locally grown fruits, supply of organic fruits, fruits sourced from family-owned farms, access to seasonal fruits, and variety of fresh fruits. Fresh fruit selection was used to capture the different types of fresh fruit available at a marketplace, whereas fresh fruit diversity was used to capture the variety of similar and different fruit types. Market attributes were measured using a scale ranging from 0 to 100 (0 = not at all important; 100 = extremely important). Respondents were asked to slide bars to select the level of importance placed on the aforementioned market attributes. Attitudes were measured by attitudinal scales, including the GHI, FP, CSF, and VSF scales. To uncover the most salient attitudinal factors influencing market choice, we conducted a principal component analysis of the GHI, FP, CSF, and VSF scales using the MEANS, FACTOR, and CORR procedures of SAS statistical software (version 9.4 for Windows; SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
Table 1 describes the dependent and independent variables used during the study. The questionnaire included questions regarding purchasing and consumption of fresh fruits, including the number of miles traveled to their primary marketplace, monthly expenditures, and the person responsible for purchasing in the household. Using region categorization from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1 shows the regional groups used in the study (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West).
Categories and descriptions of dependent variable (market) and independent variables used to investigate the factors influencing marketplace choice for fresh fruits among U.S. consumers.
We considered the choice of market channel as a treatment effect for means comparisons and computed multiple comparisons among the variable means using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) model and Tukey’s honestly significant difference method at the 10% significance level. Because of the unordered and discrete nature of the marketplace categories, a robust multinomial logit regression was performed to understand what influences the choice of primary marketplace among fresh fruit consumers. The robust multinomial logit model describes the consumers’ choices when faced with a variety of marketplaces; however, the marketplaces are likely to be highly differentiated by attitudinal scales and market attributes.
We hypothesized that the GHI, FP, CSF, and VSF scale scores would impact the choice of marketplace differently. We expected that consumers with high ratings on the GHI and FP scales would be more likely to purchase fresh fruits at DTC and independent stores, whereas those with high ratings on the CSF and VSF scales would favor purchasing fresh fruits at club/warehouse and chain stores. We also hypothesized that market attributes related to seasonality, organic fruit offerings, friendliness of the store atmosphere, and availability of local products drive consumers to purchase fresh fruit at DTCs and independent/ethnic stores, whereas price, fresh fruit selection, convenience, and fruit diversity increase the likelihood to purchase at chain and club stores.
Analyses were conducted using Stata statistical software (release 16; StataCorp, College Station, TX). Variables in the vector
Results and discussion
Summary statistics
Table 2 describes the explanatory variables and mean differences for all variables by marketplace categories. Almost half of the sample was female, and they mostly chose independent stores (54%) when purchasing fresh fruits instead of DTC and club stores
Characteristics of 1658 U.S. respondents to the online survey categorized by market choice for fresh fruits as chain stores (N = 1095), warehouse or club stores (N = 85), independent stores (N = 304), and direct-to-consumer markets (N = 174).
More than half of the respondents (56%) had a college education or a higher degree, but there were no differences in educational attainment among categories. Higher-income households reported purchasing most fresh fruits at club stores rather than chain stores
Less than one-quarter of respondents were located in rural areas (22%), and club stores were the least common choice for buying fresh fruits among rural residents
More than three-quarters of the respondents were Caucasian (77%) and preferred buying fresh fruits at chain stores and independent stores instead of club stores
Respondents reported spending an average of $30.14 per month on fresh fruits. The fact that the survey was delivered between late summer and early fall, when the availability and purchasing of fruits tend to be higher (Curtis et al., 2019), should be considered when interpreting the monthly expenditures on fresh fruits. Consumers purchasing fresh fruits at DTC marketplaces spent more every month compared with those purchasing at chain and independent stores
Consistent with the results of Bir et al. (2019), most survey respondents (83%) reported being in charge of purchasing fresh fruits for their household. Those in charge of purchasing fresh fruits reported a higher preference for chain stores and DTC marketplaces than for club stores
We asked respondents about the importance they placed on 11 market attributes (Table 2). Overall, the three most valued attributes were fresh fruit selection (74%), market convenience (71%), and price (70%). Less important attributes were seasonal fruits (65%), closeness to home (62%), friendliness of atmosphere (58%), diversity of fresh fruits (56%), offering local fruits (55%), the only place offering fresh fruits (49%), access to organic fruits (44%), and market availability in the respondent’s area (35%). Access to local, organic, seasonal, and selected fresh fruits as well as friendly atmosphere were more important to those purchasing at DTC markets
Four attitudinal scales were used to assess how consumer attitudes influence the choice of market for fresh fruits: GHI, CSF, FP, and VSF. Results of the GHI scale principal component analysis showed that all eight questions had loadings >0.59, with adequate fit statistics [measure of sampling adequacy (MSA) = 0.835; standardized Cronbach’s α = 0.821] (Hair et al., 1998). The variables considered as one component explained 45% of the variance. The means ranged between 3.0 and 3.9 on a 5-point Likert scale. The moderate means indicated that participants had a liking for healthy diets.
For the CSF scale principal component analysis, three of the six items of the scale that had loading >0.81, adequate fit statistics (MSA = 0.700), and explained 70.7% of the variance were kept. The mean of the items varied between 3.4 to 3.7 on a 5-point Likert scale. This result indicated that the sample had cravings for sweet food slightly beyond the CSF scale midpoint. The other three items were omitted because of low loading coefficients.
Considering the FP scale, three items were kept from the principal component analysis and three others were omitted because of low scores for the factor pattern. The remaining items explained 60.7% of the variance, with adequate fit statistics (MSA = 0.665). The items had loading >0.77. The mean scores for each item varied from 3.6 to 4.0 on a 5-point Likert scale, indicating that this sample of fresh fruit buyers considered the food pleasure.
Of the eight items of the VSF scale questionnaire, six were retained after the principal component analysis. The retained items explained 65.5% of the variance, with adequate fit statistics (MSA = 0.900). Of the two not retained, one was omitted because of low loading (0.4414) and the other was omitted because of the very low final communality estimate (0.1948). The mean of the remaining items ranged from 3.4 to 3.7 on a 5-point Likert scale, which means buyers are interested in prioritizing the variety in food. The principal component analyses of the scales were generated using the MEANS, FACTOR (METHOD = p and PRIORS = 1), and CORR procedures of SAS software (SAS for Windows version 9.4).
According to the ANOVA results, the GHI, CSF, and VSF scales showed no significant difference among the type of market chosen for fresh fruits
Regression results
Table 3 provides the marginal effects of the multinomial logit regression. The CSF and VSF scales were the only attitudinal scales influencing shoppers’ choices of marketplace for fresh fruits. Shoppers with high ratings on the CSF scale were more likely to choose club stores [1% (
Marginal effects results from the multinomial logit regression used to investigate the factors influencing the marketplace choices for fresh fruits among U.S. consumers.
The only market attribute driving customers to choose club/warehouse stores was access to organic fruits [5% (
Market attributes driving fruit buyers to purchase at DTC markets were offering local fruits [19% (
Demographic characteristics influencing the likelihood to choose DTC markets included marital status, household size, location, and ethnicity. The fact that married individuals [2% (P < 0.05)] and those with larger households [1% (P < 0.1)] were less likely to choose DTC markets as the main outlet for fresh fruits is interesting. These results may be because shopping at DTC markets may increase the number of shopping trips to satisfy the needs of a larger family, especially when chain stores offer the possibility of one-stop shopping for larger households. Contrary to previous studies (Conner et al., 2010; Gumirakiza et al., 2014; Onianwa et al., 2005), our results suggest that smaller households were more likely to purchase fresh fruits at DTC markets [1% (P <
Marketplace attributes driving fruit buyers to purchase at chain stores included convenience of the marketplace [18% (
The results showed that women were 4% less likely to choose chain stores
Shoppers at independent/ethnic stores were less likely to be driven by prices [8% (P < 0.1)] or market convenience [13% (P < 0.05)]. Webber et al. (2010) reported that buyers who choose independent/ethnic stores are driven by specific fresh fruit attributes, including freshness and access to ethnic fruits. Despite the higher number of independent stores per county being located in the South (Cho and Volpe, 2017), our results showed that Southern buyers were 12% less likely to choose these stores for fresh fruits purchases (P < 0.01). One explanation may be the year-round supply of fresh fruits in the South that provides customers with many marketplace choices for fresh fruits (Valpiani et al., 2015).
Conclusions
This study proposed that before consumers choose what and how much fruit to buy, they first decide where to make the purchase. To address this decision-making process, we investigated the market attributes and consumer attitudes influencing their choice of primary marketplace for fresh fruits. By focusing on four categories of marketplaces, we found that most fresh fruit customers tend to prefer chain stores. Convenience and prices of fresh fruits are the main drivers of choosing large chain stores, whereas marketplace atmosphere and offering of local fruits deter consumers from choosing these market channels for fresh fruits. Our findings highlight the importance of providing a friendly atmosphere and outstanding customer service to positively influence purchasing behavior. Our results are consistent with those of the literature indicating consumer preferences for local produce, thus suggesting that buying local foods provides a sense of community involvement and may influence the presence of price premiums (Torres, 2020).
The fact that market convenience and prices were market attributes deterring customers from buying fresh fruits at independent/ethnic stores has important implications. These results suggest that managers of independent/ethnic stores should not focus their advertisement campaigns on prices; instead, they should emphasize the diversity, freshness, and selection of fresh fruits. As long as managers of these stores provide consumers with access to specialty, nutrient-dense, and ethnic fresh fruits, customers may be willing to pay a premium price for them. It is worth mentioning that several researchers have reported that market prices and availability of healthy products are major factors influencing purchases at independent stores. Yet, these studies focused mainly on small-format independent, gas station, and dollar stores (Caspi et al., 2017; Chung and Myers, 1999; Jetter and Cassady, 2006; O’Malley et al., 2013), whereas our study focused on independent, ethnic, and natural grocery stores. The fact that independent stores have an important role in the U.S. economy helping consumers to access healthy and ethnic food (Cho and Volpe, 2017) indicates the need for more research of ethnic and independent food stores offering a diversity of fresh produce.
Another important contribution of our study included the drivers and barriers to purchasing fresh fruits at local markets (i.e., DTC stores) relative to other marketplaces. The supply of local fruits, marketplace atmosphere, and access to desirable fresh fruits positively influenced customers to purchase fruits at local markets. Interestingly, the same marketplace attributes influencing customers to purchase fruits at local markets are those deterring them to purchase at chain stores. Our findings are consistent with those of Archambault et al. (2020), Kumar and Smith (2018), and Lancaster and Torres (2019), who reported that friendliness and access to local fruits entice customers to purchase at local markets. Initiatives like “know your farmer, know your food” efforts to support local farmland and local economy and local food programs at the state and community levels seem to be encouraging the demand for local foods.
Our findings suggest that local buyers are not considering price as a determinant factor when selecting their main market outlet for fresh fruits. Consistent with the results of Kumar and Smith (2018), our results showed that fresh fruit selection and diversity are major barriers for consumers buying at local markets. Increasing the offering of local foods through vendor recruitment, supporting the supply of value-added agricultural products, and extending the length of the market season for fresh fruits may help managers of local markets overcome these barriers. Overall, customers of local markets seem to place more value on knowing more about their food, where it comes from, and their health, nutritional, and safety aspects when buying fresh fruits (Torres, 2020).
Regarding consumers’ attitude scales influencing the choice of marketplace, the CSF and VSF scales seem to drive consumers to purchase fresh fruits at local markets and club stores. Fruit sampling, innovative labels, and point-of-purchase marketing highlighting sweetness and variety of fruits can be effective tools for encouraging customers to purchase fresh fruits at these stores. We expect that consumers who are seeking a variety of fresh fruits may be enticed to purchase them at club stores if they have access to bundles containing different fruit types.
This study highlights the attitude factors and market attributes influencing consumers’ choices of fresh fruit markets. One possible limitation of this study may be the fact that web-based surveys may have some biases but are generally accepted market research protocols that ensure accuracy and data collection speed while reducing study costs and coding errors. The size of our study sample and a robust analysis helped us address potential biases. By using an online platform, which is a convenient sampling technique, this study focused on Internet users; therefore, the sample may not reflect the general population. Future research can replicate the study by using a probabilistic sampling frame. We suggest that future research should address the values and motivations influencing fresh fruit consumers through in-depth research interviews.
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