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Utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations animate consumer and producer participation in agroecological initiatives.

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Title: Utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations animate consumer and producer participation in agroecological initiatives.
Authors: de Lucio, José V.1,2 (AUTHOR) jose.delucio@uah.es, Montes, Darío2 (AUTHOR), Seijo, Francisco3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems. 2026, Vol. 50 Issue 6, p1458-1483. 26p.
Subject Terms: *Agricultural ecology, *Social sustainability, Value orientations, Q technique, Stakeholder analysis, Environmental history, Business to consumer transactions
Geographic Terms: Spain
Abstract: In this article, we examine the role played by utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations in conditioning producer and consumer participation in agroecological action arenas in Spain. To do so, we distributed a 25 statement Q-method (22 items and three landscape photographs) survey amongst 39 agroecological stakeholders. We hypothesized that utilitarian, profit-seeking value orientations would motivate producer participation in these networks to a greater extent than consumers whom, we assumed, would hold more altruistic, non-utilitarian views. Through a factorial analysis of statement scores, we identified four factors explaining 68% of the variance amongst individual responses. Two of these factors we argue, based on theoretical definitions of these concepts, describe non-utilitarian value orientations whereas the other two describe more utilitarian motivations. We found that individual producer and consumer perspectives did not align neatly with the dichotomic value orientations we expected, providing theoretical insights into the deep motivations of consumers for participating in voluntary agroecological commercial networks, the financial viability of these circuits for producers, and the overall socioecological sustainability of these agroecological transition initiatives. In the future, we hope to build a formal model based on this empirically validated study of stakeholder perspectives to help us understand the potential of agroecological initiatives for the ecological transition based on continued iteration of the incentives structuring these action arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: GreenFILE
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Abstract:In this article, we examine the role played by utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations in conditioning producer and consumer participation in agroecological action arenas in Spain. To do so, we distributed a 25 statement Q-method (22 items and three landscape photographs) survey amongst 39 agroecological stakeholders. We hypothesized that utilitarian, profit-seeking value orientations would motivate producer participation in these networks to a greater extent than consumers whom, we assumed, would hold more altruistic, non-utilitarian views. Through a factorial analysis of statement scores, we identified four factors explaining 68% of the variance amongst individual responses. Two of these factors we argue, based on theoretical definitions of these concepts, describe non-utilitarian value orientations whereas the other two describe more utilitarian motivations. We found that individual producer and consumer perspectives did not align neatly with the dichotomic value orientations we expected, providing theoretical insights into the deep motivations of consumers for participating in voluntary agroecological commercial networks, the financial viability of these circuits for producers, and the overall socioecological sustainability of these agroecological transition initiatives. In the future, we hope to build a formal model based on this empirically validated study of stakeholder perspectives to help us understand the potential of agroecological initiatives for the ecological transition based on continued iteration of the incentives structuring these action arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:21683565
DOI:10.1080/21683565.2025.2575013