The interpersonal world of direct marketing: Examining conventions of quality at UK farmers’ markets

By J. Kirwan. 2006

270 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Inherent within emerging new food supply chains (FSCs) in the UK in recent years, and in particular those based upon direct marketing, is the (re)connection of production–consumption processes and concomitantly producers and consumers. New forms of connection are apparent, as food produce is differentiated on the basis of quality constructs which are often linked both to the place and nature of its production, but also to the exchange context. As a result, quality evaluation has become increasingly complex and heterogeneous, necessitating context-specific examinations of its mediation. This paper seeks to do this through its examination of producers and consumers at farmers’ markets (FMs). Utilising the framework of Conventions Theory, it assesses how producers and consumers coordinate their mutual expectations in order to circumvent the uniform standards of ‘conventionally’ produced food and create new production–consumption spaces. In so doing, the notion of a Regard Convention is suggested as a means of acknowledging the non-economic benefits of FSCs that are underpinned by direct marketing and, in particular, those that involve face-to-face interaction between the participants concerned.

Subfields: Plant Science, Strategy and Management, Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/21de3271131293771b3abf603cde24a2ac09c27a

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Plant Science

1. A. Tregear
2. R. Sonnino
3. J. Wiskerke

In Strategy and Management

1. R. Sonnino
2. A. Tregear

In Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

1. A. Tregear
2. R. Sonnino

Citations in the corpus

• Progressing knowledge in alternative and local food networks: Critical reflections and a research agenda (2011, background): “Finally, are the claims regarding the social justice characteristics of AFNs, the argument being that as AFNs can reconfigure relations between producers and consumers (Whatmore et al, 2003; Kirwan, 2006; Feagan, 2007), bringing these actors into closer proximity and mutual understanding, the result”
• Common ground? Motivations for participation in a community-supported agriculture scheme (2008, unknown): “…(AFN) establishes the idea that “closer” links between food producers and consumers are central to defining and practising modes of food production which differ from those of the “conventional” food supply system (see, for example, Holloway and Kneafsey 2000, 2004, Lamine 2005, Kirwan 2006).”
• Quality Food, Public Procurement, and Sustainable Development: The School Meal Revolution in Rome (2009, background): “Through the adoption of conventions theory, many have argued that food quality tends to be associated with an `interpersonal world' of markets, products, and practices that are territorially and socially embedded (see, for example, Kirwan, 2006).”