diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 601bcac..06d4e4b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ In the Zeebe configuration file, you can change
 * the ringbuffer's name
 * the ringbuffer's capacity
 * the ringbuffer's time-to-live
+* the record serialization format
 
 Default values:
 
@@ -115,6 +116,9 @@ className = "io.zeebe.hazelcast.exporter.HazelcastExporter"
 
     # Hazelcast ringbuffer's time-to-live in seconds
     timeToLiveInSeconds = 3600
+
+    # record serialization format: [protobuf|json]
+    format = "protobuf"
 ```
 
 ## Build it from Source
diff --git a/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/ExporterConfiguration.java b/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/ExporterConfiguration.java
index 160883d..37a8046 100644
--- a/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/ExporterConfiguration.java
+++ b/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/ExporterConfiguration.java
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ public class ExporterConfiguration {
   public int capacity = -1;
   public int timeToLiveInSeconds = -1;
 
+  public String format = "protobuf";
+
   public String enabledValueTypes = "JOB,WORKFLOW_INSTANCE,DEPLOYMENT,INCIDENT";
   public String enabledRecordTypes = "EVENT";
 
@@ -26,6 +28,8 @@ public String toString() {
             + capacity
             + ", timeToLiveInSeconds="
             + timeToLiveInSeconds
+            + ", format="
+            + format
             + "]";
   }
 }
diff --git a/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/HazelcastExporter.java b/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/HazelcastExporter.java
index f9e3e29..cf7c592 100644
--- a/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/HazelcastExporter.java
+++ b/exporter/src/main/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/exporter/HazelcastExporter.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ public class HazelcastExporter implements Exporter {
   private HazelcastInstance hazelcast;
   private Ringbuffer<byte[]> ringbuffer;
 
+  private Function<Record, byte[]> recordTransformer;
+
   @Override
   public void configure(Context context) {
     logger = context.getLogger();
@@ -55,6 +58,23 @@ public boolean acceptValue(ValueType valueType) {
                 return enabledValueTypes.contains(valueType);
               }
             });
+
+    configureFormat();
+  }
+
+  private void configureFormat() {
+    if (config.format.equalsIgnoreCase("protobuf")) {
+      recordTransformer = this::recordToProtobuf;
+
+    } else if (config.format.equalsIgnoreCase("json")) {
+      recordTransformer = this::recordToJson;
+
+    } else {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+              String.format(
+                      "Expected the parameter 'format' to be one fo 'protobuf' or 'json' but was '%s'",
+                      config.format));
+    }
   }
 
   private Stream<String> parseList(String list) {
@@ -112,15 +132,20 @@ public void close() {
   public void export(Record record) {
 
     if (ringbuffer != null) {
-      final byte[] protobuf = transformRecord(record);
-      ringbuffer.add(protobuf);
+      final byte[] transformedRecord = recordTransformer.apply(record);
+      ringbuffer.add(transformedRecord);
     }
 
     controller.updateLastExportedRecordPosition(record.getPosition());
   }
 
-  private byte[] transformRecord(Record record) {
+  private byte[] recordToProtobuf(Record record) {
     final Schema.Record dto = RecordTransformer.toGenericRecord(record);
     return dto.toByteArray();
   }
+
+  private byte[] recordToJson(Record record) {
+    final var json = record.toJson();
+    return json.getBytes();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/exporter/src/test/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/ExporterJsonTest.java b/exporter/src/test/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/ExporterJsonTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d13394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exporter/src/test/java/io/zeebe/hazelcast/ExporterJsonTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package io.zeebe.hazelcast;
+
+import com.hazelcast.client.HazelcastClient;
+import com.hazelcast.client.config.ClientConfig;
+import com.hazelcast.core.HazelcastInstance;
+import com.hazelcast.ringbuffer.Ringbuffer;
+import io.zeebe.client.ZeebeClient;
+import io.zeebe.hazelcast.exporter.ExporterConfiguration;
+import io.zeebe.model.bpmn.Bpmn;
+import io.zeebe.model.bpmn.BpmnModelInstance;
+import io.zeebe.test.ZeebeTestRule;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+public class ExporterJsonTest {
+
+    private static final BpmnModelInstance WORKFLOW =
+            Bpmn.createExecutableProcess("process")
+                    .startEvent("start")
+                    .sequenceFlowId("to-task")
+                    .serviceTask("task", s -> s.zeebeTaskType("test"))
+                    .sequenceFlowId("to-end")
+                    .endEvent("end")
+                    .done();
+
+    private static final ExporterConfiguration CONFIGURATION = new ExporterConfiguration();
+
+    @Rule
+    public final ZeebeTestRule testRule =
+            new ZeebeTestRule("zeebe-json.test.cfg.toml", Properties::new);
+
+    private ZeebeClient client;
+    private HazelcastInstance hz;
+
+    @Before
+    public void init() {
+        client = testRule.getClient();
+
+        final ClientConfig clientConfig = new ClientConfig();
+        clientConfig.getNetworkConfig().addAddress("127.0.0.1:5701");
+        hz = HazelcastClient.newHazelcastClient(clientConfig);
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void cleanUp() {
+        hz.shutdown();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldExportEventsAsProtobuf() throws Exception {
+        // given
+        final Ringbuffer<byte[]> buffer = hz.getRingbuffer(CONFIGURATION.name);
+
+        var sequence = buffer.headSequence();
+
+        // when
+        client.newDeployCommand().addWorkflowModel(WORKFLOW, "process.bpmn").send().join();
+
+        // then
+        final var message = buffer.readOne(sequence);
+        assertThat(message).isNotNull();
+
+        final var jsonRecord = new String(message);
+
+        assertThat(jsonRecord)
+                .startsWith("{")
+                .endsWith("}")
+                .contains("\"valueType\":\"DEPLOYMENT\"")
+                .contains("\"recordType\":\"EVENT\"")
+                .contains("\"intent\":\"CREATED\"");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/exporter/src/test/resources/zeebe-json.test.cfg.toml b/exporter/src/test/resources/zeebe-json.test.cfg.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71138f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exporter/src/test/resources/zeebe-json.test.cfg.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[[exporters]]
+id = "hazelcast"
+className = "io.zeebe.hazelcast.exporter.HazelcastExporter"
+
+    [exporters.args]
+    format = "json"