REBORNS Model: A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Community Market Transformation Through Trade Fair and Creative Economy Integration

บทคัดย่อ

Traditional Thai community markets possess distinctive cultural and ecological assets yet consistently fail to convert them into competitive value under intensifying modern retail and digital-commerce pressures. This study pursued three objectives: to examine the structural obstacles constraining these markets; to construct a grounded theory integrating trade fair operational discipline and creative economy principles as a transformation mechanism; and to develop the REBORNS Model, extending the Natural Resource-Based View to informal market contexts. Adopting a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, data were generated from 30 key informants across three groups (trade fair and event specialists, community vendors, and consumers) through four methods: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, and documentary analysis, with interviews structured around engagement history, structural challenges, and development pathways. Data were analysed through three-level coding with constant comparison until theoretical saturation. Three findings emerged in line with the objectives. First, competitive vulnerability stems not from an absence of assets but from systemic deficits in value communication and management capacity that render embedded assets competitively invisible. Second, integrating trade fair discipline with creative economy principles provides a replicable pathway from transactional selling to experiential commerce. Third, these patterns culminate in the REBORNS Model, the study's principal contribution to knowledge: a seven-dimension framework comprising Resource-Embedded Cultural Identity, Ecological Place Embeddedness, Business-Fair Vendor Readiness, Organic Community Social Capital, Regenerative Ecological Stock, New-market Organisational Readiness, and Self-Management Capability, the last functioning as a cross-cutting moderator governing the remaining six. The model offers actionable guidance for policymakers, market operators, and community development practitioners seeking to elevate traditional markets sustainably.