EXAMINING COMMUNITY VALUES, IDENTIFICATION FORMATION, AND CONSUMER VALUE ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF LOCAL FOOD COMMUNITIES

The ways that individuals use their personal values to inform their attitudes, decisions, and even perceptions of products, are the focus of this dissertation. It is written in three essays, and uses two distinct data sets to explore issues of individual values, relationships, community, identification, and value assessment. Both data sets were collected in the context of consumption communities called Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs). The first essay is an examination of values that exist among consumers, and between producers and consumers (buyer and sellers). Specifically, the first essay explores the existence of and importance of congruent values to the community. The second essay moves to the realm of the individual consumer, and examines how consumers develop identification with an organization. Finally, in essay three the way consumers assess the value of the products they purchase is explored. This essay focuses on the role of personal values in conjunction with intangible attributes in the formation of consumer value assessment. Personal values is the common theme that is explored across all three essays.