Making the match: How Chinese food‐movement organizations develop consumers in the alternative market

Abstract Many social movement organizations promote their agendas in market spaces. As such they need to attract consumers to their cause. This article used longitudinal qualitative data collected between 2018 and 2023 in Chinese alternative food markets to explore their consumer recruitment and ongoing efforts to match movement ideologies with consumers' values, particularly regarding what makes “good food.” I argue that an iterative, two‐way learning process between organizations and consumers helped facilitate good matching and establish a stable consumer base. Organizations educated consumers about the production process and producers' stories, aligning their missions with consumers' pursuit of safety and taste and distinguishing them from mainstream markets. Consumers resonated with this cultural work but required responsible producers and market organizers. Some organizations fostered self‐affirming discussions to redirect consumer demands, while others interacted with and learned from the dynamic culture within consumer groups to co‐create their new definition of good food. This mutual learning motivated organizers to adjust their visions of ideal consumers to align movement ideologies with consumers' desires, creating the right amount of differentiation in alternative markets. This paper advances the literature on social movement organizations' market activities by revealing the interactive learning process and the diversity of alignment strategies.