Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of consumers of organic food, based on their motivations. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire based on the Food Choice Questionnaire was applied to a 656 consumers. A multivariate factor analysis and cluster analysis was performed to the data. Findings: Seven factors were identified: ecological concern; nutritional content; availability of natural products; sensory aspects; certifications, health and confidence; and economic aspects. Resulting clusters were named as: conscious and interested in certification; conscious with no interest in certification; opportunist in transition; unconscious opportunist. There are signs of different consumers. The consumers of these products are characterised by an interaction between hedonic and ethical motivations, where the most important motivation is environmental concern and the least important are the economic aspects. Research limitations/implications: The reduced number of alternative markets in Mexico limits the amplitude of the research. Practical implications: The work herein reported is pioneer and contributes to reduce the lack of studies on the motivations and characteristics of consumers of organic foods in Mexico. Findings may set a path for new research in other cultural contexts; as well as for more specific work in Mexico as of consumers of industrialised organic products. Social implications: Characterising consumers of organic foods will enable the development of these markets. Originality/value: Social studies of eating habits have taken place in European countries; and several works have been developed in other areas of the world to determine the way in which consumers build their preferences and food choice patterns. In Mexico, specifically in organic foods, studies have focussed in agrarian economics, but the analysis of motivations for choice has not been addressed. Therefore, it is important to research this issue given the relevance for consumers.

Alternative spaces for the consumption of non-conventional foods as short commercialization chains have been increased worldwide, as well as the interest in understanding the dynamics developed in those initiatives from a social approach, has increased. This work aimed to analyze the Organizers, Producers and Consumers’ perceptions that participate in short food supply chains in ecological markets in the south of Spain. The Conventions Theory framework was used by applying a quantitative and qualitative methodology. A total of 159 questionnaires were applied (three to Organizers, 15 to Producers and 177 to Consumers). The questionnaire considered items related to social conventions for seven worlds (Domestic, Civic, Market, Industrial, Opinion and Inspired) and sociodemographic information. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the information. Results show that coincidences and divergences are observed in the importance given to the worlds; the Civic, Inspired and Opinion worlds are perceived similarly by the three types of actors and are related to the interest in how these activities benefit the environment. Differences are attributed to the role played by each type of actor and to socioeconomic aspects. Results can materialize into different strategies to improve these initiatives and reach more consumers.

Ediciones Comunicación Científica se especializa en la publicación de libros dictaminados, digitales e impresos, mediante el sistema de pares ciegos académicos, acceso abierto al texto completo, métricas, DOI, Epub, indización internacional, ética editorial, comités editoriales, campaña de comunicación en las áreas de humanidades, sociales y ciencias.

Estudiamos los factores de consumo de vino en las rutas enológicas del Centro de México. Para ello, diseñamos un cuestionario aplicado a 402 sujetos en la Ruta del Queso y el Vino, en Querétaro, estructurado en tres secciones: Food Choice Questionnaire para identificar los motivos de consumo, libre asociación de palabras y, finalmente, fueron recopiladas las características sociodemográficas, siendo estas últimas analizadas de manera cualitativa. Con la información recabada se realizó un Análisis Factorial Exploratorio y posteriormente un Análisis Jerárquico de Clúster, así como pruebas no paramétricas para identificar las diferencias estadísticas. Las palabras se analizaron mediante nubes de palabras. Dentro de los resultados, se identificaron 12 motivos de consumo, 14 categorías, ocho dimensiones y tres grupos de consumidores de vino en México en el contexto de la actividad enoturística. Concluimos que el consumo de vino está determinado y configurado por el nivel de relación existente entre el consumidor y referente cultural de la bebida. Además, hay un incremento en el interés del mexicano por consumir vino, adaptándolo a sus particularidades socioculturales y económicas.

Objetivo: conocer el impacto subjetivo de la pandemia de Covid-19 en productores y productoras de alimentos agroecológicos en el centro de México. Metodología: se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a productores y productoras que acuden a un mercado alternativo que surgió a partir de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. Resultados: un impacto negativo en los rubros de Acceso a espacios de venta, Demanda de productos, Carga de trabajo, Salud y familia e Insumos y producción. Además, se pudo observar que los productores y productoras implementaron diversas estrategias para mitigar el impacto negativo de la pandemia. Limitaciones: se incluye solo un número reducido de productores y productoras que participan en un mercado agroecológico que se desarrolla en una universidad pública, esto sirvió como pauta para posteriores análisis. Conclusiones: el impacto negativo alto percibido no se dio de la misma forma para todos; se presentaron diversos escenarios y estrategias en cuanto a mitigar los efectos negativos.