O perfil do consumidor de um mercado de varejo da agricultura familiar

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to identify the socioeconomic profile, consumption behaviors and brand perception in a family farming retail market. This research was carried out in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and is classified as exploratory/descriptive, comprising documentary analysis of secondary data, application of questionnaires and bibliographical research. The questionnaires were directed to 130 retail consumers of a Family Farmers Cooperative, in two distinct phases in the year 2021, in order to enable comparison before and after the implementation of a communication plan in the retail market. The classification of family farming markets and the concepts of marketing, identity and value were adopted as a way to obtain variables for analysis. In the scope of local markets, Coopercedro's retail market is closer to a “specialty store”. When analyzing the occupations of respondents, an increase in the number of retired people from 30% in the 1st phase to 47% in the 2nd phase can be seen. The highest degree of satisfaction in the two phases of the research was in the item “service” and the lowest average was in the item “price”. The correlation test of variables based on Spearman's correlation coefficient found a positive, weak and significant correlation (ρ=0,291*) in the 1st phase of the field research and a positive, moderate and significant correlation (ρ=0,415**) in the 2nd phase of the research between "price" and "variety", and the better evaluated the variety of products, the better the price was evaluated. Another relationship that was established in the 2nd phase of the research with the “price”, in a positive and weak way (ρ=0,306*) was the variable “quality”. In the second phase of the research, there is a correlation between the “age” of the interviewees and the “aesthetic” variable of the place, with a positive, weak correlation (ρ=0,302*) and a negative, moderate and significant correlation (ρ=-0,618* *) between the consumption of “snacks and fast food” and the “age” of the interviewed consumers. In addition, a negative, weak and significant correlation (ρ=0.341*) was identified between the consumption of “snacks and fast food” and the relevance attributed to the purchase of “craft products”. Regarding the perception of consumers about the logo (old and new), it was possible to identify a greater representation of the new logo, and the main words (140 in total) associated with the image were related to the themes of "products" (28 words), “pleasant environment” (22 words) and “family farming” (20 words). In addition, it was found that the new name given to the retail market, “Family Agriculture Warehouse”, is able to represent its identity, and the main feelings attributed by the interviewed consumers were "empathy" (31,6%), “love” (26,3%), “tranquility” (28,1%) and “closeness” (24,6%). The association made by consumers between the name “Family Agriculture Warehouse” and feelings related to childhood and family farming also deserves attention.