  In the context of the urgent need to establish sustainable food systems,
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), in which consumers share risks with
producers, has gained increasing attention. Understanding the factors that
influence consumer participation in CSA is crucial, yet the complete picture
and interrelations of these factors remain unclear in existing studies. This
research adopts a scoping review and the KJ method to elucidate the factors
influencing consumer participation in CSA and to theorize the consumer
participation. In particular, we focus on the dynamics of individual
decision-making for participation, under the premise that individuals are
embedded in socio-cultural environments. We examine the decision-making process
based on the seesaw of expected gains and losses from participation, along with
the reflexivity to the individual and the process of updating decision-making
post-participation. Our study highlights how individual decision-making for
participation is influenced by relationships with others within the embedded
socio-cultural environment, as well as by attachment and connection to the
community. It also shows that discrepancies between expectations and
experiences post-participation, and the transformation of the social capital,
promote the updating of decision-making processes. In addition, among the
factors identified in this study for participation in CSA, the decision to
participate was heavily influenced by expectations of variety of ingredients,
suggesting that other factors such as food education and learning
opportunities, contribution to environmental and social issues, and connections
with people and nature had little impact. Although there are limitations, the
insights gained from this study offer profound implications for stakeholders
and provide valuable insights for more sustainable and efficient CSA practices.
