Local Loyalty Project: Can positioning a regional grocery chain as a purveyor of local foods increase customer loyalty and local foods sales?

INTRODUCTION: Research suggests that regular local food purchasing behavior is associated with more fruit and vegetable consumption, providing evidence that local food purchasing can be beneficial to health.

METHODS: Through a large project to connect local foods to mainstream markets (a grocery chain and a military base), we explore whether positioning a grocery chain as a purveyor of local foods will build customer loyalty and increase the purchasing of local foods. Researchers are collaborating with farmers, buyers, store managers, and a newly hired Locally Grown Accounts Representative at a grocery chain to move more food from North Carolina farms to North Carolina tables. This is being done through local food demonstration events and other promotions. Through these promotions we aim to learn whether intentions to purchase local foods are associated with actual purchasing behavior in the presence of local food promotions.

RESULTS: Through interviews during local food demonstrations at the stores, we learned that 77% of customers agreed or strongly agreed that they would be more likely to purchase local foods after attending the event. We will present the results of two promotions (one providing messages around the economic benefits of local foods and the other testing messages that promote local purchasing as a social norm) from data collected through customer panel surveys about purchasing intentions linked with customer purchasing data.

DISCUSSION: Moving more local foods into mainstream markets and encouraging their purchase may be a new way of promoting a healthy diet.