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]
Copyright of Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations animate consumer and producer participation in agroecological initiatives.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22de+Lucio%2C+José+V%2E%22">de Lucio, José V.</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> jose.delucio@uah.es</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Montes%2C+Darío%22">Montes, Darío</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Seijo%2C+Francisco%22">Seijo, Francisco</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Agroecology+%26+Sustainable+Food+Systems%22">Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 50 Issue 6, p1458-1483. 26p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Agricultural+ecology%22">Agricultural ecology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+sustainability%22">Social sustainability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Value+orientations%22">Value orientations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Q+technique%22">Q technique</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stakeholder+analysis%22">Stakeholder analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Environmental+history%22">Environmental history</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Business+to+consumer+transactions%22">Business to consumer transactions</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Spain%22">Spain</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: 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]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/21683565.2025.2575013
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 26
        StartPage: 1458
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Agricultural ecology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social sustainability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Value orientations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Q technique
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stakeholder analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Environmental history
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Business to consumer transactions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Spain
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Utilitarian and non-utilitarian value orientations animate consumer and producer participation in agroecological initiatives.
        Type: main
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          Name:
            NameFull: de Lucio, José V.
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            NameFull: Montes, Darío
      – PersonEntity:
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            NameFull: Seijo, Francisco
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: 2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 50
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            – TitleFull: Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems
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