Exploring consumer segments for agroecological food in alternative markets: insights from visitors' preferences at Brazil’s 5th National Agrarian Reform Fair.

Introduction. Concerns about organic conventionalization and input-substitution logics have strengthened interest in agroecology as a broader sustainability framework (HLPE, 2019), sharing core ecological principles with organic farming while extending them to socio-economic and cultural dimensions (Migliorini & Wezel, 2017; IFOAM EU, 2019). In Brazil this perspective is central to the Landless Workers’ Movement, that promotes agroecology within a wider project of agrarian reform and food-system transformation. In this context, alternative producer-consumer exchange systems are crucial but remain constrained by the dominant corporate food regime (Anderson et al., 2021; Muñoz et al., 2021). In response, the National Agrarian Reform Fair (NARF) serves both as a commercialization channel and as a space for advocacy, knowledge exchange, and engagement. This study examines demand for agroecological food as a weakly institutionalized object of consumer choice, assessing the relative importance of product- and value-related attributes, preference heterogeneity, and consumer segmentation in this alternative market setting. Methods. Preferences were elicited through a Best–Worst Scaling experiment (Finn & Louviere, 1992) based on a balanced incomplete block design. Respondents completed 15 choice tasks, each including 4 attributes selected from a set of 10. In each task, they identified the most and least important attribute, ensuring balanced exposure and repeated comparison. Data analysis combined three discrete-choice models: a conditional logit model to estimate average preferences; a mixed logit model to capture unobserved heterogeneity; and a latent class logit model with class-membership covariates to identify consumer segments and relate them to socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Data. Data were collected in May 2025 via a survey administered to a convenience sample of 303 visitors at the 5th NARF in São Paulo, Brazil. After quality checks, 281 responses were retained. The sample consists mainly of women aged 30–40, with medium household sizes, moderate incomes, and relatively high education levels. Results and discussion. Results reveal a clear and non-conventional preference structure. Support for social movements is the strongest positive determinant of choice, followed by agroecological production and, more moderately, organic certification. Price affordability also has a positive effect. Conversely, attributes typically associated with mainstream retail environments (e.g., customer service, product presentation, variability, and origin) reduce the probability of being selected as most important. Taste is not statistically significant, suggesting that sensory attributes are secondary when ethical, political, and socio-ecological criteria are salient. Three consumers segments were identified: politically and agroecologically engaged consumers, strongly oriented toward social movements, agroecology, and organic production; value-oriented but quality-sensitive consumers, combining ethical concerns with attention to accessibility and taste; and a larger segment with a flatter preference structure, suggesting weaker engagement with the ethical and political dimensions of food consumption. Conclusion. Findings show that consumer behaviour in an emblematic agroecological market is both structured and heterogeneous. Choices are mainly driven by ethical, political, and socio-ecological considerations rather than standard market attributes. Despite limitations related to the convenience sample and event-specific context, the study contributes to addressing a gap in preference research by explicitly integrating an agroecological perspective into the analysis of consumer behaviour, a still underexplored field (Kleisiari et al., 2026). Key implications are that strengthening transparency, relational trust, and ethical commitments may be more effective than retail-oriented strategies in similar markets, suggesting that policies for sustainable food systems should go beyond plot-level, production-oriented measures, and support the socio-political infrastructures that make value-based markets viable. References Anderson, C.R., Bruil, J., Chappell, M.J., Kiss, C., & Pimbert, M.P. (2021). Conceptualizing processes of agroecological transformations: from scaling to transition to transformation. In: Agroecology Now! Transformations towards More Just and Sustainable Food Systems, pp. 29–46. Finn, A. & Louviere, J.J. (1992). Determining the appropriate response to evidence of public concern: the case of food safety. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 11(2), 12–25. HLPE (2019). Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition. 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