A Study on the Relationship between Tourists’ Experience and Experience Value and Satisfaction in Taiwan’s Farmer’s Markets

Abstract

This study explores the effects of four types of visitor experiences on experience value and satisfaction. Farmer’s markets indirectly have an educational function through disseminating food and agricultural knowledge. They significantly shorten farm product distribution channels, providing more economic benefits for participating producers. After the pre-test, a questionnaire was officially distributed using convenience sampling and analyzed in SPSS. The study primarily found that the entertainment factor has the most significant impact on the experience value and satisfaction of the visitor experience. Moreover, through quantitative analysis, this research offers practical recommendations to enhance consumer experience value and satisfaction for farmer’s market stallholders and managers.

1. Introduction

Farmer’s markets have been a prominent and dynamic phenomenon in rural areas and select urban centers since the 1970s, demonstrating a notable surge in global prominence and advancement [1,2]. As public health awareness has increased, issues such as environmentally friendly land, healthy diet, food safety, and sustainable agricultural development have become increasingly important [3,4]. Moreover, the rise in organic farming and eco-friendly planting methods has encouraged the public to seek greener production methods and promoted the development of farmer’s markets [3,5]. In Taiwan, food safety issues have emerged recently, and purchasing directly from farmers has become a new consumption model [3,4]. Hence, the establishment of farmer’s markets not only serves as an effective means of mitigating this social problem but also provides the general public with a novel recreational space for weekend leisure activities [2]. The rise of the farmer’s market has brought a new wave of development to Taiwan’s agricultural economy. Simultaneously, they fulfill an indirect educational role by facilitating the dissemination of knowledge pertaining to food and agriculture [6].

In their study, Thompson [2] writes, “A farmer market is a fresh food-focused market that operates regularly within a significant public space and provides an appropriate environment for farmers and specialty food producers to sell farm produce, related additional food, and plant products”. The farmer’s market provides a platform for consumers and producers to share and learn about local agricultural products. Its core function is to serve as a distribution channel for farmers to sell products directly to consumers [2,3,4]. From the standpoint of sustainable economic development, this direct marketing approach significantly reduces the distribution channel length for agricultural products. It provides more economic benefits for participating producers [1], especially for farmers seeking to maximize returns [1,7]. Concurrently, it introduces novel market platforms for the development of value-added products [8] while also facilitating consumers’ comprehension of local agriculture and sustainable food systems [2,4]. This further amplifies the educational significance of agriculture and agricultural products for consumers, enhancing their health and well-being and, thereby, safeguarding the sustainable development of local food varieties [2].

Farmer’s markets not only make a significant contribution to the rural economy [9] but also bring diversified experiences to consumers. Food tourism [2,8,10] and agricultural tourism [11], in particular, tourism in farmer’s markets, have also attracted new customers for the sustainable development of agricultural areas. Farmer’s markets allow visitors to learn more about the region’s agricultural heritage through its fresh produce [3] and local foods [1], offering authentic food experiences and opportunities to meet locals [2,4,12]. Guided tours provided by farmers can attract tourists to participate in experiences including learning, tasting, shopping, and perhaps cooking with market products [10]. Taiwan’s farmer’s markets hold activities with the development goal of “food and agricultural education, friendly farming, agricultural cultural creation, co-creation, and development“, providing an environment for tourists to experience local culture and food through creating consumption scenes in rural life [13]. According to the above data, the farmer’s market is a multi-tourism experience that combines food, culture, education, shopping, and appreciation of rural landscapes. This tourism experience may also be a new type of rural and regional tourism marketing [14].

Previous research on farmer’s markets has focused on consumption-oriented economic interactions (e.g., purchase motivations and preferences, quality, and price) [3,4], tourism cultural heritage [1,14,15], regional identity [16,17], and trust building [4]. In addition, related studies have investigated the impact of consumer participation in the market on their family relationships, quality of life, and subjective well-being [18]. Despite the comprehensive exploration of the importance and developmental trend of farmer’s markets from various perspectives in existing studies, there has been a notable oversight regarding the aspect of consumer experience. However, the experience of tourists is crucial to the satisfaction and economic success of farmer’s markets [9]. Both the purchasing experience and the social experience characterize the consumption process of farmer’s markets. However, less attention has been paid to the social experience, including the social relationships and feelings generated when consumers go to the market to interact with farmers face-to-face or meet other consumers [19]. Hence, one of the principal motivations for conducting this research on the consumers’ experience of farmer’s markets is to examine consumers’ perceptions of experiential value and understand their subjective evaluations of such experiences. Satisfaction has always been regarded as an essential purpose of critical marketing theories and strategies [20], and it significantly influences consumer spending and purchasing behavior [21]. Consumers’ experience with products and services affects their satisfaction after the experience [22]. Thus, the investigation of how farmer’s markets can deliver agricultural and activity experiences that enhance consumers’ sense of experience and satisfaction constitutes a research topic of significant scholarly interest, thereby serving as the second motivation for this study.

Based on the above discussion, the research question in this study is, what is the visitor’s perception and value of this farmer’s market experience? Furthermore, does the value of the experience affect visitor satisfaction? Therefore, this study proposes two objectives. (1) To understand the effect of different experience perceptions on the value of the experience. (2) To examine the effect of visitor value on their satisfaction. This study aims to integrate the above theories into a comprehensive framework to address these two objectives. Quantitative questionnaires were used to collect data, and SPSS 21.0 was used as an analytical tool to verify the causal relationship between variables, thus, testing the hypothesis and responding to the research objectives.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Experience

Experience is the psychological state of a tourist interacting with other people and the environment [23]. Holbrook [23] pointed out that consumers no longer only buy things. They desire to experience pleasure and emotional identity in the consumption process and use aesthetic products in exciting and leisurely activities. The experience economy model developed by Pine and Gilmore [24] views the experience as a constant experience of change to gain a competitive advantage. This model is a potential trend due to the growing focus on systematically presenting experiences to consumers in different environments [25]. Pine and Gilmore [24] pointed out that the value consumers want to obtain is not only the satisfaction brought by goods or services but also the hope for enjoyment and unforgettable experience value. Schmitt [26] proposed that experience is a stimulus that participants feel that induces a sense of identity and consumption behavior. The experience emphasizes a sense of wholeness, an activity that touches people’s hearts and minds through personal experience and contact. Experience is the creation of a subjective and beautiful psychological feeling in the consciousness of the participant through the interaction between the individual’s state of mind and the environment through participating in an activity. In other words, the experience is not only rational or emotional but also an overall feeling that creates a special memory value for the participants [24]. In summary, the experience economy is considered the main framework for the consumer/visitor experience thematic area [27].

Pine and Gilmore [24] suggest that consumers’ senses and psychology are attracted to different levels of experience depending on the level of interaction with the context. Accordingly, they proposed entertainment, education, aesthetics, and escape as the main types of consumer experiences.

Entertainment experience is embodied through the active or passive participation of visitors watching performances and activities [28]; for example, destination performances and activities attract visitors’ attention and make visitors happy and excited about destination performances and activities [29,30].

Education experience refers to a situation where tourists actively engage in tourism activities to acquire new skills and knowledge [28], thereby stimulating tourists’ imagination and generating new ideas related to the consumption of destination products and services [30,31].

Aesthetic experience refers to the passive participation of the visitor in the servicescape of a destination, where the visitor is unconsciously and entirely immersed in the objective environment [24,32] and perceives and interprets the aesthetic meaning of the destination environment from their own perspective [30,33].

Escape experience refers to the experience gained when visitors forget themselves entirely and focus on the activities or events of the trip [24,32] to temporarily escape from the less-than-ideal environment of everyday life [28,30,34].

2.2. Experience Value

Experience value is the perception of the value generated by an experience, which is a kind of spiritual satisfaction from the heart and will form deep or fond memories [35,36]. This perception of experience value is closely related to the evaluation after the experience [37,38]. Agricultural experience value is what visitors feel after participating in agricultural activities [39]. It is a positive and unforgettable experience that visitors receive through experiential activities [40], whose main activities include production activities [41], farming, picking plants [42], food tasting [43], guided tours, DIY activities [44], social interaction [45], education, agritourism, and rural life [46]. This study’s farmer’s market in Taiwan is experienced primarily through rural life [13,47]. Cultivating friendships and fostering trust between tourists and small-scale farmers are facilitated through the organization of farmer’s markets and the establishment of a reciprocal exchange platform between local rural culture and local small farmers [48]. Consumers can learn more about agronomy, farming processes, and food production through these markets to increase their interest in farmer’s markets [49,50], and markets can provide visitors with unforgettable experience values [51].

Ali Shah et al. [52] showed that experience positively affects experience value, and experience value has a positive relationship with satisfaction. The customer experience generated through human interaction, emotional connection, and unforgettable enjoyment [48] is also an experience value [51]. In-depth agricultural experiences increase visitors’ positive comments and their interest in purchasing agricultural products and in agritourism [49,50]. Based on the preceding discourse, it is evident that experiences exert a positive influence on the experience value. Nonetheless, research remains limited in terms of investigating the specific impacts of entertainment, education, aesthetics, and escape experiences on the experience value associated with farmer’s markets. Thus, the following hypotheses were put forward in this study.

H_1a: 

The entertainment experience at farmer’s markets has a positive and significant effect on the experience value.

H_1b: 

The education experience at farmer’s markets has a positive and significant effect on the experience value.

H_1c: 

Aesthetic experience at farmer’s markets has a positive and significant effect on the experience value.

H_1d: 

Escape experience at farmer’s markets has a positive and significant effect on the experience value.

2.3. Satisfaction

Satisfaction is regarded as essential in marketing theory and strategy [20], and it dominates consumer spending and purchasing behavior [21]. Satisfaction is “a judgment of the characteristics of a product or service and the degree to which it provides pleasure and satisfaction at the time of consumption” [53]. Satisfaction is one of the characteristics that lead to attitude change [53], which is seen as a response to satisfaction and used to understand and evaluate the consumer experience. Destinations consider optimizing visitor satisfaction and experience value as a necessary management priority [54], and the fact that visitors have a positive travel experience or are highly satisfied after visiting a destination is an important factor influencing their desire to revisit or recommend it [54,55,56]. Consumers’ experience with a product or service influences the experience value and subsequent satisfaction [22]. This effect is also seen across different industries. For example, the value of a restaurant customer’s experience significantly impacts satisfaction [35,57], and the value of a visitor’s experience in areas such as leisure tourism positively impacts satisfaction [39]. In the same way, this study speculates that the experience value of consumers at farmer’s markets also affects their satisfaction. Therefore, the following research hypothesis is proposed.

H₂: 

The experience value of the farmer’s market has a positive and significant effect on satisfaction.

3. Research Method

3.1. Research Site

Yunlin County has the highest agricultural production value in Taiwan [58], and the county government actively promotes local cultural and creative industries by contracting out unused building space in the urban areas to develop “cultural and creative industries” to promote local regeneration culture [59]. This study takes the Tri-small Market as an example, situated in Taiping Old Street, Douliu City, Yunlin County (Figure 1), organized by Tri-small Creative in 2011.

This agricultural market has been held more than 400 times since then, and nearly 100,000 people have participated. Tri-small means “small people, small land, small satisfaction”. The Tri-small Farmer’s Market hopes to develop a mutual exchange market between local rural culture and local small farmers by cooperating with different fields and utilizing long-unused historical buildings for agricultural markets.

The Tri-small Market originated from a college student project 9 years ago. Lee, Yi-Chien, who was about to graduate from the Yunlin University of Science and Technology, saw the hard work of farmers and the difficulty of producing agricultural products in line with the spirit of friendly farming, so she joined hands with her friends to create the “Three Small Buildings Project” after graduation, starting with the operation and revitalization of the idle space of three brick houses, running a small farmer’s welfare agency, promoting local products, and accompanying farmers engaged in friendly farming until today. At present, they sell crops to farmers through markets, e-commerce, and physical stores, facilitate business cooperation, and communicate with consumers about product production concepts and value.

On the consumer side, the Tri-small Market initially organized an agricultural market to allow producers and consumers to share product ideas face-to-face. Every Sunday morning on Yunzhong Street in Douliu, Yunlin, you can see farmers putting their crops and products in the stalls and selling them. Consumers can not only buy high-quality products here but also learn the stories behind the products. In addition, the Tri-small Market organizes different activities to help build a bridge between producers and consumers [61].

3.2. Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire consists of six parts: entertainment, education, aesthetics, escape, experience value, and satisfaction. Demographic variables include seven categories, such as gender, marital status, age, education, occupation, income, and place of residence, measured on a category scale. Demographic variables were measured on category scales; the remaining variables were measured on the Likert five-point scale, ranging from 1 = extremely disagree to 5 = extremely agree.

3.3. Sample Criteria and Data Collection

A convenience sampling method was used to collect samples from consumers or visitors to the Tri-small Farmer’s Market. This study mainly focuses on offline questionnaires that were collected on paper at the market every Sunday. Respondents voluntarily filled out the questionnaire after meeting the following two conditions: (1) adults aged 20 or above and (2) the researcher proactively informed them of this study’s purpose.

The questionnaires were distributed from 1 February to 28 February 2021, and a pre-test reliability analysis was conducted to examine the design of the questionnaire items. The questionnaire was officially released on 1 March, and 188 valid questionnaires were collected on 30 May.

This research uses the formula $\left(n\ge \frac{{(Z_{\alpha /2})}^2{S}^2}{e^2}\right)$ to estimate the sample size. Since this sample uses a 5-point Likert scale, m = 3.91, the sample variance S = 1.2, and the confidence level was 95%, e = 5% × 3.91 = 0.195, the calculated result is 145.48 (146 is the minimum number of samples) [62].

3.4. Analysis Tool

This research utilized SPSS 21.0 as an analysis tool. First, a descriptive statistical analysis of the basic data cognition of consumers at the farmer’s market was performed. Second, the reliability and validity of this research were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, a regression analysis verified the influence of the relationship between the variables from the proposed research hypotheses.

4. Analysis of Results

4.1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis

Among the demographic variables (

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of the samples.

Items	Variables	N	%
Gender	Male	81	43.1
	Female	107	56.9
Marital status	Married	126	67.0
	Single	62	33.0
Age(years)	20–30	39	20.7
	31–40	29	15.4
	41–50	42	22.3
	51–60	57	30.3
	61 and above	21	11.2
Education	Elementary and middle	18	9.6
	High school	63	33.5
	University	82	43.6
	Graduate and above	25	13.3
Occupation	Civil servants	31	16.5
	Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and animal husbandry	25	13.3
	Service industry	36	19.1
	Freelance	21	11.2
	Industry	22	11.7
	Housekeeper or retired staff	31	16.5
	Student	22	11.7
Monthly income (TWD)	Less than 20,000	38	20.2
	20,000–30,000	26	13.8
	30,000–40,000	43	22.9
	40,000–50,000	35	18.6
	50,000–60,000	36	19.1
	60,000 and above	10	5.3
Place of residence	Douliu City, Yunlin County	112	59.6
	other townships in Yunlin County	54	28.7
	Other counties and cities	22	11.7

), 56.9% were “female”, and 43.1% were “male”. Marital status was more likely to be “married” (67.0%) than “unmarried” (33.0%). The majority of respondents were aged 51–60 (30.3%), followed by 41–50 (22.3%). Education was dominated by “university” at 43.6%, followed by “high school” at 33.5%. The occupation was dominated by the “service industry” at 19.1%, followed by “civil service” and “housekeeping or retired staff” at 16.5% each. The average monthly income of individuals was “TWD 30,000–40,000” (USD 985–1314), accounting for 22.9%, followed by “less than TWD 20,000” (USD 657), accounting for 20.2%. The majority of respondents (59.6%) lived in “Douliu City, Yunlin County,” followed by “other townships in Yunlin County” (28.7%).

4.2. Descriptive Statistics

Among the entertainment experience items (

Table 2. Descriptive statistics.

Construct	Items	Mean	SD	References
Entertainment (ENT)	The first time I came here, it met my inner expectations (ENT1)	3.88	1.244	[30]
	I find this place fascinating to my senses (ENT2)	3.78	1.011
	Visiting here will give me a happy feeling (ENT3)	4.00	0.896
	Visiting this place fits into the planned itinerary (ENT4)	3.60	1.082
Education (EDU)	There are clear explanatory publications to help me understand more (EDU1)	3.85	0.961	[30,34]
	There has a clear thematic to the visit (EDU2)	3.89	0.927
	There has an educational atmosphere (EDU3)	3.85	0.999
Aesthetic (ASE)	The spatial facilities or experiences here are designed as a whole (ASE1)	3.84	0.962	[30]
	There has a distinctive architectural style or event space (ASE2)	3.81	1.000
	The site is clearly defined and marked (ASE3)	3.84	0.957
Escape (ESC)	I can take an active part in the activity and get involved (ESC1)	4.02	0.895	[30,34]
	I can forget about my worries when I am involved in a craft course (ESC2)	3.86	0.993
	The hands-on experience takes me away from the realities of life (ESC3)	4.23	0.713
Experience Value (EXV)	The overall atmosphere is attractive (EXV1)	3.97	0.701	[38]
	I feel enriched when I visit here (EXV2)	4.09	0.855
	The products and services here are holistic (EXV3)	3.90	0.982
	I have benefited from my visit (EXV4)	3.87	0.978
	The environment here is very reflective of its character (EXV5)	4.12	0.851
	The appearance of the architecture here is very attractive to me (EXV6)	3.80	1.270
Satisfaction (SAT)	I came here to forget about my worries (SAT1)	3.77	0.818	[34]
	The activities offered here meet my needs (SAT2)	4.23	0.668
	I think the product experience here is great (SAT3)	3.84	1.201

), “Visiting here will give me a happy feeling” (M = 4.00, SD = 0.896) is the highest, while “Visiting this place fits into the planned itinerary” (M = 3.60, SD = 1.082) is the lowest. Among the entertainment experience items, “There has a clear thematic to the visit” (M = 3.89, SD = 0.927) is the highest, while “There are clear explanatory publications to help me understand more” (M = 3.85, SD = 0.961) and “There has an educational atmosphere” (M = 3.85, SD = 0.999) is the lowest. Among the aesthetic experience items, “The spatial facilities or experiences here are designed as a whole” (M = 3.84, SD = 0.962) and “The site is clearly defined and marked” (M = 3.84, SD = 0.957) are the highest, while “There has a distinctive architectural style or event space” (M = 3.81, SD = 1.000) is the lowest. Among the escape experience items, “The hands-on experience takes me away from the realities of life” (M = 4.23, SD = 0.713) is the highest, while “I can forget about my worries when I am involved in a craft course” (M = 3.86, SD = 0.993) is the lowest. Among the experience value items, “The environment here is very reflective of its character” (M = 4.12, SD = 0.851) is the highest, while “The appearance of the architecture here is very attractive to me” (M = 3.80, SD = 1.270) is the lowest. Among the satisfaction items, “The activities offered here meet my needs” (M = 4.23, SD = 0.668) is the highest, while “I came here to forget about my worries” (M = 3.77, SD = 0.818) is the lowest.

4.3. Reliability and Validity Analysis

The variables included in this study are Entertainment Experience (ENT), Education Experience (EDU), Aesthetic Experience (ASE), Escape Experience (ESC), Experience Value (EXV), and Satisfaction (SAT). A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with factor loading (FL) ranging from 0.500 to 0.937. Multiple square correlations range from 0.25 to 0.93, and Cronbach’s α ranges from 0.553 to 0.811. The composite reliability (CR) ranges from 0.827 to 0.894, which surpasses the recommended 0.7. Meanwhile, the average variance extracted (AVE) estimates range from 0.586 to 0.733, which exceeds the cut-off value of 0.5. These results show that the reliability and validity of each dimension are acceptable (

Table 3. Reliability and validity analysis.

Construct	Variables	Factor Loading	Standard Error	Square Multiple Correlations	The Total Explanation of Variance (%)	Cronbach’s α	CR	AVE
ENT	ENT1	0.866	0.55	0.75	65.10	0.781	0.859	0.605
	ENT2	0.818	0.12	0.67
	ENT3	0.660	0.09	0.44
	ENT4	0.753	0.07	0.57
EDU	EDU1	0.937	0.75	0.88	73.36	0.811	0.890	0.733
	EDU2	0.668	0.43	0.45
	EDU3	0.936	0.34	0.88
ASE	ASE1	0.956	0.66	0.91	68.82	0.743	0.865	0.696
	ASE2	0.962	0.62	0.93
	ASE3	0.500	0.51	0.25
ESC	ESC1	0.752	0.72	0.57	52.37	0.582	0.827	0.615
	ESC2	0.814	0.48	0.66
	ESC3	0.786	0.38	0.62
EXV	EXV1	0.928	0.14	0.86	57.29	0.675	0.894	0.586
	EXV2	0.703	0.42	0.49
	EXV3	0.780	0.39	0.61
	EXV4	0.719	0.37	0.52
	EXV5	0.750	0.44	0.55
	EXV6	0.688	0.12	0.47
SAT	SAT1	0.906	0.18	0.82	53.78	0.553	0.863	0.678
	SAT2	0.764	0.42	0.58
	SAT3	0.794	0.37	0.63

).

The following table (

Table 4. Discriminant validity of the constructs.

	Mean	Standard Error	ENT	EDU	ASE	ESC	EXV	SAT
ENT	3.82	0.827	0.778
EDU	3.92	0.727	0.499	0.856
ASE	3.83	0.791	0.437	0.802	0.835
ESC	4.04	0.633	0.592	0.730	0.764	0.784
EXV	3.96	0.590	0.785	0.608	0.622	0.702	0.766
SAT	3.95	0.671	0.823	0.419	0.400	0.582	0.755	0.824

) shows the discriminant validity of the constructs. Most of the AVE square root in each construct has an excellent square root correlation with the same concept as with the other, showing an acceptable discriminant validity.

4.4. Hypotheses Test

The multiple regression analysis results are shown in

Table 5. Tested result of hypotheses.

Dependent Variable	Independent Variable	Unstandardized Coefficient		Standardized	t	Significance	Collinearity Statistics
		B Estimation Value	Standard Error	Beta Value			Tolerance	VIF
SAT	(Constant)	0.998	0.152		6.582	0.000
	ENT	0.406	0.034	0.570	11.874	0.000	0.647	1.545
	EDU	0.076	0.055	0.094	1.381	0.169	0.322	3.101
	ASE	0.127	0.054	0.171	2.375	0.019	0.288	3.472
	ESC	0.154	0.064	0.165	2.393	0.018	0.313	3.199
SAT	EXV	0.548	0.219		2.500	0.013
		0.858	0.055	0.755	15.680	0.000	1.000	1.000

.

• Model 1: Self-variables are ENT, EDU, ASE, and ESC, the dependent variable is SAT, F value = 121.781, p = 0.000, up to a significant level; R² = 0. 721; DW (Durbin–Watson) = 2.107, that means in line with the independence test. VIFs between 1.545 and 3.472 (less than 10), and no collinear situation occurs.
• Model 2: Self-variable is EXV, the dependent variable is SAT, F value = 245.886, p = 0.000, up to a significant level; R² = 0.567; DW (Durbin–Watson) = 2.079, and no collinear situation occurs.

Based on Table 5, the influence relationships between the variables were plotted on a pathway, as shown in Figure 2.

Based on the analysis, the verification of the research hypothesis is presented in

Table 6. Tested results of hypotheses.

Hypotheses	β Coefficient	t Value	p	Result
H1a	0.570 ***	11.874	p < 0.050	Accepted
H1b	0.094	1.381	p > 0.050	Rejected
H1c	0.171 *	2.375	p < 0.050	Accepted
H1d	0.161 *	2.393	p > 0.050	Accepted
H2	0.755 ***	15.680	p < 0.050	Accepted

Note: *** p < 0.001, * p < 0.050.

. Except for H1_b (p > 0.050), the hypotheses are accepted (p < 0.050).

5. Discussion

According to the demographic distribution of the Douliou Household Registration Office, Yunlin County [63], 20–29 years old accounted for 13.64%, 30–39 years old accounted for 13.69%, 40–49 years old accounted for 16.12%, 50–59 years old accounted for 14.64%, and over 60 years old accounted for 23.92%. Among them, the highest is over 60 years old, followed by 40–49 years old and 50–59 years old. The age distribution of the Tri-small Farmer’s Market visitors is the highest among those aged 40–49 and 50–59, followed by those aged 20–29. This is because many people over 60 in Taiwan have farming experience. They are less interested in the agricultural experience. In contrast, people under the age of 60 have less farming experience and are more interested in the agricultural experience, agricultural education, and purchasing agricultural products provided by the farmer’s market. Therefore, 20–59 years old are the important target market of farmer’s markets. Moreover, this group may become a trend of tourists for agricultural markets. In Douliu City, 49.42% are males, and 50.58% are females. The agricultural market includes agricultural experiences, agricultural education, and agricultural product purchases, which attract parent–child tourism (mother with child) and female tourists. Therefore, female tourists account for 56.9% of the Tri-mall Market, which is higher than the 50.58% population structure of Douliu City, reflecting a higher proportion of women in the agricultural trade and tourism market.

The entertainment experience is highest with, “Visiting here will give me a happy feeling” (M = 4.00), and in aesthetic experience, “The spatial facilities or experiences here are designed as a whole” is as high as “The site is clearly defined and marked” (M = 3.84). This means that Tri-small Farmer’s Market not only creates an atmosphere of on-site activities but also organizes cross-industry experience activities from time to time. In addition, the motivation for establishing the Tri-small Farmer’s Market is to combine local culture and provide local small farmers with the opportunity to build a themed packaging design for the sales area. This is similar to the finding of previous studies that farmer’s markets provide visitors with an experience of local life by creating a realistic consumption landscape [13,47].

“There has a clear thematic to the visit” (M = 3.89) for the education experience, and “The hands-on experience takes me away from the realities of life” (M = 4.23) for the escape experience means that the Tri-small Farmer’s Market is inextricably linked to local farmers in terms of the atmosphere and themes of its activities, such as agricultural education experience, farming experience, sharing local lunchboxes, or cooperation with other industries. This means that the business strategy of the Tri-small Farmer’s Market is to focus on “food and farming education” and to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere to deepen the agricultural education experience of visitors. Studies have shown that making consumers more knowledgeable about farmers increases interest in the farmer’s market experience [49,50].

The experience value, “The environment here reflects its character” (M = 4.12), is the highest. “The activities offered here meet my needs” is the highest satisfaction rating (M = 4.23). The results also reaffirm the simple and warm feel of the physical storefronts that the Tri-small Farmer’s Market developed in collaboration with the historic settlement. These interactive experiences cater to consumers, such as the display of products grown and produced by the farmers and DIY activities for visitors to participate in. This is similar to what Wu and Liang [53] mentioned in their study, that satisfying consumers’ needs for a product or service is essential for achieving satisfaction.

The regression analysis results revealed that the entertainment experience had the most significant effect on the experience value (β = 0.57), while the education experience had a less significant impact. This is in contrast to Xue, Zhou, Majeed, Chen, and Zhou’s [30] findings that education experiences had a greater influence on consumer behavior than entertainment experiences. The Tri-small Farmer’s Market has made agricultural education a development objective and organizes weekly or occasional agricultural fairs. One issue that has been overlooked is the attractiveness of the interaction between farmers and visitors. The study found that the visitor experience was most influenced by the entertainment experience rather than the education experience. This means that education experiences at farmer’s markets are not attractive enough for consumers to participate actively. Therefore, based on the results of this analysis, it is speculated that activities with an entertainment approach will attract visitors.

6. Implication

6.1. Theoretical Implications

Firstly, from a thematic perspective, this study takes the consumer’s sense of experience and satisfaction with farmer’s markets as the primary theoretical basis, which addresses the neglect of previous studies on farmer’s markets from a social perspective. Therefore, one of this study’s contributions is applying the theory of experience and satisfaction to complement the literature on farmer’s markets.

Secondly, this study verifies that the theoretical framework of experience—experience value—satisfaction is valid. Moreover, the analysis findings indicate that the entertainment experience exerts the most significant influence on the experience value and satisfaction, followed by the aesthetic and escape experiences. In contrast, the education experience does not affect the experience value and satisfaction. Therefore, another academic contribution is to add new findings to the research theme of farmer’s markets and provide a theoretical basis for using farmer’s markets in management.

6.2. Industrial Implications

From the analysis and discussion results, the following practical recommendations are given from the perspectives of the stallholders and managers of the farmer’s markets, respectively.

6.2.1. For Farmer’s Market Stallholders

Firstly, traditional farming is quietly transforming, and combining creative and cultural shops and agricultural-themed venues is an inevitable trend. Consequently, it is recommended that stallholders should keep up with the times concerning the design of their shops and the sale of agricultural products. Secondly, it is recommended that stallholders design activities that are entertaining and memorable for visitors to incorporate into agricultural education, for example, by incorporating storytelling packages or games. As mentioned in the study, customer value is generated if the experience is memorable [51]. Lastly, vivid performances are also a way to promote cultural knowledge, and it is recommended that stallholders increase visitor engagement through performance and interactive activities with on-site consumers [29,30].

6.2.2. For the Manager or Planner of a Farmer’s Market

Firstly, while supporting and encouraging stallholders to develop personalized shop designs, the market’s overall environment, theme, and atmosphere should also be controlled, monitored, and planned. Subsequently, based on strengthening the development of agricultural and local cultural themes, creating an environment for tourists far removed from their daily work life is essential. Consumers must have a stress-relieving experience and gain spiritual stability. Lastly, market managers should prioritize educating stallholders about the significance of proactive farming practices and product knowledge, as well as the implementation of do-it-yourself (DIY) or recreational activities. These factors significantly contribute to consumer satisfaction and should be emphasized in the managerial guidance provided to stallholders

6.2.3. Local Governments, and Organizations

Moallemi et al. [64] proposed that with the support of local stakeholders (such as local authorities, communities, and cities), bottom-up actions can pave the way for the local 2030 agenda, aiming to align the local context with the global agenda and unleash synergies between national (and even global) aspirations and the specific needs and priorities of local communities. Therefore, the initiative of local grassroots organizers can provide opportunities for accelerating the achievement of sustainable development goals [65,66]. In addition, it also means that top-down encouragement is important for the sustainable development of farmer’s markets. Therefore, the development of agricultural markets should not only rely on farmers and market managers but government and local organizations should encourage and subsidize them in terms of material and policy.

7. Limitation and Future Research

Firstly, this study analyzed consumers of all age groups and different genders in general but did not conduct differentiation analysis on different age groups, genders, etc. Therefore, it is suggested that future researchers conduct differentiation analysis on the data to make specific understanding and recommendations on different groups. Secondly, Yunlin County is the main survey area. It is recommended that future researchers select different regions in Taiwan, for example, the north, central, south, and east, to conduct the survey. The third limitation is that only the existing scales of experience and satisfaction were used for quantitative research analysis. It is suggested that future researchers incorporate qualitative interviews to comprehensively understand what factors affect consumers’ satisfaction experience beyond the four experience values mentioned in this study. Another noteworthy issue regarding research methodology is the sampling method. One of the risks of convenience sampling is that sampling error is greater when there is more difference between individuals in the sample. For this issue, this study suggests that future researchers can use purposive sampling or the snowball sampling method; additionally, employing mixed sampling methods can offer valuable insights and merits exploration as a viable option. Lastly, it is important to note that the farmer’s markets examined in this study are situated within a relatively underutilized historical built environment. However, the potential influence of these buildings on the overall environment has not been extensively explored or investigated. The sustainability of farmer’s markets is not only about human interaction and operation but also about the integration of the local environment, the building, or the location. Hence, the effect of the unique historic built environment on small farmer’s markets could be the subject of future research.

8. Conclusions

To echo the two objectives mentioned in the Introduction, this study used quantitative analysis to examine the impact of the four types of experience perceptions of farmer’s markets on consumers’ experience value by validating the validity of the research framework of experience value and satisfaction. In addition, the significant results of experience value on satisfaction were used to understand how farmer’s markets should provide farming and event experiences to enhance consumer experience and satisfaction.

Lastly, from the perspective of industrial practice development, this research combines creative cultural stores with agricultural-themed venues as an inevitable trend and encourages market regulators or operators to support farmers’ historical records from management, supervision, environment, planning, and operation perspectives. Therefore, the study provides practical recommendations on sustainable development for farmer’s market stallholders and managers to achieve higher consumer experience value and satisfaction.