The influence of social capital on the urban consumers' propensity to include new local food products in their diet

The demand and consumption of local food is growing among urban consumers due to an increasing request for more ethical and environmentally friendly food products. Even though the literature explores the role of social capital in connecting farmers with existing networks and food system actors, little has been explored on the extent to which the local community social capital, influences their choices towards local food products. Despite the lack of empirical evidence of how relational and cognitive capital are influencing consumer behaviors towards local food, literature suggest that cognitive and relational capital can be key elements in describing the dynamics in consumer choices. This works fills this gap by assessing urban consumers’ buying propensity towards innovative local food, in relation with their cognitive and relational capital. Our results confirm the significant effect of cognitive and relational social capital on the urban consumer propensity to purchase new food sourced locally, along with a series of other relevant predictors. Specifically, consumers that feel more attached to their peers, with higher trust towards food vendors and public authorities, have a higher significant propensity to include a new local food product in their diet. The results from this work are extremely policy relevant showcasing that the adoption of innovations (i.e., new local food items) by group of consumers can directly be influenced by activities aimed at enhancing social capital and human capital skills.