Italian and U.S. Consumers of Local Foods: An Exploratory Assessment of Invariance

The exploratory study reviews locally produced foods and sustainable retailing via grocery outlets across two distinct consumer groups, Italian and U.S. consumers. Survey methodology and structural equation modeling were used to test for measurement and structural invariance across the groups. Results suggested that groups varied across measures of perceived consumer effectiveness and purchase intentions; and constructs of subjective norms, perceived consumer effectiveness, connectedness, and purchase intentions reflected factor mean differences across groups. Tests of structural paths were found to be partially invariant. Implications to retail grocers who source sustainable products are provided, as well as future research directions for academics.