What drives diners' eco-friendly behaviour? The moderating role of planning routine

Research focusing on diners' intentions towards leftovers, which are considered one of the main sources of consumer food waste in restaurants, is still at a nascent stage and requires further investigation. The present study attempts to address this gap by investigating the antecedents of diners' intentions to take away leftovers and thereby mitigate food waste in an out-of-home setting. Towards this end, we examined the role of personal and social norms as antecedents of the facilitators, inhibitors, and intentions of taking away leftovers. Using the theoretical lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) paradigm, we tested the proposed hypotheses by analysing data collected from 281 diners residing in the United States through a cross-sectional survey on Prolific Academic. The findings indicate that personal norms are positively associated with facilitators and intentions. In comparison, social norms are positively associated with facilitators but negatively associated with inhibitors. The results also confirmed the mediation effect of facilitators and inhibitors and the moderation effect of planning routine to provide valuable insights into the drivers of pro-environmental/eco-friendly behaviour in out-of-home dining to thus aid strategy formulation and future research.     

“Why do you dine at Korean restaurants?” An ethnic food consumption model approach

This study aimed to examine how people choose an ethnic restaurant based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to uncover factors that influence consumer decision-making in ethnic food consumption situations, particularly Korean food. Specifically, this study extended the original TPB model by incorporating consumer values and other variables that are theoretically related to the attitude formation, including familiarity and affective country image. The results showed that economic value, quality value, epistemic values, and familiarity were significant factors affecting consumer attitudes toward dining at Korean restaurants. Also, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly influenced consumer intentions to dine at Korean restaurants.     

Influence of Social Acceptability and Attitudes in Restaurant Beef Consumption

ABSTRACT

The competition for meeting consumer preferences for beef steak in the casual dining restaurant is increasing. In order to better understand these preferences researchers employed Sapp's expanded rational expectations intention model, a depiction of Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action, to investigate consumers' intentions to consume beef steak in the casual dining restaurant. The expanded model added the social acceptability construct to Ajzen and Fishbein's rational expectations model. Social acceptability had significant causal path estimates for attitude, intention, and subjective norm. Additionally, researchers looked at possible gender differences in the social acceptability, attitude, and behavioral intention constructs. The path estimate between social acceptability and behavioral intention was significant for females but not for males. The attitude to behavioral intention causal path was the strongest path for both males and females; however, neither gender differed in the amount of weight placed on this causal path. The results of this study may assist the beef and restaurant industry to more effectively compete for market share by meeting consumer preferences for beef steak in the casual dining environment.     

Interaction Effect of Ad Puffery and Ad Skepticism on Consumer Persuasion

ABSTRACT

A 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to test the interaction effects of ad puffery and consumer ad skepticism on consumer persuasion using print ads for jeans. High ad skeptics (i.e., those more skeptical of ads) held a more positive attitude toward the ad than low ad skeptics (i.e., those less skeptical of ads) when a puffed (i.e., exaggerated) ad was viewed. Conversely, low ad skeptics had greater purchase intentions than high ad skeptics when a nonpuffed (i.e., nonexaggerated) ad was viewed.     

Advertising time expansion, compression, and cognitive processing influences on consumer acceptance of message and brand

This article examines the nature of consumer process involvement and cognitive processing of advertising content as mediating variables between commercial message executions (e.g., broadcast time compression and expansion and using broadcast versus print media) on attitude and behavioral intentions. The article proposes a framework that builds on the prior work of Krugman, Wright, and MacInnis and colleagues; the framework includes hypotheses of an advertising execution and processing involvement interaction effect on cognitive processing of commercial messages and a substantial direct effect of cognitive processing on attitude and behavioral intention. The article includes details of an experiment testing hypotheses in the framework. The findings provide strong support of the hypotheses. Implications for advertising strategy include adopting a conservative view on the use of time compression in advertising commercials and nurturing low consumer processing involvement of commercial messages.     

The Impact of Eco-Design Packaging on Food Waste Avoidance: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Eco-design packaging is a potential tool to reduce food waste. However, the absence of a theoretical basis regarding the relationships between eco-design packaging and consumer food waste behavior obscures the social impact of this packaging. This study assesses research linking eco-design packaging and food waste avoidance from a consumer perspective. The authors analyze 22 articles in top-tier journals, and conclude that consumer perceptions of eco-design packaging could reduce food waste. Results lead to a conceptual model of the mechanism whereby consumer perceptions of eco-design packaging influence food waste avoidance intentions.     

Analyzing the food waste reduction intentions of UK households. A Value-Attitude-Behavior (VAB) theory perspective

Food waste is a complex and pervasive issue associated with growing corporate, political and public concerns. Addressing the issue of food waste is essential to achieve sustainable development. This study utilises the value–attitude–behaviour hierarchy to examine UK household consumers' food waste reduction intentions. The research model hypothesises a positive relationship between consumers' perceived values (hedonic value and sense of community), attitudes (anticipated guilt, social norms and attitude to reduce food waste), and household food waste reduction intentions. We collected data from 513 UK households via a survey questionnaire. The results confirmed that consumers' perceived values positively affect their attitude toward reducing food waste. We also found that attitude to reduce food waste is significantly associated with food waste reduction intentions. Furthermore, the control variables, age and gender, are significantly associated with social norms. However, the results revealed that a sense of community is not significantly associated with an attitude toward reducing food waste. The study findings offer useful insights for academics, marketers, policymakers and governments seeking to mitigate the adverse effects of food waste.     

Understanding Local Food Consumers: Theory of Planned Behavior and Segmentation Approach

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to examine the antecedents and consequence of consumer attitudes toward local food and to segment these consumers using their food-related lifestyle (FRL) attributes. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, we proposed three factors to impact attitude toward local food (health consciousness, concern for the environment, and concern for local economies) along with subjective norm and perceived behavioral control to influence intentions to purchase local food.

Methodology: Data were collected from 502 local food consumers measuring the following: antecedents and consequence of attitude toward local food; FRL; demographic information.

Findings: Health consciousness, concern for the environment, and concern for local economies were found to be significant predictors of attitude toward local food. Attitude toward local food and subjective norm, but not perceived behavioral control, were found to have a significant effect on intention to purchase local food. Further, segmenting based on their FRL yielded four types of consumers (Impromptu Novelty Explorer, Uninvolved Connoisseur, Involved Information Seeker, and Apathetic Local Food Consumer). An ANOVA provided a snapshot of several demographic and psychographic differences between segments.     

Falling or Not Falling into Temptation? Multiple Faces of Temptation, Monetary Intelligence, and Unethical Intentions Across Gender

We develop a theoretical model, explore the relationship between temptation (both reflective and formative) and unethical intentions by treating monetary intelligence (MI) as a mediator, and examine the direct (temptation to unethical intentions) and indirect (temptation to MI to unethical intentions) paths simultaneously based on multiple-wave panel data collected from 340 part-time employees and university (business) students. The positive indirect path suggested that yielding to temptation (e.g., high cognitive impairment and lack of self-control) led to poor MI (low stewardship behavior, but high cognitive meaning) that, in turn, led to high unethical intentions (theft, corruption, and deception). Our counterintuitive negative direct path revealed that those who controlled their temptation had high unethical intentions. Due to the multiple faces of temptation (the suppression effect), maliciously controlled temptation (low cognitive impairment and high self control) led to deviant intentions. Subsequent multi-group analysis across gender (a moderator) reformulated the mystery of temptation: a negative direct path for males, but a positive indirect path for females. For males, the negative direct path generated a dark impact on unethical intentions; for females, the positive indirect path did not, but offered great implications for consumer behavior. Both falling “and” not falling into temptation led to unethical intentions which varied across gender. Our counterintuitive, novel, and original theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions may spark curiosity and add new vocabulary to the conversation regarding temptation, money attitudes, consumer psychology, and business ethics.     

Why do people purchase from food delivery apps? A consumer value perspective

Consumers are increasingly using food delivery apps (FDAs) to facilitate convenient and quick food delivery. Yet, the existing research offers a limited understanding of consumers’ behavioral responses to the visibility and values derived from FDAs. Our study utilized the theory of consumption values (TCV) to examine associations between FDA visibility, consumption values, and purchase intentions. The mediating role of consumption values and the moderating role of attitude was also studied. A qualitative study was conducted with 15 FDA consumers to derive context-specific consumption values. Responses from 355 FDA consumers from the United States of America (USA) were obtained through Prolific and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Visibility acted as an antecedent of all consumption values and significantly influenced purchase intentions. Attitude also positively and significantly influenced purchase intentions. Consumption values partially mediated the association between visibility and purchase intention, while attitude negatively moderated the relationship that purchase intention has with visibility and preference value. These findings have important implications for theory and practice.     

Exploring Urban Consumers’ Attitudes and Intentions to Purchase Local Food in Chile

Although local food consumption is growing in importance, there remains a lack of research addressing local food consumption preferences in less developed countries. This article aims to examine the drivers of local food purchase intentions for Chilean consumers. A model of local food behavioral intention was developed from consumer behavior theory. The model was tested using structural equation modeling with data from Chilean shoppers located in Santiago (n = 283). The analysis revealed that Chilean consumers are willing to purchase local food based on their positive attitude toward buying local food and their feelings of connectedness with the environment, but not because they have a desire to support local businesses. These findings have implications for retailers, marketers, and food producers.     

Evaluating the purchase behaviour of organic food by young consumers in an emerging market economy

Promoting consumer purchase behaviour of eco-friendly products is key to environmental sustainability. This research aims to investigate how different factors may enhance or impede young consumers’ intentions to purchase a specific type of eco-friendly product, i.e. organic food. Data were obtained from 289 respondents in an emerging market economy, i.e. Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis using structural equation modelling revealed that food safety concern, health consciousness and media exposure to food messages played integral roles in the formation of attitude towards organic food. Interestingly, consumers’ environmental concern and food taste were of little value in predicting their attitude. Notably, perceived barriers (i.e. high price, inadequate availability, poor labelling and extra time required) significantly impeded both attitude and purchase intention towards organic food. The insights gained from this research extend current knowledge about pro-environmental behaviour in developing countries and they have important practical implications for marketers and other key stakeholders.     

Towards an understanding of consumer recycling from an ethical perspective

Recycling is a post‐purchase consumer activity where the consumer usually considers not only individual but also social goals, ideas and ideologies. Accordingly, ethics is an inherent part of recycling; however, very few studies have explored this behaviour from an ethical point of view. The purpose of this paper is to explain consumer recycling by taking a multifaceted ethical approach. The conceptual model builds on theoretical underpinnings related to ethical consumption by exploring the extensions of the theory of planned behaviour, Jones' ethical decision‐making model and Holbrook's conceptualization of ethical consumption. Thus, the attitude‐intention framework incorporates three ethics‐related concepts: (1) moral obligation, i.e. the level of guilt to perform the behaviour, (2) moral intensity, i.e. the moral issue characteristics, and (3) collectivism, i.e. an individual‐level value orientation. The data were collected from a sample of Slovenian consumers, using an online consumer panel. The sample reflected the Slovenian population in terms of gender and age. The proposed conceptual model was tested using structural equation modelling. The results suggest the proposed ethical concepts play a significant role in the attitude‐intention framework. The more collectivistic individuals have more positive attitudes towards recycling. Moreover, the more consumers perceive recycling as morally intense, the more favourable their attitudes are. In turn, attitudes positively affect intentions to recycle. In addition, higher levels of moral obligation positively influence intentions to recycle. The only hypothesis that is not supported in this study refers to the influence of moral intensity on intentions to recycle. The implications for public policymakers and social marketers stem from a complex interplay of the antecedents of recycling behaviour. Future studies could go in several directions by extending the model to other moral issues, conducting a study in a cross‐cultural setting or taking a longitudinal approach.     

The Cause Cue Effect: Cause‐Related Marketing and Consumer Health Perceptions

Many for‐profit companies (e.g., Kraft, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Keebler, 5‐Hour Energy) are partnering with health‐oriented nonprofits (e.g., Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Susan G. Komen for Breast Cancer Research, American Red Cross) to make purchase‐contingent donations. Companies use cause‐related marketing to improve brand image and goodwill for their food products and companies. Prior research has examined how food‐related cues can create consumer misperceptions; however, consumer perceptions related to corporate communications (e.g., the use of cause cues) has received little research attention. This research explores consumer reactions to cause cues and finds that adding a health cause to a food package significantly increases product health perceptions, and, usually, product attitude, and purchase intentions (i.e., the cause cue effect) in both a student sample (Studies 1 and 2) and an adult sample on Amazon's mTurk (Study 3). Implications for cueing and inference‐making literature, and for consumer health, and policymakers are discussed.     

The nature of informal food bazaars: Empirical results for Urban Hanoi,Vietnam

This paper aims to study the interesting phenomenon of informal food markets in urban areas, which have been neglected in the past research. Based on an empirical study of consumer choice between informal and formal markets (markets built-up by street hawkers vs. government-planned markets), this paper provides a basis for understanding the nature of informal markets in the Vietnamese context. The results show that cheap price and convenience (proximity) are important in shaping the choice by consumers for informal markets for food, while close relationship with sellers or services provided by sellers are not. Shoppers with higher concern for freshness and safety of fresh food are more likely to shop at formal markets. Additionally, low-income shoppers are found significantly inclined toward informal markets, while higher-income shoppers tend to shop at formal markets. Therefore, these two types of market should be viewed as two marketplaces to serve two segments of consumer groups, rather than two markets competing for a share of the business.     

Why buy new when one can share? Exploring collaborative consumption motivations for consumer goods

The notion of collaborative consumption or sharing economy—where consumers share access to ownership of properties such as cars, clothes and accommodations—has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. Development of communication technologies and peer‐to‐peer communities has enabled consumers to coordinate sharing activities through various online platforms. Collaborative consumption involves sharing of both intangible (e.g., music, space and car rides) and tangible assets (e.g., household items, clothes and furniture). Activities such as renting, swapping, trading and purchasing/selling used consumer goods are included in the latter. Despite increasing academic attention on collaborative consumption, little research has been pursued in the context of consumer goods. The nature of consumption for tangible goods can be entirely different from that of intangible goods because people can exercise greater control over tangible goods, which results in greater psychological ownership than that for intangible goods. To address this gap, the objective of this study is to develop a scale that examines consumer motivations for collaborative consumption of consumer goods. Following Churchill's paradigm of scale development, the procedures of scale item generation, purification and validation were conducted via in‐depth interviews, literature review and surveys. The study identified five underlying dimensions of collaborative consumption of consumer goods: concern‐for‐sustainability, social, variety‐seeking, fun and cost‐saving. Study findings and implications are discussed, and future research avenues are suggested.     

The effect of benefits generated from interacting with branded mobile apps on consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions

This study extends the “Uses and Gratifications” approach (U&G) from a web context to a new one, i.e. mobile applications. It seeks to investigate the effect of the key benefits generated from interacting with branded mobile apps on consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect the study data. The questionnaire was distributed to 358 participants inside seven major malls in a Middle Eastern country (Jordan). Purposive sample was employed. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (AMOS 18). Four key findings emerged from the current research. First, the study confirms the existence of four interaction-based benefits in the context of mobile apps, namely: learning benefits, social integrative benefits, personal integrative benefits and hedonic benefits. Second, apart from social integrative benefits, the other three benefits are found to influence consumer satisfaction to varying degrees. Third, with regard to purchase intentions, only learning benefits and hedonic benefits are found to generate that. Finally, the study confirms the relationship between consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions in a mobile context. The study contributes to the literature through adopting the U&G approach as a theoretical base to examine the key benefits that consumers gain when interacting with branded mobile apps.     

An examination of consumer embarrassment and repatronage intentions in the context of emotional service encounters

Using an experimental repeated-measures design (n=240), this study examines the level of felt embarrassment and repatronage intentions in relation to 13 embarrassing service encounters. The manipulation of two independent variables, i.e. embarrassment source (i.e., service provider, others present and consumer) and embarrassment stimuli (violations of privacy, awkward acts, forgetfulness/error, image appropriateness and criticism) are represented by 13 hypothetical scenarios included in a self-report survey. The findings have relevance for theory and practice and provide direction for future research in this area.     

Impact of cause-related marketing on consumer advocacy and cause participation: A causal model based on self-reports and eye-tracking measures

Cause-related marketing improves corporate image and consumer attitudes toward brands. An important research gap is how the visual attention paid to cause-related cues in social media affect consumer attitudes and behaviors. In the present study, we analyze the moderating role of the visual attention paid to Instagram-based, cause-related posts on the impact of consumer perceptions (i.e., corporate image), beliefs (trust), and attitudes (i.e., corporate social responsibility [CSR] support) on behavioral intentions (i.e., cause participation, consumer advocacy, and intention to share posts) for fast-food restaurants. Data for the study were collected in a between-subjects experiment with 123 participants. Visual attention was measured using eye-tracking technology, and consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions through an online survey. The results show that the greater the attention paid to images (amount and duration of fixations) and the more revisits made lead to more positive attitudes and behaviors toward the cause and the company. On the other hand, the more time spent looking at the company's responses to negative user-generated content weakens the relationship between trust and consumer advocacy toward the company. These results can help practitioners design appropriate cause-related marketing strategies in social media.     

The balancing act: How do moral norms and anticipated pride drive food waste/reduction behaviour?

Food waste is a serious problem that impacts the environment and sustainability by increasing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. Food waste also represents a social challenge because it raises serious concerns about food security. While acknowledging that households waste a great deal of food because they lack a proper routine for reusing leftovers and purchase more food than required, few studies have extensively examined the drivers of leftover reuse and over-ordering. We address this gap using the stimulus-organism-response paradigm. Moral norms and anticipated pride are conceptualised as stimuli that impact the organismic state of intentions against food waste and response in the form of leftover reuse routines and over-purchasing of food. Data collected from 443 individuals residing in the United States confirm the positive association of norms and pride with intentions. Statistical analyses also reveal a positive association between intentions and leftover reuse routines and a negative association between intentions and over-purchasing of food. The results further demonstrate the mediation effect of intentions on the association of moral norms and anticipated pride with both response variables; in addition, we find that household income exerts a positive moderation effect on the association of norms and pride with intentions and a negative moderation effect on the association of anticipated pride with over-purchasing of food. Researchers, organisations and policymakers can draw upon these findings to motivate future research, propose effective strategies and enact favourable policies to promote sustainability and reduce food-related waste at the household level.