Consumer nationalism post-COVID: Mapping motivations to buy local

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Australian consumers to pay greater attention to how local supply chains intersect with global networks, but this emphasis on local provisioning was part of a larger pattern of growth in small-scale and local production. Presenting findings from a representative national survey, this article identifies who is willing to pay more for locally made goods and how motivations for buying locally differ by age, income and gender. We found that the desire to ‘buy local’ was not dominated by any one demographic. Indeed, while ‘localism’ may be more associated with progressive individuals and communities, what was clear was that post-COVID consumer willingness to buy local was shared across the political spectrum. Consequently, we need to be attentive to the ways in which the desire to support local products and economies can become a space in which more progressive environmental goals and growing xenophobia can potentially become political bedfellows.