NATURNAER-Natur og næring

Increasing leisure time increases the importance of leisure related consumption as compared to everyday consumption. Recreational consumption may therefore represent a potentially important market for developing small scale farm-based rural businesses. Lo cal attachment through relatives or second homes, and the exposure to local farms, food and services when visiting rural areas, may form a basis for knowledge of and behaviour towards products with a local origin in everyday life. The impact of increased leisure time and rural recreational consumption experiences on ordinary consumption practices is also a theoretically interesting and relatively unexplored topic. Central to this project are the concepts sustainability, authenticity and locality, which al l have a social as well as a physical dimension. We will in this project identify both mutual interests and potential conflicts among consumers and businesses regarding the valuation of the cultural and natural landscape. We will also study how the values inherent in these concepts are communicated in different marketing channels and in interaction with different customers. Targeting the recreational segment and second home owners as a market for local food products and farm related tourism services requi res knowledge about consumer motivations and behaviour. For the local farm tourism host it can be a challenge to develop, promote, price and place their products and services in a way that effectively communicates with the local customer base as well as w ith different groups of incoming tourists. The project will be conducted in close cooperation with The Norwegian Rural Tourism Organization (NBG) that organizes appr. 500 businesses. This cooperation is important in the formulation of problems, in data c ollection, and in the interpretation and dissemination of results. A comparative perspective is introduced through cooperation with international partners and comparing different collective marketing initiatives.