British Food Journal

Exploring consumer motivations towards buying local fresh food products: A means-end
chain approach
Poppy Arsil Elton Li Johan Bruwer Graham Lyons
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Buying local
Exploring consumer motivations fresh food
towards buying local fresh products
food products
A means-end chain approach 1533
Poppy Arsil and Elton Li Received 7 April 2013
Revised 10 July 2013
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Accepted 10 July 2013
Adelaide, Australia
Johan Bruwer
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School of Marketing, University of South Australia, Highgate, Australia, and

Graham Lyons
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide,
Adelaide, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how consumers from a developing country
background such as Indonesia make local fresh food decisions for daily eating.
Design/methodology/approach – The use of the means-end chain approach is utilized as a
measure of attributes, consequences and values of locally produced products.
Findings – For Javanese ethnic group in Indonesia, “save money” and “health benefits” are identified
views that motivate consumers purchasing their local foods.
Research limitations/implications – Although investigating the largest ethnic groups in
Indonesia, the results of this study cannot be generalized to all Indonesian consumers and a larger
sample needs to be studied to generalize the results to the wider population of Indonesia.
Practical implications – It is better for the Government to promote local food policies that is based
on identified motivations of consumers. “Save money” and “health benefits” themes can be used as the
central messages for the development of advertising strategies.
Originality/value – This study identifies the Javanese motivations for buying local foods and
examines the motivation differences between rural and urban locations. This is providing views for
the Government and individual businesses use to.
Keywords Motivation, Indonesia, Means-end chain, Local food
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Support for the local-food movement as an alternative food system has been emerging
in many countries around the world (Kimura and Nishiyama, 2008; Flint, 2004; Brown,
2003). Some countries, such as Japan and the USA, have promoted local food systems
as a part of sustainable food production. Japan has promoted Chisan-Chisho Movement
which means “locally produced, locally consumed” (Kimura and Nishiyama, 2008), and
“The Local Foods Purchase Policy” of Woodbury County, Iowa (Flint, 2004), as well as
“The AgriMissouri Promotion Program” of South Missouri (Brown, 2003) have been
promoted in the USA. British Food Journal
Vol. 116 No. 10, 2014
The Indonesian Government has also promoted local food policy through the pp. 1533-1549
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
President Regulation Number 22 in 2009 with respect to food diversification 0007-070X
that is based on local resources, aimed at encouraging Indonesian people to consume DOI 10.1108/BFJ-04-2013-0083
 BFJ local foods to diversify their food consumption. Timmer et al. (1983, p. 6) explained
116,10 that:
Food policy encompasses the collective efforts of governments to influence the decision
making environment of food producers, food consumers, and food marketing agents in order
to further social objectives.
The food diversification policy in Indonesia focuses on improving people’s daily diet to
1534 increase energy and protein consumption by consuming a wider variety of local
food products (Indonesian Agricultural Department, 2010).
Local food definition has a strong association with “food quality” and “cost” (Bruhn
et al., 1992; Chambers et al., 2007; Roininen et al., 2006), “contribute to local economy”
(Bruhn et al., 1992; Chambers et al., 2007; Roininen et al., 2006; Zepeda and
Leviten-Reid, 2004) as well as “lifestyle”, “consumer ethnocentrism” and “choice”
(Roininen et al., 2006). However, localization is a key within adversarial discourse for
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local foods as a shorter food transportation distance from farms to consumers in

a particular area (Hall and Wilson, 2010). The term “particular place” has flexibility
in meaning for researchers concerned with physical distance such as a distance
o50 miles radius (Onozaka et al., 2010), or specific regions: boundaries of State (Darby
et al., 2008), national boundaries (Dunne et al., 2011), State of locations such as
Delaware (Gallons et al., 1997) and region/neighbouring region (Smithers et al., 2008).
Arsil et al. (2014) have conducted and reported on a survey involving three major
ethnic groups: Javanese, Sundanese and Minangese (n ¼ 533) to obtain consumers’
perceptions of local foods. They found that 28 per cent of respondents perceived “place
produced” as the most important characteristic that denoted food as “local” rather than
as “national” or imported’ food.
Feenstra (1997, p. 28) emphasized that:
Local food systems are rooted in particular places, aim to be economically viable for farmers
and consumers, use ecologically sound production and distribution practices and enhance
social equity and democracy for all members of the community.
This was echoed by other researchers who believed that the capacity of local food
systems could enhance both economic and social values among farms and farmer
families as “producers” and non-farm interests and consumers as “users” especially in
the local area (Hinrichs, 2000; Lyson, 2004). However, the local food programme in
Indonesia has focused completely on meeting the population’s basic needs, increasing
variety in consumable products and reducing the dependence on rice as the main cereal
in use (Indonesian Agricultural Department, 2010).
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country and the largest archipelagic state
in the world. More than 218 million people resided in Indonesia in 2008 with
approximately 59 per cent concentrated in Java Island, making it the island with the
most densely population in the world (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2010). The Javanese
are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia and made up 41 per cent of the Indonesian
population. Most of the people lived on Java Island but were also spread across the
Indonesian regions. According to Molyneaux and Rosner (2004), food consumption in
Indonesia from 1996 to 2002 increased by 7.5 per cent annually and this created an
enormous food market.
Some weaknesses have been identified in the implementation of local food policy
(Indonesian Agricultural Department, 2010; The Indonesian Secretary of State, 2010).
These include top-down policy and the dominant role of the Government in
practice. Therefore, the development of local food diversification was assessed by the
 Government to be less successful than might be expected. Despite renowned interest in Buying local
the local food system, knowledge of the behaviour of local food consumers is lacking. fresh food
The initial step to understand how consumers behave with respect to their local
foods may be taken by asking the question “Why do people buy local foods?” products
Knowledge of the consumers’ goals and their motivations will benefit the Government
and encourage Indonesian people to consume more locally grown foods. This raises
the research question: What motivates the Javanese people as the major ethnic group in 1535
Indonesia to purchase locally fresh produce?
In order to investigate consumers’ motivation of locally produced food, means-end
chain (MEC) analysis is employed, which is considered to be an effective approach for
providing a link between the attributes (A) that the product have, the consequences
(C) provided by attributes and personal values (V) reinforced by consequences which
yield a hierarchy value map (HVM) (Peter and Olson, 2005; Reynolds and Gutman,
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1988). Prior studies have produced a set of A, C and V, that underpin MEC theory,
which are linked with local foods (Lind, 2007; Roininen et al., 2006). However, these
attributes may differ significantly with respect to the personal, social and cultural
views and beliefs between European and Asian countries. Hence our study contributes
to local food research, in terms of providing empirical knowledge of the motivation
of Javanese consumers towards their local foods.

2. Literature review
2.1 Local food system
A local food system is rooted in a particular location and aims at supporting economic
benefit for farmers and consumers, providing environmental benefits through
ecologically sound production and promoting social equity. The economic gain of
local food systems is the economic viability for the small- and medium-sized family
farms, local food industries, local distributors and local retailers to support local
economic growth. For farmers, transferring market risk and profit among them gives
a larger portion of return for what they produce as there are fewer intermediate traders
(Hall and Wilson, 2010). By this means, farmers can increase their cash flow and
reassert control. Then, due to this locally based effort, opportunities for the expansion
of local agricultural businesses can occur. It also creates jobs, provides more food
choices for consumers, enhances the local tax base and reinvests money into the local
farms and the local food businesses (Welsh, 1997). Both producers and consumers
obtain social advantages from local food systems. For producers, the social advantages
are the contribution of supplying basic needs and foods for their community. For
consumers, it is the knowledge of the authenticity and origin of the foods (Hinrichs,
2003; Morris and Buller, 2003). These benefits may not only promote an independent
economy, but also enhance local food security (Baber and Frongillo, 2003; Feagan et al.,
2004) and lead to sustainable food consumption.
Local food systems also promise environmental benefits in both direct and indirect
forms. The direct benefit emerges from a shorter transportation distance. Therefore,
it can reduce fuel consumed. Since locally grown products are likely to be consumed
while fresh, this means reducing the needs of packaging, processing and refrigeration
(Halweil, 2002; Norbeg-Hodge et al., 2002). The indirect benefit is that there is less
waste causing from less shipping and packaging, thus reducing the carbon
footprint and protecting the natural environment. Another advantage is that greater
foodstuff variety is offered by local producers to meet the demand for food. Besides
the advantages stated above, farmland preservation can be achieved by returning local
 BFJ biomass back to an agro ecosystem. By this means, local agricultural diversity
116,10 can move towards a more sustainable agriculture (Halweil, 2002; Norbeg-Hodge
et al., 2002).
There are some important factors driving consumers to buy or not to buy their local
foods. The factors can be food quality, cost, lifestyle and supporting local economic
growth. In terms of food quality, local foods are believed to be a fresh product due to the
1536 fact that the food is grown near to the consumer and distributed with a shorter
transportation distance. Therefore, the food is consumed usually immediately after
harvest (Bruhn et al., 1992; Feagan et al., 2004; Wilkins, 1996). Some varieties of foods
such as strawberries, plums and apples (Chambers et al., 2007) are believed to have
better quality and taste (Baber and Frongillo, 2003). In terms of cost, the local food
prices vary among regions, seasons and government subsidies. The government
subsidies can provide price support, a tax break and a supply of fertilizers. Local foods
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can be expensive if the foods are bought when they are not readily available due to the
season involved. In Ontario, Canada, although 11 per cent of customers reported
that the local foods were more expensive than supermarket prices, this was not the
main barrier to them buying local foods (Feagan et al., 2004). Next, lifestyle is also a
leading factor that motivates buyers to purchase their local foods, such as seeing
friends, chatting and enjoying the atmosphere in the farmers’ markets (Smithers et al.,
2008). By being a part of this system, consumers believe that they can support their
local farming families and the development of small businesses in order to enhance the
local economy (Bruhn et al., 1992; Hinrichs, 2000).

2.2 The concept of MEC analysis

The concept of personal psychology introduced by Kelly (1955) argued that people
categorized their personal elements into a categorical hierarchy. This was then applied
by Gutman (1982) in marketing research by defining the level of hierarchy into
attributes, consequences and values. The basic tenet of this theory in marketing is that
there is a chain of products, services and behaviour stored in memory and these are
linked with the personal value concept. The means, products, service or certain
attributes starts to establish a sequential link providing desired consequence at the
end, while values drive buying behaviour as the fundamental sources of choice criteria
(Reynolds and Gutman, 1988). Thus, the basic assumption of the means-end
methodology is also the tenet of the general marketing concept that products, services
and behaviour are the main factors that drove consumer buying behaviour (Kotler and
Armstrong, 1991).
It has been argued that the means-end method consists of six aspects or levels of a
hierarchy: concrete attributes, abstract attributes, functional consequences,
psychosocial consequences, instrumental values and terminal values as described by
many researchers (Gutman, 1982, 1997; Mulvey et al., 1994; Olson and Reynolds,
2003; Reynolds and Gutman, 1988). In Figure 1, the six aspects or levels of the MEC
are illustrated. They are categorized into two steps: product knowledge and
self-knowledge (Mulvey et al., 1994).
Gutman (1997) gave an overview of the six-level hierarchies. The concrete attributes
were the tangible attributes such as colour and weight. They could be measured
physically. The abstract attributes were defined as intangible characteristics such as
“smell nice” or “pleasant feeling”. They were measured subjectively. Pieters et al. (1995)
explained that consumers could identify positive consequences that consisted
of the functional and psychosocial consequences. Both of them were influenced by the
 attributes. The functional consequences were the tangible outcomes of using a product, Buying local
while the psychosocial consequences were psychosocial and social outcomes of fresh food
the product used. Then, there were two types of values in the MEC. These were the
instrumental values and the terminal values. The instrumental values reflected modes products
of conduct to achieve terminal values as perceived by others (Reynolds and Gutman,
1988). The end goal of the consumer was the terminal value related to the personal
view of the consumer. 1537
The level of consequence satisfaction influenced personal values. Consumers
tended to purchase a product that could satisfy their values. This concept enabled an
understanding of the action and behaviour of consumers. In the MEC, the terminal
value was the dominant role of consumer motivation in purchasing decisions (Mulvey
et al., 1994; Vriens and Hofstede, 2000). The personal values emerged if consumers
were able to link between the attributes of the products to positive consequences of
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product use and the desired values. A stronger A-C-V link identified by consumers
meant that they were highly involved and complied with a means-end association.
Therefore, it was necessary to understand the consumer’s motivation to purchase local
foods in order to ensure the appropriate policy of local food consumption.

2.3 Research questions

In order to understand the motivation of Javanese people to buy their locally grown
foods with respect to attributes, consequences and values, linking to MEC analysis,
two research questions were formulated:

RQ1. What are the major motives of urban and rural Javanese residents when
making decisions to buy local foods?

RQ2. What are the similarities and differences in motivation between residents in
urban and rural areas?

3. Methods
3.1 MEC employed
MEC analysis is a qualitative method that provides the links between attributes,
consequences and personal values in making buying decisions (Reynolds and
Whitlark, 1995). This concept illustrates that consumers have three types of
knowledge; knowledge of the attributes that the products have (A), knowledge of the
consequences provided by the attributes (C ) and knowledge of the values reinforced

Product Self-knowledge
knowledge (motivation to process)

Concrete Abstract Functional Psychosocial Instrumental Terminal Figure 1.

attributes attributes consequence consequences values values
The six levels of the
means-end hierarchy
Source: Mulvey et al. (1994, p. 52)
 BFJ by the consequences (V) (Pieters et al., 1995). It is possible to link the A-C-V types
116,10 of knowledge sequentially in a hierarchy called a ladder or MEC. By using this
method, some reasons why consumers buy the particular products can be explored
(Reynolds and Gutman, 1988).
3.1.1 Content analysis procedure. One of the major issues emerging in the
content analysis procedure is the coding of information. According to Kolbe and
1538 Burnett (1991), a consensus in coding could be achieved by discussing the key theme of
coding with trained judges or expert coders and reviewing the reports of previous
studies. Judges needed to be trained as it would increase familiarity with both
the content and the coding scheme, thereby improving the consistency of coding
between two judges. In order to assess consistency, interjudge reliability, namely,
the “ratio of coding agreements to the total number of coding decisions” was
needed (Kassarjian, 1977, p. 14). The author stated that researchers should treat
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reported data with suspicion when the interjudge reliability was o80 per cent.
If the reliability coefficient was above 85 per cent, the analyst could accept the
category involved and it was strong enough for scientific usage (Kassarjian,
1977, p. 14). Interjudge reliability for this study that involved two judges was
87 per cent.
3.1.2 Generating HVM. The HVM is a tree-like network that is an aggregate
diagram of a cognitive structure that has three hierarchical levels: attributes,
consequences and values. All interview data from the laddering procedure became
the input into a Summary of Implication Matrix (SIM). The link of an attribute (A j ) to
a consequence variable (Ck) is recorded in an A j Ck cell in a SIM. The total frequency
of the attributes-consequence (A-C) linkages is recorded in a tabulated SIM (Reynolds
and Gutman, 1988). The same procedure is employed for the consequence-value
(C-V) linkages.
An approach involving a comparison of the number of times each variable was
mentioned as the end vs the origin of a relationship could be used to order the matrix
(Bagozzi and Dabholkar, 2000; Pieters et al., 1995). The ratios or indexes of the numbers
of times each variable was mentioned were referred to as “in-degree” and “out-degree”
ratios or indexes, respectively. Pieters et al. (1995) suggested that at this stage,
a concept of the “abstractness ratio” could be used to examine which variables served
as the means or ends in the attribute-consequence-value (A-C-V) hierarchies. The value
of the abstractness ratio could range from 0 to 1. The higher the abstractness score
indicated that the variable predominantly served as the end which represented the
larger proportion of variable connections over other variables. Pieters et al. (1995) also
suggested that centrality could be explained as how frequently a particular
relationship was involved in linkages with other relationships. Pieters et al. (1995,
p. 222) explained that:
The higher the centrality index, the larger the proportion of connections in the variables
structure that run through the particular variable.
The next step in constructing a HVM is to identity a “cut-off level”. A simple “rule of
thumb” for the cut-off level was suggested by Reynolds and Gutman (1988). They also
suggested researchers might try multiple cut-off levels and then choose the HVM that
led to interpretable and informative solutions. The key decision to construct the HVM
was to determine which cells or linkages in the SIM should be portrayed in the HVM as
the dominant relationships in the matrix. Pieters et al. (1995) suggested that the
proportion of active links at or above the cut-off level and the proportion of active cells
 at or above the cut-off level could be an additional method to use in determining the Buying local
cut-off level. Pieters et al. (1995, p. 238) suggested that: fresh food
In choosing a cut-off level, we tried to account for a large percentage of the total number of products
connections that subjects made between goals with a relatively small number of cells in the
implication matrix.
Thus, a cut-off level represented between 60 and 70 per cent of active links at or above
the cut-off level (Reynolds and Gutman, 1988; Pieters et al., 1995; Bagozzi and Dabholkar, 1539
2000) and was considered adequately representative for choosing the cut-off level.

3.2 Sampling
Multistage random sampling was used to select respondents who were food deciders
(see Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010, p. 353 for a definition) as well as above 17 years old.
A cluster sample of Javanese people was selected at the first stage, then rural and
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urban areas were selected that were based on the criteria identified by Statistics
Indonesia (2005, p. 10).
Yogyakarta was chosen to represent the urban-based respondents of the Javanese
people. This city is the capital city of the Yogyakarta special region province and is
renowned as the heart centre of Javanese culture and art. The centre of Yogyakarta city
is the Kraton (Sultan Palace) surrounded by a densely populated residential
neighborhood. Yogyakarta is a heterogeneous city in terms of ethnicity in Indonesia,
but the Javanese ethnic group dominates the Yogyakarta population. The Javanese
local language is widely used for daily communication. Based on the 2010 census,
388,088 people lived in Yogyakarta city.
Purbalingga regency is located in Central Java province, five hours driving by car from
Yogyakarta city. Purbalingga regency is dominated by Javanese people and most of them
live in rural areas. Farming is the predominant occupation of people living in Purbalingga
regency, and farms occupy of 57 per cent of the regency (regionalinvestment.com).
Three sub-districts were then chosen randomly for each urban and rural area
selected. Following that, a village was selected randomly for each district selected.
Finally, a block was chosen randomly for each village selected. Interviews were
conducted at each respondent’s home with a response rate of 97 per cent. A total of
184 local food consumers responded to the so-called, “soft laddering” interviews. Every
participant received a AU$1 gift for his or her contribution to this study.
A triadic sorting technique was employed by providing the respondents with pictures
of three products: local, national and imported foods. Respondents were then asked to
elicit the distinction. Typically the respondent answered with respect to one to five
response categories. Then, laddering was generated by asking the question “Why is that
important for you”. All interviews were recorded and transcribed to Bahasa Indonesia.
Food deciders of Javanese households in both urban and rural areas were dominated
by females who had attained the senior high school level of education and were from
a married couple household. In terms of differences, the Javanese people who lived in
rural areas had lowered family income and educational level compared to those living
in urban areas (Table I).

4. Result and analysis

4.1 The motivation of purchasing local food for urban Javanese people
Table II presents the abstractness ratio and centrality index for urban-based
respondent of Javanese people.
 BFJ Javanese ethnic group
116,10 Yogyakarta city Purbalingga regency
Demographic characteristics (%) (urban area) (rural area)

Gender
Female 93.7 97.8
1540 Male 6.3 2.2
Family income (million IDR)a
o2
2-o4 50.5 70.8
4-o6 31.6 23.6
6-o8 4.2 5.6
8-o10 4.2
10-o12 1.1
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12-o14 0
14-o16 0
16-o18 1.1
18-o20 5.3
420 1.1
Educational level
Primary school 13.7 39.2
Junior high school 19 29.2
Senior high school 46.3 24.7
University 18 7.7
Postgraduate 3.2
Household types
Single person 4.2 7.9
Married-couple family 64.2 73
Other family 29.5 19.1
Other non family 2.1 0
Age (year old)
o30 9.5 15.8
o40 25.3 38.9
o50 29.5 29.5
o60 20.0 11.6
o70 14.7 4.2
o80 1.1 0
Marital status
Married 88.4 89.9
Separated 1.1 1.1
Widowed 5.3 6.7
Table I.
Single 3.2 2.2
Demographic survey of
Divorced 2.1 0
the Javanese respondents
in urban and rural areas Note: a1 million IDR ¼ US$103

The important findings are summarized below:

. In terms of the topic of centrality index, “happiness” (0.12) is predominant, and
“save money” (0.11) and “inexpensive” (0.11) follow.
. Inexpensive is a more tangible attribute because of its lower abstractness ratio,
whereas attributes involving “food quality”, “healthy food”, “easy for preparation
and cooking”, “good taste”, “support for local communities” and “options” are
categorized as intangible attributes or attributes that cannot be measured directly.
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Attributes Consequences Values

Content codes AR CI Content codes AR CI Content codes AR CI

Healthy food 0 0.01 Enjoyable food 0.31 0.01 Sense of accomplishment 0.83 0.04
Inexpensive 0.02 0.11 Can afford 0.32 0.04 Warm relationship with family and others 0.87 0.02
Food quality 0.05 0.04 Practical implication of food 0.43 0.01 Life satisfaction 0.96 0.03
Easy for preparation and cooking 0.06 0.08 Family eats a lot 0.44 0.02 Fun and enjoyment of life 0.97 0.03
Good taste 0.12 0.02 Save time and energy 0.44 0.02 Health is the most valuable thing in life 1 0.01
Support for local community 0.20 0.01 Save money 0.49 0.11 Happy 1 0.12
Options 0.26 0.02 Controlling budget 0.57 0.03
Good health 0.57 0.08
Money for other things 0.6 0.09
Earn money 0.6 0.01
Time for other things 0.67 0.03
Social interaction 0.75 0.01

(AR) and the centrality

products
fresh food

urban area
ethnic groups in
index (CI) for Javanese
The abstractness ratio
Buying local

1541

Table II.
 BFJ . “Inexpensive” and “easy for preparation and cooking” are predominant
116,10 attributes.
. “Save money” (0.11) is the most important consequence, and “money for other
things” (0.09) and “good health” (0.08) follow, respectively.
In order to construct the HVM, the cut-off levels from three to five were used. Then,
1542 a cut-off level of five was selected. At this level, the cross-lines were minimum and easy
to interpret. At this level, there were 17 content codes accounting for 55.6 per cent
active links and representing 15 per cent of active cells. Figures 2 and 3 depict the HVM
for Javanese urban people when making a decision for local foods.
When examining the final hierarchy from the viewpoint of the centrality index and
the number of times the linkages are mentioned by consumers, two main themes are
detected:
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(1) Saving your money for daily eating by purchasing local foods.
Pathway: Inexpensive-can afford-money for other things3save money-happy
(2) Health benefits of local foods.
Pathway: Food quality-good health-time for other things-happy.
The results confirm previous research that food choice is primarily considered price
and health benefit (Vickers, 1993), particularly when respondents have a lower family
income (Ostrom, 2006). “Happy feeling” is strongly valued for consumers to achieve as
the end goal for this situation.

4.2 The motivation for purchasing local food of rural Javanese people
By employing the MEC procedure, Table III presents the attributes, consequences and
values of rural consumers when making decision for local foods.

Abstractness Ratio (AR)

1.00 Happy Life satisfaction

0.95 Fun and enjoyment in life
0.90 Sense of accomplishment
0.85
0.80
0.75
0.70 Controlling
0.65 Money for other budget
0.60 things
0.55 Family eats Save money
0.50 a lot
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30 Can afford
0.25
0.20
0.15
Figure 2. 0.10
HVM of everyday eating 0.05 Inexpensive
local foods for Javanese 0.00

people who live in urban Map legend:

areas at cut-off 5 Centrality index: 0.05 or less, 0.05 < and < 0.10, > 0.10 or more
Linkages (frequency): < 20 connections mentioned, 20 to 40 connections mentioned, more than 40 connections
 Abstractness Ratio (AR)
1.00
Buying local
Happy Health is the most
0.95
0.90
important thing in fresh food
life Sense of accomplishment
0.85 products
0.80
0.75
0.70
0.65 Time for
0.60
0.55
other things 1543
0.50
0.45 Good health Save time
0.40 and energy
0.35
0.30
0.25 Good taste
0.20
0.15
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0.10 Figure 3.
0.05 Food quality Healthy food HVM of everyday eating
0.00 local foods for Javanese
Map legend:
people who live in urban
Centrality index: 0.05 or less, 0.05< and < 0.10, > 0.10 or more areas at cut-off 5
Linkages (frequency): < 20 connections mentioned, 20 to 40 connections mentioned, more than 40 connections

Rural consumers have lower level of involvement to local foods because they have
a simple means-end structure with less attributes, consequences and values compared to
urban consumers do. However, “happy feeling” and financial issues (i.e. “save money” and
“money for other things”) are predominant variables both for urban and rural residents.
In determining the cut-off level, a trial and error cut-off levels have been employed
to obtain the best HVM. A cut-off value of 8 is selected that consists of 14 content
codes and accounts for 67 per cent linkages at or above this cut-off level. The HVM can
be seen in Figure 4.
The main pathways for rural consumer are strongly lead to “inexpensive” and “save
money” variables. A “health benefit” theme is also considered by rural consumers
when purchasing local foods:
. Saving your money by purchasing local foods.
Pathways:
Inexpensive-can afford-save money-money for other things
Inexpensive-can afford-save money-controlling budget
Inexpensive -can afford-save money-fun and enjoyment in life-happy
Inexpensive-can afford-save money-sense of accomplishment-happy
. Health benefits from local foods.
Pathway: Food quality-good health-time for other things-earn money-money
for other thing

4.3 Discussion: the comparison of motivations for purchasing local foods between
Javanese consumers in rural and urban areas
An interesting fact about Javanese people with regard to their consumption is that
generally they prefer to consume vegetable products rather than meat products for
daily eating. Astuti et al. (2000) noted that tempeh, traditional fermented food from
soybeans, was originally used and became a daily food pattern for Javanese people
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BFJ

1544
116,10

Table III.

Javanese people
The abstractness

index (CI) for rural

score (AS) and centrality
Attributes Consequences Values
Content codes AR CI Content codes AR CI Content codes AR CI

Good taste 0 0.01 Save time and energy 0.18 0.03 Sense of accomplishment 0.5 0.03
Healthy food 0 0.01 Can afford 0.35 0.04 Warm relationship with family and others 0.64 0.01
Options 0 0.01 Good health 0.44 0.10 Fun and enjoyment of life 0.67 0.04
Support local communities 0 0.01 Save money 0.48 0.12 Thank God 0.8 0.01
Inexpensive 0.04 0.07 Controlling budget 0.5 0.05 Happy 0.98 0.14
Food quality 0.09 0.03 Earn money 0.5 0.03
Time for other things 0.5 0.09
Money for other things 0.52 0.15
Note: AR, abstractness ratio
 Abstractness Ratio (AR)
1.00
Buying local
Happy
0.95
0.90
fresh food
0.85
0.80
products
0.75
0.70 Fun and enjoyment in life
0.65
0.60 Time for
0.55 other things Earn money Money for other
Sence of accomplishment
1545
0.50 things Save money Controlling
0.45 Good health budget
0.40
Can afford
0.35
0.30
0.25 Save time
0.20 and energy
0.15
0.10 Figure 4.
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0.05 Food quality

Inexpensive HVM of everyday
0.00
eating local foods for
Map legend:
Javanese who live in
Centrality index: 0.05 or less, 0.05< and < 0.10, > 0.10 or more rural areas at cut-off 8
Linkages (frequency): < 20 connections mentioned, 20 to 40 connections mentioned, more than 40 connections

particularly those who lived in central Java. Furthermore, they stated that Javanese
people lived in rural and urban areas consumed tempeh as a source of protein greater
than meat and chicken eggs with the value 10.0, 3.15 and 1.25 per cent, respectively.
Tempeh is served as a side dish, fried, steamed, boiled or roasted. In their paper, Astuti
et al. (2000) emphasized that although tempeh was consumed by consumers from
different socioeconomic status levels and ages, this food was categorized as a food with
a low social value and was only served at home and by stall-food vendors. However,
this food pattern may change when people move from rural to urban areas as there
is a strong relationship between household income and price affecting food
consumption. People in urban areas may change their food demand pattern for certain
reasons: first, people have a wider food choice including a dietary pattern from a
foreign culture that is available in urban markets; second, an urban lifestyle demands
a premium food at cheaper price that is quicker and convenient to prepare; finally
urban people required food with lower calories than rural people because of their
occupations (Huang and Bouis, 1996).
It can be seen from Table IV that Javanese consumers both in urban and rural areas
have the same motivation when purchasing local foods namely, “saving your money”
and “health benefits”. However, in terms of centrality index, urban residents also
consider the “easy for preparation and cooking” attribute of local foods. Thus, urban
lifestyle influences the consideration as people need to manage their time well to deal
with their daily activities.

5. Conclusions
The two main consumer motivations that are detected in this study for the Javanese
people in urban and rural areas are “saving your money” and “health benefits”. Saving
your money is an identified motivation that is stronger in a rural area because of the
cheaper price of local foods.
In term of the centrality index, “inexpensive” attribute is considered by respondents
in urban and rural areas as the most important attribute of local food as well as
“save money”, “money for other things” and “good health” consequences. “Happiness”
 BFJ Identified motivation
116,10 Locations Centrality index Saving your money Health benefits

Urban areas Happy (0.12) Yes Yes

Save money (0.11)
Inexpensive (0.11)
1546 Money for other things (0.09)
Good health (0.08)
Table IV. Easy for preparation and cooking (0.08)
Similarities and Rural areas Happy (0.14) Yes Yes
differences in terms of Money for other things (0.14)
centrality and identified Save money (0.12)
motivation of Javanese Good health (0.10)
consumers in rural and Inexpensive (0.07)
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urban locations Controlling budget (0.05)

is the stronger value that consumers want to achieve. An “ease of preparation and
cooking” variable is also an important attribute for urban residents because of their
lifestyle. So, it is beneficial for the Indonesian Government to use both motivational
themes when promoting local foods particularly in Yogyakarta special province and
Central Java province and possibility also to other provinces in Indonesia.
This study has limitations in that only Javanese people are involved. Consequently,
there is a need to investigate a wider population of Indonesian people involving
different ethnic groups, a larger sample and different staple foods between western and
eastern parts of Indonesia in order to obtain a better result for the Indonesian
population. It may also be useful to investigate specific food products. In this study,
interjudge reliability was strong enough for scientific use. However, trained judges can
be employed to improve consistency during content analysis procedure in future.

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Corresponding author
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Dr Poppy Arsil can be contacted at: poppy74arsil@gmail.com

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