Uncovering Success Attributes for Direct Farmers’ Markets and Agri-Tourism in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States

Farmers’ markets and agri-tourism operations play significant roles in many rural economies; however, they tend to be underused which threatens their viability. Results from factor, cluster and regression analyses show that bundling of farmers’ markets activities will spur diverse and steady patronage beyond what the growers earn from their traditional fresh produce and value added products. Additionally, farmers’ markets and agri-tourism operators can use customer profiling to improve their marketing efforts in a competitive environment. The regression results show that a number of socio-economic variables are associated with the patronage experience.