Exploratory Study Regarding the Consumer Motivations for Purchasing Local Products and Their Generally Accepted Definition

Abstract

In Romania, there is no official definition for the local products and consumers often refer of their benefits thinking of organic products. In many studies, local products are associated with distance, time and farmers markets. In order to build adequate marketing strategies for local products is necessary to study the consumer and his personal motivations and perceptions regarding local products, because he represents the demand on the market. Given their importance for the community and its continuity, it is necessary to determine the consumer perception and significance within the consumers mind. The general opinion among researchers links the consumer`s perception of local products with the starting point in building and implementing marketing strategies and studying the general demand.In order to obtain information for building the questionnaire, but also for identifying the consumer perception regarding their meaning and definition, two focus groups were organized in April 2013 and July 2013 with a group of 7 persons. The participants were selected according some criteria such as: being the decision-making factor in the buying process within the family, socio-professional status, age, education. Results show that people associate local products to smaller distances from producers to consumers, freshness, and reduced time from production until consumption. Participants mentioned some motivations for purchasing local products that could be grouped into four categories such as: environmental benefits, economy benefits, social and personal benefits. The focus group conducted offered important information both for building a questionnaire and for identifying intrinsic motivations for which people buy and appreciate local products.