Consumer health beliefs and food supplement use by the elderly

Seven western states in the U.S.A. were surveyed by mail and telephone to assess consumer-health beliefs and the use of food supplements (vitamins and minerals) as part of the overall western region project. A 57.9% return resulted in a sample size of 1,730 adults and 528 of these were 60 years of age and over. The sample included significantly greater numbers of regular users of vitamins and mineral supplements than non-users or occasional users. More women than men were regular users. Compared with those who never used vitamin and mineral supplements, regular users had distinct patterns of health beliefs and practices. Regularly, they relied heavily on the medical profession for general health information. They obtained supplement and diet information from diet books and periodicals and also believed that taking vitamins and minerals prevented serious illness, reduced stress, prevented colds, skin problems, heart attacks, cancer, and other health problems. While they believed their overall well-being was improved through the use of supplements, their responses did not indicate that use of supplements ensured good health or that the current food supply filled nutritional needs. Conclusions are that specific educational programmes about the value and use of food supplements need to be designed for the target audience. Furthermore, all professionals who work in the large array of food service positions should share the responsibility for providing accurate information and advertising.     

Understanding Preferences for Dietary Supplements and Fortified Food during Pregnancy: A Discrete Choice Experiment

Using a discrete choice experiment, we examine pregnant women’s preferences to determine the relative importance they place on product attributes when choosing between nutritionally fortified food and beverage products, and supplement tablets. The choice experiment was included in a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire completed by 857 pregnant Australian women. Latent class analysis identified four distinct consumer segments: ‘Nulliparous information seekers’ (42% of sample), ‘Lower-income milk-lovers’ (22%), ‘Older multiparous tablet users’ (16%), and ‘Young juice-lovers’ (20%). While nutrient levels were a strong driver of choice in the largest segment, over one-third of pregnant women were not influenced by levels of recommended nutrients (folate or iodine) in supplement products. Pregnancy supplements endorsed by a reputable government science agency were most appealing in three of the segments. The information gained regarding product preferences of different consumer segments can aid in targeting pregnant women and those planning pregnancy with more appropriate nutrition information, advice, and products.     

Consumer Preferences Toward Product Attributes of Dietary Supplements Under Mandatory Food Traceability Systems in Korea

Korea, mandatory Food Traceability System (FTS) regulation on dietary supplements has been enforced since the end of 2014, which has allowed government to collect electronic data to trace food. The aim of this study was to determine which additional attributes of dietary food supplements are preferred by consumers and to assess the value of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for these attributes. This investigation revealed that gender, age, income, and awareness were the most frequently reported drivers of purchase behavior. Gender was the most influential socioeconomic characteristic. The results of the conditional and random parameter logit model suggested that Korean consumers have the highest WTP for origin of all ingredients, followed by side-effect warnings, quality-related certifications, and date of import. It will be worthwhile to identify the value of relevant attributes once other nations establish FTS policies and improve food traceability services or regulations.     

Vitamin supplementation practices: health/nutrition education implications

A sample of 310 supplement users, 216 nonsupplement users and 247 inconsistent (user/nonuser) supplementers were followed for 18 months to examine the consistency of supplementation. Since supplementation is often not required for a healthy diet, factors associated with persistence or stability of supplement use have implications for appropriate health/nutrition education. Consistent supplementation (at least 18 months' duration) was associated (P < 0·01) with (i) female sex, (ii) health beliefs in the efficacy of supplementation, (iii) seeking health information from physicians, nurses, dietitians and nutritionists, (iv) using periodicals, TV/radio and books for sources of nutrition information, (v) older age, (vi) higher income and (vii) higher levels of education. Nonusers were more likely to attribute health to chance on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale, and inconsistent users were more likely to have experienced a change in employment status, relocation to another town/city and a higher number of ‘change’ events in the previous 18 months. Based on the characteristics of the consistent supplement user, ‘academic controversy’ may be an effective educational strategy to employ, if changes in supplementation attitudes and beliefs are desired.     

Profitability market segmentation: Identifying the heavy users of overdraft checking

Users of overdraft checking, a bank service that allows customers to draft checks in excess of their existing balances up to a predetermined limit, were studied to see if they could be segmented on the basis of utilization rates. A total of 271 overdraft checking customers from among 489 enrollees in the service returned completed questionnaires. All enrollees were customers of a bank in a midwestern city of slightly more than 100,000 inhabitants. Data covering the extent of overdraft usage, utilization of other of the bank's services, and sociodemographic backgrounds were collected. Customer groups varying in overdraft usage intensity and date of enrollment in the service were derived through cluster analysis. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to relate use of other services and background data to group membership. Heavy users, the most profitable bank customers, were younger, had lower incomes, and were better educated than light users. Furthermore, early heavy users tended to be similar in socioeconomic profile to later heavy users. So a re view of the characteristics of the first few intense users would have been helpful in the development of a marketing program to attract additional profitable customers.     

The Impact of Warnings,Disclaimers, and Product Experience on Consumers’ Perceptions of Dietary Supplements

Two experiments explored the impact of disclosures (warning and disclaimer) and product experience (heavy, light, and nonusers) on consumers’ perceptions of dietary supplements. In general, the government‐mandated disclaimer did not impact consumers’ beliefs about either the efficacy or the safety of dietary supplements; for most consumers, the disclaimer is unlikely to achieve its intended results. However, when product experience was examined, analyses show that heavy product users responded differently to the disclosures than did light product users and nonusers. Results point to the importance of understanding the influence of individual differences on the interpretation of product disclosures by specific consumer segments.     

An examination of life-course use of housing information by the elderly

An examination of the housing decisions of a group of elderly (n= 43) was undertaken to establish the nature of information used throughout the life course and to determine the degree of success of a variety of sources of information in promoting housing satisfaction. A purposive sample of elderly men and women in different tenure groups and house types, from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and encompassing ‘young old’ as well as ‘old old’ were interviewed to establish patterns of formal and informal information flow and to determine, as far as is possible, whether information was actively or passively acquired. As would be perhaps expected, elderly owner occupiers, and particularly those from socioeconomic groups I, II and IIIN had used, and continue to use, formal sources of information to a far greater extent than did elderly tenants who had been in manual occupations, who preferred (and had always preferred) to look to family and friends to satisfy their housing information needs. Written information on housing choices appeared to be of limited value to most elderly, although it may be the case that leaflets and booklets are inappropriate sources of housing information for all age groups, not simply the elderly.     

The role of utilitarian and hedonic aspects in the continuance intention to use social mobile apps

The purpose of this research is to understand the main factors that determine users’ continuance intention to use social mobile Apps, considering two utilitarian (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) variables and a hedonic (i.e., perceived enjoyment) variable. As social mobile Apps may be utilitarian or hedonic, we aim to evaluate possible differences in the significance of the aforementioned antecedent factors in utilitarian Apps (i.e., TripAdvisor) and hedonic Apps (i.e., Instagram). The data were collected from an international sample of users; the Partial Least Squares method was applied to analyze the research model, using SMARTPLS 3.0. To analyze the moderating effects, a multi-group PLS analysis was carried out to compare the differences between the path relationships in the two Apps. The results show that continuance intention to use is explained by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, satisfaction and user experience (control variable), and the impact of utilitarian variables is generally greater for utilitarian Apps, whereas the impact of perceived enjoyment is higher for hedonic Apps. This study contributes to the general body of knowledge about mobile Apps by providing a comprehensive theoretical foundation and practical implications that illuminate the continuance use of social mobile Apps.     

Socioeconomic descriptors of fatal crash rates in the Southeast USA

Over the past decades, the Southeast United States has been experiencing consistently higher fatality crash rates compared to other regions of the country. This region also has lower median household incomes, higher percentages of the population below poverty levels, higher percentage of the area classified as rural, and lower percentages of high school completion and university attainment. It is then possible to hypothesize that accident involvement could be affected by these types of socioeconomic characteristics. The objectives of this study were to identify potential socioeconomic factors that could correlate and contribute to the higher fatality crash rates in the Southeast. Driver and vehicle characteristics from the FARS database were related to socioeconomic and demographic Census variables. Crash rates were obtained using the quasi-induced exposure methodology for single- and multi-vehicle crashes. The results show that these socioeconomic characteristics have an impact on single-vehicle crashes but have no statistically significant impact on multi-vehicle crash rates.     

Determinants of severe injury and mortality from road traffic accidents among motorcycle and car users in Southern Thailand

Abstract

This study aimed to identify factors associated with severe injury and mortality from road traffic accidents (RTA) among motorcycle and car users in southern Thailand. The data were obtained from the Office of Disease Prevention and Control, Thailand, for years 2008–2013. Chi-squared tests were used to assess associations between determinants and outcomes and these associations were then estimated after adjusting for possible confounding with other factors using logistic regression. Severe injury and mortality contributed 11.6% and 5% to RTA of motorcycle users, and 14.3% and 7.5% for car users. Among motorcycle users, male gender, older age, and not wearing a helmet increased severe injury and mortality rates, whereas drivers had more severe injuries than passengers. Older car users had higher severe injury and mortality rates, whereas not fastening seat belts had higher mortality. Safety device use should be made mandatory for both drivers and passengers. Male motorcycle users and the elderly should be focused on.     

Policy makers’ paradigms and evidence from consumer interpretations of dietary supplement labels

The regulation of marketplace information regarding health and nutrition is in flux. Nowhere, perhaps, is this more evident than in the dietary supplement industry. Herein, we present an experiment that examines the two major types of claims used for dietary supplements, testing the underlying assumptions made by policy makers. Our study suggests that a direct‐effects consumer decision‐making model does not apply in this context; instead, consumers process label claims through various biasing filters.     

The protectionist bias of duty drawbacks: evidence from Mercosur

In a political-economy setting where tariffs and duty drawbacks are endogenously chosen through industry lobbying, it is shown that full duty-drawbacks are granted to exporters who use imported intermediates in their production. This in turn decreases their incentives to counter-lobby against high tariffs on their inputs. In equilibrium, higher tariffs will be observed on these goods. The creation of a regional block will change the political equilibrium. Duty-drawbacks will be eliminated on intra-regional exports, which in turn will lead to lower tariffs for goods used as inputs by intra-regional exporters. Evidence from Mercosur suggests that the elimination of duty-drawbacks for intra-regional exports led to increased counter-lobbying by users of intermediate products. In its absence the common external tariff would have been on average 3.5 percentage points (25 percent) higher.     

Computer ownership and home usage: the case of Malaysia

The multi‐functionality of computers and the increased accessibility of the Internet have created a demand for computers at home which was previously concentrated in offices. Using the Heckman two‐step model and by combining socioeconomic factors and insights from Becker's theory on allocation of time in the household with information system theories, it was found that: (i) household allocation of resources; (ii) age and gender; and (iii) household social environment are significant in determining computer purchase decisions and its extent of usage in households in Malaysia, a developing information, communication and technology country. Responses collected from 500 computer users were used in the study. Unlike most household technologies, the results also suggested that despite the multi‐functionality of computers, it was perceived as a technology that facilitates the consumption process more than the production process.     

Getting the word out on Twitter: the role of influentials,information brokers and strong ties in building word-of-mouth for brands

Using a sample of over 5300 tweets from top global brands, this study investigated how different types of users can influence brand content diffusion via retweets. Twitter users who influenced followers to retweet brand content were categorized as (1) influentials, because of their above average ability to influence others to retweet their tweets (in general), (2) information brokers, because of their position connecting groups of users or (3) having strong ties, because of their high percentage of friends in common and a mutual friend–follower relationship with the influenced follower. The results indicate that influentials and information brokers are associated with larger number of retweets for brand content. In addition, although information brokers have a larger overall influence on retweeting, they are more prone to do so when influentials are mentioned in the brand tweet, providing support for the strategy that aims to associate the brand with influential users.     

The characteristics of derivatives users: An analysis of the thrift industry

This paper compares the characteristics of derivatives users and non-users, using data from U.S. savings associations during 1993–1994. Unlike prior studies, the data used in this analysis are market values of assets and liabilities. Market values were obtained from the base case (no interest rate change) in the Office of Thrift Supervision's (OTS) Net Portfolio Value Model. This model calculates the value of all of a thrift's positions to calculate the value at risk. We determine the consistency of theories of derivatives use with the characteristics of derivatives users.     

Does banner advertising affect browsing for brands? clickstream choice model says yes, for some

This paper investigates how exposure to Internet display advertising affects the subsequent choices users make of brand-specific pages to view within a website. Using individual-level clickstream data from a third-party automotive website, we tracked the web pages selected by users as they browsed the site and their exposures to premium placement display ads for different vehicle makes (e.g., Ford, Toyota). Pages on the site were classified into those that displayed information about a specific vehicle make (a ??make page??) versus those that did not (a ??non-make page??). For each ??make-page?? viewed, the specific automotive make selected (e.g., Ford, Toyota) was also recorded. We use these data to develop a model of users?? make-specific page choices as a function of prior banner ad exposure on the site. Consumer heterogeneity is captured using a Bayesian Mixture approach. We find that banner ads influence subsequent choices of which make-specific pages to view for ads, served during the current browsing session but not for ads served in previous sessions. The effect of banner ads is also segmented: users in one segment (54%) reacted positively, users in a second segment (46%) were not influenced. Using a standard continuous approach to heterogeneity, we would have concluded?Cincorrectly?Cthat banner advertising has no effect on the subsequent selection of make-specific pages. For the positively reacting segment, we estimate that the elasticity of make-page choice with respect to banner ad exposure is just under 0.2. Users in this segment appear less focused in their site browsing behavior and tend to stay longer than users in the non-reacting segment.     

The burden of road traffic injuries in Kermanshah Province,Iran, in 2010–2011: GBD 2010 method

Deaths, injuries and disabilities resulting from road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a public health major concern. This study aims to calculate the burden of RTIs in Kermanshah Province in Iran. In this study to determine the years of life lost (YLL) related to RTIs, the National Death Registration and Forensics Medicine census data were employed. We use forensic medicine data to calculate the incidence of non-fatal injuries and years lost due to disability (YLD). The cause of death and non-fatal injuries was classified using ICD-10 codes and 23 groupes of global burden of diseases (GBD) 2010. The disability-adjusted life year (DALY) estimated on the guidelines of the GBD 2010 and age and sex structure was taken from the National Statistic Center for the year 2010. Overall, 70.8% of the subjects were males. The fatal and non-fatal injury rates of RTI were 51.3 and 283.6 per 100,000 persons, respectively. YLLs and YLDs were 46613 (24.5 per 1000) and 3405 (1.8 per 1000) in both sexes, respectively. The disability adjusted life years were 40711 in males, 9306 in females and 50018 in both sexes (42.5, 9.8 and 26.3 per 1000, respectively). More than 93% of DALY was from YLL (24.5 per 1000), with a small proportion for YLD (1.8 per 1000). Accounting for more than 50,000 DALY attributed to RTIs, traffic injuries is a major public health and socioeconomic problem in Kermanshah. Designing cost-effective interventions based on comprehensive and multi-sectoral programmes at the national and provincial levels can save many lives and resources that are lost every year. Undoubtedly, establishing a surveillance system at the sub-national level and measuring the burden of injuries, as in this study, can help policy-makers and planners in lessening the burden of RTIs.     

The Regulation of Dietary Supplements Within the United States: Flawed Attempts at Mending a Defective Consumer Safety Mechanism

The use of dietary supplements in the United States has escalated in the past decade, driven by the public's desire to exert control over their health and by the mistaken belief that the safety of dietary supplements is assured by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In fact, the marketing of largely unregulated supplements presents significant risks to public health.