In my master’s thesis, I examined consumption journeys within the alternative local food network REKO. The aim was to identify different types of consumption journeys and analyse factors that cause misalignment in these journeys. The study employs a qualitative approach, aiming to deepen the understanding of the reality experienced by REKO participants within their sociocultural environment. The interview data was collected in spring 2024 as part of the Organizing REKO project, involving consumers, producers, and admins. I also did a field observation of my own consumption journey in REKO to form a better understanding, although this wasn’t included as a part of the actual empirical data.
Consumption journey theory emphasizes how practices, communities, and institutions shape value creation, experiences, and value outcomes (Schau & Akaka, 2021). The theory provides a useful framework for understanding the reasons behind the misalignment of consumption practices (Hamilton et al., 2019; Becker et al., 2021). As an alternative food network, REKO offered a new context for the study of consumption journeys, expanding the research beyond the traditional retail environment and into new food system frameworks.
Based on the interview data, I identified four types of consumption journeys in REKO: responsible consumption journey, local food consumption journey, social consumption journey, and shared identity consumption journey. Combining the theoretical understanding with the empirical data enabled the analysis of the misalignment of these journeys. The responsible consumption journey involves actions driven by ethical concerns such as social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Misalignments in this journey stem from institutional conflicts, evolving identities, and negative experiences. The local food consumption journey focuses on accessing clean, fresh, healthy, and locally produced food. In thisjourney, misalignments are linked to identity development and conflicting institutions. The social consumption journey emphasizes the social aspects of REKO highlighting interpersonal encounters and community engagement. The shared identity consumption journey reflects a sense of belonging and shared values among participants with similar motivations and meanings tied to consumption. Misalignments in these two journeys arise mainly from negative experiences and the influence of social environment.
Based on the results, REKO could be developed by focusing on enhancing trust and transparency between customers and production, balancing supply and demand, simplifying participation in the network, and strengthening community identity. This could mean setting clearer producer criteria, investing in better supply management, and improving event and network accessibility and experience. These proposals are applicable to both REKO and other alternative local food networks due to their sociocultural relevance.
Overall, the writing of master’s thesis provided me to look at familiar everyday practices – like food consumption – from a different perspective and challenged me to think more critically about how for example values, habits, and social structures influence consumer behaviour and perceptions. It also proved me the importance of sociocultural relevance in consumer research, and how individual actions are closely related to broader cultural and institutional dynamics.
By,
Aura Sandberg (MSc in Marketing from the University of Vaasa, Finland)
The thesis can be downloaded via this link (in Finnish): https://osuva.uwasa.fi/handle/10024/19494
References
Becker, L., Jaakkola, E., Akaka, M., Schau, H., & Prayer, S. (2021). Practice Disengagement: Reconfiguring Systems of Practice in Transformational Consumption Journeys. Association for Consumer Research Conference.
Hamilton, R. & Price, L. L. (2019). Consumer journeys: developing consumer-based strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47, 187–191.
Schau, H. J. & Akaka, M. A. (2021). From customer journeys to consumption journeys: a consumer culture approach to investigating value creation in practice-embedded consumption. AMS Review, 11, 9–22.