The assessment of locavorism through the lens of agritourism: the pursuit of tourist’s ethereal experience

Figures & data

Figure 1. Representation of local foods in states chosen for the study.

(Map Outline Source: www.mapsofindia.com)

Table 1. Main attributes of the farm sites.

Attributes	Farm
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
State	KAa	GAb	MHc	PBd	GJe	UKf	ARg	MLh
Farm Size (Acres)	200	140	64	32	8	16	190	120
Crop Production	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Animal Production	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Generations in Farming	2	4	4	3	1	2	3	2
Agritourism Experience (Years)	8	1	16	12	4	8	2	1
Functionality (Months)	12	12	12	6	12	6	6	8
Educational Activities	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Farm-Based Recreation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Non-Farm Based Recreation	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Farm Fresh Produce	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Farm-Based Food	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Products from other Local Farms	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

^a Karnataka.

^b Goa.

^c Maharashtra.

^d Punjab.

^e Gujarat.

^f Uttarakhand.

^g Arunachal Pradesh.

^h Meghalaya.

Source: self-generated based on data analysis through SPSS.

Table 2. Questionnaire design.

Variable	Items	Source
Attitude	Opting for local food extends a direct or indirect support for local farmers and fishermen.	Denver & Jensen, 2014; Hempel & Hamm, 2016; Shin et al., 2018
	Opting for local cuisine helps in improving the local economy
	Opting for local cuisine helps safeguard the beauty and consistency of agricultural landscapes
	Opting for local cuisine extends a direct or indirect support for local farmers and fishermen
	Local food is delicious
	Local food been freshly prepared.
	Local food is easily available
Subjective norms	Your family or peer group think that you should try out local food more often during your stay.
	Approval of family or peer group to try local food
	Your family or peer group, choose to try out local cuisine
	Your family or peer group you travel with, prefer you try out local cuisine over cliché cuisine
Perceived behavioural control.	Affordability of local food
	Knowledge on where to try local food
	Proximity of local food provider
	Time availability to try local food
Personal norms.	Through buying and/or purchase of local food, you will be able to connect with local farmers and producers of ingredients.
	You will be directly or indirectly supporting locally made produce
	You will be supporting sustainable agritourism

1= strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

Table 3. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents.

Sociodemographic Indicators	Frequency	Percentage
Gender
Male	170	49.4
Female	174	50.6
Prefer not to say	0	0
Age Group
Below 25	308	89.5
26-45	16	4.7
46-65	4	1.2
Above 66	16	4.7
Formal Education Level
High School Graduate	18	5.2
Undergraduate	140	40.7
Postgraduate	158	45.9
Other	28	8.1
Annual Household Income
Less than five Lacs	230	66.9
Five lacs to ten lacs	52	15.1
Ten lacs to twenty lacs	36	10.5
Above twenty lacs	26	7.6

Source: Authors.

Table 4. Changes in attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and personal norms pre and post experiencing agritourism (Rep-MANOVA).

Constructs and Items^a	α	n	Pre (mean)	Post (mean)	F Value	p Value
Attitudes toward Buying Local Food^b	0.76	344	4.09	4.27	13.735	< 0.001
Positive environmental impact		344	3.84	4.27	43.767	< 0.001
Improves local economy		344	4.41	4.45	0.424	0.516
Safeguard agricultural landscape		344	3.78	4.07	14.039	< 0.001
Support locals		344	4.32	4.30	0.088	0.767
Attitudes toward Local Food^c	0.713	344	4.27	4.23	0.880	0.767
Local food tastes good		344	4.35	4.32	0.460	0.498
Freshness of local food		344	4.35	4.25	2.410	0.121
Easy availability of local food		344	4.12	4.13	0.058	0.810
Subjective Norms^d	0.806	344	3.92	4.06	6.653	0.010
Approval to buy local food		344	4.12	4.16	0.243	0.623
Thinks you should buy local food		344	3.84	4.02	7.166	0.008
Often purchase local food		344	4.06	4.14	1.359	0.245
Prefers you to buy local food		344	3.67	3.94	14.080	< 0.001
Perceived Behavioural Control^e	0.717	344	3.82	3.97	8.337	0.004
Affordable		344	4.08	4.18	2.523	0.113
Knowledge on where to buy it		344	3.63	3.84	6.757	0.010
Place proximity		344	3.74	3.85	2.018	0.156
Time availability to try local food		344	3.84	4.02	7.089	0.008
Personal Norms^f	0.739	344	3.91	4.17	21.439	< 0.001
Connect with local producers and farmers		344	3.42	3.94	42.856	< 0.001
Support local food		344	4.16	4.34	7.845	0.005
Support sustainable agritourism		344	4.15	4.22	1.191	0.276

^a Measured using a five-point Likert Scale where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree.

^b Wilks’s lambda = 0.961.

^c Wilks’s lambda = 1.000.

^d Wilks’s lambda = 0.981.

^e Wilks’s lambda = 0.976.

^f Wilks’s lambda = 0.941.

Source: Authors.

Table 5. Consumer behavior toward local food before and after experiencing agritourism (Rep-MANOVA).

Constructs and Items^a	α	n	Pre (mean)	Post (mean)	F Value	p Value
Intended Consumer Behavior^b	0.784	344	2.52	4.01	1088.000	< 0.001
Likelihood to Increase Budget		344	2.59	4.18	453.550	< 0.001
Buy Local Food		344	2.52	4.18	522.070	< 0.001
Shop at Local Markets		344	2.55	3.84	253.652	< 0.001
Check Labels for Source		344	2.52	3.85	303.906	< 0.001
Eat at Local Restaurants		344	2.500	4.02	331.525	< 0.001

^a Measured using a five-point Likert Scale where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree.

^b Wilks’s lambda = 0.240.

Source: Authors.

Denver, S., & Jensen, J. D. (2014). Consumer preferences for organically and locally produced apples. Food Quality and Preference, 31, 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2013.08.014

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Hempel, C., & Hamm, U. (2016). How important is local food to organic-minded consumers? Appetite, 96, 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.09.036

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Shin, Y. H., Im, J., Jung, S. E., & Severt, K. (2018). The theory of planned behavior and the norm activation model approach to consumer behavior regarding organic menus. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 69, 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.10.011

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