Farmers markets, an important direct-to-consumer market, have shown signs of declining sales since 2007. This trend has raised concern about their future viability, inciting stakeholders to consider new marketing and development approaches. Unfortunately, the literature on these approaches is largely qualitative, with little empirical or experimental evidence assessing impact or effectiveness. We present results from a randomized control trial measuring the efficacy of an informational nudge—a mailed coupon—in attracting new customers to a winter farmers market in Northern Colorado. Previous research identified perceived lack of product assortment at farmers markets as a major barrier to consumer attendance; accordingly, half of the coupons in our experiment emphasized the wide range of products sold at the market, while the control coupons presented general market information. We mailed 6000 physical coupons redeemable for $10 to randomly selected households in Fort Collins, Colorado, during the 2017–2018 market season. One hundred and eleven coupons were redeemed (1.85%), of which 58 were treatment and 53 control. While the coupon was somewhat effective at attracting new customers (36% had never attended the winter farmers market), there were no statistically significant differences in redemption rates between treatment and control. We thus find that the information nudge was not enough to influence the decision to attend the winter farmers market. EconLit citations: Q13, Q18.

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通过信息推送和优惠券促进农贸市场：一项随机对照试验

农贸市场是一个重要的直接面向消费者的市场，自 2007 年以来，销售额出现下滑迹象。这一趋势引发了对其未来生存能力的担忧，促使利益相关者考虑新的营销和开发方法。不幸的是，关于这些方法的文献主要是定性的，几乎没有评估影响或有效性的经验或实验证据。我们展示了一项随机对照试验的结果，该试验测量了信息助推（邮寄的优惠券）在吸引新客户到科罗拉多州北部冬季农贸市场方面的功效。先前的研究发现，农贸市场缺乏产品分类是消费者参与的主要障碍；因此，我们实验中一半的优惠券强调了市场上销售的广泛产品，而对照券则提供一般市场信息。在 2017-2018 年市场旺季期间，我们向科罗拉多州柯林斯堡随机选择的家庭邮寄了 6000 张可兑换 10 美元的实体优惠券。兑换券111张（1.85%），其中治疗58张，对照组53张。虽然优惠券在吸引新客户方面有些有效（36% 的人从未参加过冬季农贸市场），但处理组和对照组之间的兑换率在统计上没有显着差异。因此，我们发现信息微调不足以影响参加冬季农贸市场的决定。EconLit 引文：Q13、Q18。兑换券111张（1.85%），其中治疗58张，对照组53张。虽然优惠券在吸引新客户方面有些有效（36% 的人从未参加过冬季农贸市场），但处理组和对照组之间的兑换率在统计上没有显着差异。因此，我们发现信息微调不足以影响参加冬季农贸市场的决定。EconLit 引文：Q13、Q18。兑换券111张（1.85%），其中治疗58张，对照组53张。虽然优惠券在吸引新客户方面有些有效（36% 的人从未参加过冬季农贸市场），但处理组和对照组之间的兑换率在统计上没有显着差异。因此，我们发现信息微调不足以影响参加冬季农贸市场的决定。EconLit 引文：Q13、Q18。因此，我们发现信息微调不足以影响参加冬季农贸市场的决定。EconLit 引文：Q13、Q18。因此，我们发现信息微调不足以影响参加冬季农贸市场的决定。EconLit 引文：Q13、Q18。