Socio-economic interaction of local food producers and consumers in the online space
The relevance of the study is due to the continuing contradictions between producers and other participants in the supply chain in the food market, the presence of barriers to entry for small entrepreneurs. The demand for local producers’ products by final user and the information technologies prevalence contribute to the emergence of new forms of interaction between market exchange participants and product distribution systems. The purpose of the article: to identify the features of interaction between local food producers and consumers, based on the use of online technologies. Neoinstitutional, structural-functional, and environmental approaches to market analysis are used as the theoretical basis of the research. The results of contemporary research describing new forms of contact “seller - buyer”, aimed at local production, and their characteristic distribution systems, including the use of information technologies, are used. The theoretical concepts of eco-habitus and “smart lifestyle” was relied on for describing the behavior of buyers of local products. The article presents the results of an empirical study aimed at studying the motives, means and forms local food consumers and producers interaction in the online space. The key motives for market exchange choosing on the part of the consumer and producer in the online space are highlighted. The methods of searching for a local producer not entering organized markets are considered; both participants of simple market operations use information services, social networks and messengers for these purposes. The importance of eco-friendly consumption is noted, which is characterized by social responsibility formed in connection with living in a specific location and significance of local production support. The scientific novelty of the work concludes in the categorical scheme development that reflects the local food products producers and consumers interaction, this is also of practical significance in the context of the supply chain transformation in the information society and support for small businesses.