Fluidity of places in everyday food consumption: Introducing snackscapes

Snack consumption encompasses the repetitive habits of consumers in various everyday life spaces. Despite the pervasiveness of snack consumption worldwide, the phenomenon of snacking has not been given extensive attention, unlike other areas of food consumption research. Yet, snacking shows certain distinctive features, such as fluidity of places. This study leans on foodscape literature and introduces the concept of snackscape, which enables us to showcase the multiplicity of places in snacking culture. While prior foodscape studies are located in certain tangible places, such as urban surroundings, festival sites or particular geographical areas, snackscapes demonstrate how snacks may be consumed, for instance, on the move from one place to another, or in a variety of places that are not part of one's ordinary routines, such as on a picnic or a holiday trip to a foreign country. The findings show how places of habitual snack consumption vary from time to time—or are even on the move. This is a powerful demonstration of how a routine‐like consumption practice takes place in everyday life. This study also highlights important consumer policy issues, especially in regard to young consumers and their snacking habits. Thereby, the study brings forward the agentic capacity of snackscapes having implications on engaging in healthier snack consumption.     

Analysis of Snack Food Purchasing and Consumption Behavior

This exploratory research examines the purchasing and consumption behavior of snack food consumers. A structured questionnaire and intercept interviews were used to collect quantitative data from respondents inside supermarket stores. For marketers, a key contribution of this study is the importance of the price attribute and certain product claims. Sugar and total fat were found to be the most important nutritional factors that consumers consider when making a purchase decision, but it was also found that only around one half of all consumers actually read product labels when purchasing snack foods. Matters of particular concern that are highlighted by this study are that one third of consumers do not consider their snacking behavior to be healthy, and one quarter of consumers choose to snack in secret. This study addressed a number of gaps in current knowledge by identifying the snack food products that are most frequently consumed, the reasons for consuming snacks, whether consumers read snack food product labels, the importance of various attributes and product claims, whether consumers regard their snacking behavior to be healthy, and whether they snack in secret.     

Running wild in the marketplace: the articulation and negotiation of an alternative food network

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we examine how actors within what we conceptualise as an emerging wild food alternative network are navigating through the foodscape to find alternatives to homogenous and standardised food products. Drawing on data from different research engagements with wild food consumers and producers over the last decade in Canada, we use the context of wild foods to explore how the ‘alternative’ is being articulated and negotiated. Inspired by scholarly work exploring the pedagogical promise of food, we also explore the transformational potential of the ‘alternative’ – how bringing wild foods to the table can both inspire and teach consumers about sustainability and alternative consumption practices. We conclude with directions for future marketing research on alternative food networks.     

Consumer consumption intentions of smaller packaged snack variants

Smaller snack package variants are ubiquitous in the food marketplace. Although it is assumed that consumers intend to consume less because snacks are placed into smaller packages, consumer intentions are never measured. This research examines dietary‐restrained consumers' consumption intentions of smaller snack package variants found in the marketplace described by snack type (i.e. less healthy, more healthy – as per Guiding Stars® food labelling system) and front‐of‐package calorie labelling (99 calories, 100 calories). We conducted an online experiment wherein 203 participants were exposed to the aforementioned snack package variants and their consumption intentions were subsequently measured. A regression analysis revealed that consumers who are highly dietary restrained intend to consume more when (a) the snack is relatively healthier and (b) it includes 99‐calorie front‐of‐package labelling. We discuss the idea that dietary‐restrained consumers are not likely to view smaller packaged snacks as portion control devices, but rather, as a means to eat more of a healthier food.     

Sophisticates or Dupes? Attitudes toward Food Consumers in Edwardian Britain

In this article, we explore how reformers, manufacturers, andtraders perceived British food consumers and the significanceof those perceptions in debates about food quality and regulation.By considering basic commodities, our analysis extends a literatureon consumption that is otherwise derived primarily from thestudy of luxury commodities, and it identifies conflicting imagesof the interests, competence, and concerns of early twentieth-centuryconsumers. We find that discussions of appropriate policy involvedcompeting interpretations of modernity and its implicationsfor food consumers, and these discussions anticipated latertwentieth-century debates.     

A cosmopolitan return to nature: how combining aesthetization and moralization processes expresses distinction in food consumption

This article investigates how foodies' adoption of New Nordic Food enables them to combine aesthetic and moral cosmopolitanism ideals. It demonstrates that consumers integrate aesthetic and moral cosmopolitan discourses through two complementary processes: the re-aesthetization of nature and the re-moralization of the exotic. These processes combine in a cosmopolitan interest for one of the last unexplored foreign contexts: nature. The findings of this article contribute to existing research by showing that moral cosmopolitanism reflects a more individualized and less engaged form of consumption than ethical consumption. They illustrate how urban consumers perform distinction in contexts where nature is the most exotic unexplored context, highlighting further the reterritorialization of global cosmopolitan consumption, where food trends can only be consumed authentically in their context of origin. Finally, this article shows how moral cosmopolitanism can support consumers who acknowledge the need for ethical consumption yet struggle with its adoption.     

Dietary Restraint and Consumer Consumption Intentions for Low‐Calorie Snacks

Much is still unknown regarding the reasons that drive consumer consumption intentions for low‐calorie snacks. This research investigates the impact of individuals with low vs. high dietary restraint inferences of low‐calorie snacks on their subsequent consumption intentions. We conducted a between‐subjects experiment in which we asked participants to indicate their consumption intentions and their hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions for more (almonds) vs. less (goldfish crackers) healthy 99‐calorie snacks. In addition, we measured participants' level of dietary restraint. Results suggest that consumers with high vs. low dietary restraint levels do prefer low‐calorie snacks for different reasons. Hedonic value perceptions explain consumers with low dietary restraint preference for the less healthy snack, while utilitarian value perceptions explain consumers with high dietary restraint preference for the healthier snack. We conclude with a discussion on the managerial and policy implications of our findings.     

Consumers' Assessment of the Food Safety Problem for Meals Prepared at Home and Reactions to Food Safety Labeling

Abstract

Public awareness and concern regarding foodborne illnesses have increased rapidly over the past decade. This increased concern may cause consumers to avoid certain stores, products or brands, particularly following a publicized incidence of foodborne illness or a large recall. Many firms have undertaken costly efforts to improve the safety of their products yet find communicating such improvements difficult because of potential alarmist responses by consumers to food safety issues. To identify if differences in food safety risks can be effectively and credibly communicated, we conducted eight focus groups. This article summarizes these focus groups and reports how consumers frame the issues surrounding the food safety problem and how consumers react to label-based communications of food safety characteristics. We find consumers have broad, moderate food safety concerns, a wide but spotty understanding of foodborne illness prevention and consequences, and a healthy skepticism concerning food safety claims. We identify two forms of labeling that show promise with regard to consumer acceptance and credibility in communicating brand-level and package-level differences in the risk of foodborne illness and discuss implications for consumer valuation of such differences.     

Food consumption,lifestyle patterns,and body mass index of a group of white South African students

There is worldwide concern that higher education students are increasingly engaging in unhealthy eating and lifestyle practices. A total of 488 white students participated in a study aimed at investigating the current food consumption and related lifestyle patterns of students at a South African residential university. The respondents’ self‐reported weight and height was used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). Closed and open‐ended questions measured aspects of the respondents’ usual eating patterns and lifestyles. The meal patterns and composition confirmed Western‐orientated food practices, as the majority consumed three meals a day, with in‐between meal snacking, and a different meal pattern over weekends. Respondents’ food intake was further characterized by a low intake of fruit, vegetables, and dairy products and frequent consumption of foods high in fat, sugar, and sodium. Although the majority (66.8%) of the study group were classified as normal weight according to their BMI, when comparing males and females, more males than females were overweight and obese. Only 54% of the males had a normal weight compared to 82% of the females. There was, however, no statistically significant difference (p = 0.149) between how males and females in the different BMI groups felt about their weight. The study also explored the relationships between the respondents’ BMI, gender, food consumption patterns, and type of residence. The features of the food consumption patterns were depicted according to whether breakfast was eaten or not; snacking activity between meals; the consumption of ready‐prepared convenience meals, fast foods; home‐cooked meals; and eating out. There were no statistical significant differences between the BMI categories of males and females regarding their habit to eat breakfast or not; and to snack between meals either during the morning, in the afternoon or after supper. Similarly, no statistical significant differences were noted when relating the BMI categories of the gender groups to the frequency of consumption of ready‐prepared, convenience type meals, fast foods, and home‐cooked meals. However, a statistical significant difference (p‐value 0.006) was found between BMI categories per gender and general frequency of eating out. No statistical differences was noted between BMI categories, gender and place of residence irrespective of the type, whether the student lived with parents, independently in a flat or apartment, or a house with friends or a room, or in a university residence.     

Self-Control and Touch: When Does Direct Versus Indirect Touch Increase Hedonic Evaluations and Consumption of Food

Could directly touching food with hands make it tastier and more desirable? The present paper presents four studies that explore how sampling and eating food by touching it directly with hands affects hedonic evaluations and consumption volume. The studies demonstrate that for consumers who apply self-control in their food consumption (high self-control consumers) touching food directly with hands enhances the sensory experience and increases hedonic evaluations of the food. Importantly, direct touch increases the consumption volume for high self-control consumers. These findings contribute to understanding of how touch as a proximal sensory factor affects food evaluation and consumption, and thus offer retailing implications in the context of in-store food sampling, food catering, presentation and consumption of food in restaurants.     

How practices inform the materialization of cultural ideals in mundane consumption

This study examines how consumers enact cultural ideals in mundane consumption. The empirical context is a weekday dinner practice among Finnish households. The findings demonstrate how practices inform consumers how, where, when, and with whom to enact and compromise cultural ideals and identity projects. Thus the practices guide food consumption choices and the meanings that the consumers ascribe to food consumption objects. The consumers are pragmatic, flexible and fragmented as they enact identity projects and cultural ideals in mundane consumption in relation to practices. They compromise the identity projects and the cultural ideals in some practice(s) but not across practices. As the practices serve different ends for the consumers at different times, the meaning of the practices is constantly re-created by the consumers. The perceived value of mundane consumption is related to how well and how frequently the consumers can enact their identity projects and cultural ideals in practices.     

Two-Stage Determinants of the Organic Food Retailing Landscape: The Case of Manhattan,New York

Retail sales of organic food products have been increasing faster than any other category of food and have penetrated mainstream retail grocery outlets. The majority of the literature on organic markets explores the socioeconomic characteristics of consumers, linking these traits to the probability of buying organic food, and it suggests that access to organic food is an important but overlooked factor in such studies. More recently, research focusing on food retailer marketing strategies for organic food finds that traditional strategies such as price promotions are largely unsuccessful with increasing sales for the organic food consumer. This article focuses on the retailer decision to offer organic food for sale. We model the decision as a two-stage process, where the retailer’s first decision is whether to sell organic food, and the second decision determines how many different organic products to offer for sale. In doing so, by using data collected in stores, we assess the organic food retail landscape in Manhattan, NY. We find that the decision to offer organic food for sale depends on the neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, and the amount of organic food offered for sale depends on the size of the store.     

Are nutrition labels useful for the purchase of a familiar food? Evidence from Chinese consumers�� purchase of rice

Nutrition labeling has been accepted by Chinese consumers as an information source to learn about food quality and safety. This paper uses Chinese consumers’ rice purchase as an example to study how consumers use food nutrition labels to make purchase decision of a familiar food product. The goal is to understand how consumers seek information from the labels to make purchase when extensive experience with the food has been developed. Survey data from 400 random respondents in Beijing were analyzed using an empirical framework and a Mont Carlo integral econometrics model. We find that more than 50% of the consumers in Beijing have heard of food nutrition labels in general, 36.50% carefully use label information even if they are familiar with the food, and nearly 70% consider mandatory food nutrition labels as beneficial. Those who are more knowledgeable about rice nutrition labels are more likely to use the labels when purchasing rice, no matter how familiar they are with the product. Frequent users of nutrition labels are more likely to consider food mandatory nutrition labels as beneficial. This study suggests that consumers still use the label information to reassure the quality and safety of food despite a history of consumption.     

Global Social Preferences and the Demand for Socially Responsible Products: Empirical Evidence from a Pilot Study on Fair Trade Consumers

We analyse behaviour and motivations of a sample of about 1,000 consumers purchasing ‘fair trade (FT) goods’, i.e. food and artisan goods which include socially responsible (SR) characteristics and a price premium for primary product producers with respect to equivalent non‐FT products. By estimating a simultaneous two‐equation treatment effect model we find that FT products have less than unit of income elasticity and their demand is negatively (positively) correlated with geographical distance from the nearest shop (age and awareness of SR criteria). Awareness of SR criteria depends, in turn, on a series of factors (consumption habits, membership of volunteer associations) which, indirectly (via increased awareness), significantly affect consumption. We also measure consumers’ willingness to pay in excess for the SR features of FT products with a contingent evaluation approach and find that it is positively correlated with awareness of SR criteria.     

Embrace the debate: Goals,de-marketing overconsumption,and conflicting information

When faced with conflicting information, consumers often wonder what the “right” consumption level is. A highly relevant context that is often associated with such uncertainty is food consumption (e.g., of meat or dairy products), where consumers seek information to determine whether and how much to consume, and often a recommended goal from health experts is to reduce overconsumption. We apply the theory of goal settings as reflecting such information, focusing on specific goals (e.g., “eat meat twice a week”) versus general goals (“eat less meat”). Based on a series of three experiments in both online and field settings with 674 participants overall, we show that in food consumption contexts with conflicting information, general goals set by health experts are less effective than specific goals in battling overconsumption. Perceived value of information was identified as the underlying mechanism as it mediated the effect of conflicting information on reduced overconsumption. Prior work suggests conflicting information is typically disadvantageous for consumers. Our research demonstrates how consumers can benefit from communication emphasizing specific goals when information conflicts. It contributes to policymakers, health experts, and social marketers that search for effective marketing strategies to reduce overconsumption of items that may be associated with conflicting information.     

Dietary intake and the contribution of snacks among adolescents during the summer months

Abstract Adolescent diets are often cited as nutritionally inadequate, possibly because of their reported snacking habits. This study examined 48 adolescent diets using a 24-h diet recall and a 2-day food record during summer months. Total intake and snacks identified by the subjects were analysed for energy and nutrient content. Male and female subjects reported similar intakes of fat, cholesterol and sugar. Ninety-eight per cent of subjects reported at least one snack daily. Snacks contributed 25% to the total energy, vitamin C, calcium and magnesium intakes. Although these subjects were not adhering to national recommendations for fat and sugar, the snacks they consumed contributed positively to the nutrient content of adolescent diets.     

Unveiling ways to reach organic purchase: Green perceived value,perceived knowledge,attitude, subjective norm,and trust

This paper aims to investigate organic food consumption based on the perspectives of an extended research model by integrating the theory of consumption value (TCV) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA). First, we tried to find out how five consumption values of functional, social, emotional, conditional, and epistemic in classic TCV influence consumption choice especially in the sustainable consumption domain of organic food, interpreted as green perceived value (GPV) in the reflective-reflective second-order latent. Second, as an attempt to extend the classic TRA, this study included trust and perceived knowledge in the research model in addition to the subjective norm, attitude, and behavioral intention. A partial least square structural equation method (PLS-SEM) was adopted to examine our research model with 251 samples. Our results revealed that GPV significantly affects consumer attitudes. Consumer attitudes and subjective norms also have a significantly positive effect on purchase intention. As an extended TRA, GPV has a significantly positive effect on trust while trust significantly impacts purchase intention. Further, perceived knowledge positively influences attitude and trust. By jointly considering TCV and TRA, this study proposes several implications emphasizing how GPV and perceived knowledge affects consumers’ organic food consumption choice based on the role of increased trust.     

A Packaging Visual-Gustatory Correspondence Effect: Using Visual Packaging Design to Influence Flavor Perception and Healthy Eating Decisions

Visual elements of packaging design serve as a powerful, cost-efficient tool for manufacturers and retailers alike to communicate sensory features of the product to consumers and influence their consumption behaviors. Based on studies of packaging design, cross-modal correspondences, and food science, this research establishes a “packaging visual-gustatory correspondence effect” whereby the image of a food product placed at the bottom (vs. top) of the package façade enhances consumers’ expectations (Study 1A) and actual perceptions (Study 1B) of the food’s flavor heaviness. Further, this effect carries over to help consumers make healthier eating decisions such as eating less of the food (Study 2) and subsequently choosing a healthier snack (Study 3). This research also shows that the packaging visual-gustatory correspondence effect is moderated by consumers’ processing style such that those who engage in holistic (vs. analytic) processing are more affected by the location of the food image on the package façade (Study 4). Our theoretically novel findings are also conducive to addressing the self-control dilemma: The location of the food image on the package façade can serve to increase flavor perception but decrease consumption quantity.     

Healthy and tasty school snacks: suggestions from Brazilian children consumers

Children do not choose what to eat based on health issues alone, and the high availability of non‐nutritious food in the environment can be a barrier to the consumption of healthy foods. Brazilian children are consuming processed, savoury, rich in fat, sodium and refined carbohydrates rather than more nutrient‐dense foods. Foods offered in public school meals and those sold in private school canteens in Brazil are subject to regulation, but not the snacks brought from home. This study identified the suggestions of public and private school students about the characteristics that a snack should present in order to be considered both healthy and palatable. A qualitative exploratory study using focus groups was conducted with 128 primary school students aged 7–10 years old. Interviews were transcribed and content analysis was conducted, generating three categories: (1) foods actually consumed during snack breaks; (2) examples of foods considered healthy and/or tasty for consumption during snack breaks; and (3) desired characteristics of a healthy and tasty snack. Foods of high energy density and low nutritional value were mentioned as the most consumed snacks, usually brought from home or purchased within/near the schools. Consumption of meals offered by the National School Meal Program was reported by only one‐third of the public school students. Fruits, natural juices and vegetables were considered healthy foods; sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were considered tasty; while fruits and natural fruit juices were considered both healthy and tasty. Sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were mentioned as examples of snacks with the desired healthy/tasty characteristics. The disparity between what was actually consumed and what was reported as ideal leads us to question the availability in retail stores of healthy yet palatable foods that meet this population's desires.     

Changing Consumer Preferences in Emerging Markets: Food Market Challenges in Central Mexico

As incomes in emerging markets grow, consumers’ ability to break from former food consumption patterns and introduce new foods or conveniences grows as well. While this general principle is widely accepted, the path of such introductions is not identical worldwide. In this study, we explore how consumers in an advanced emerging market have identified with their current food options, including open-air markets v. supermarkets, and simple v. processed alternatives. Using focus groups, we find that Mexican consumers have strong ties to traditions in food preparation while also showing interest in modern food conveniences. Using product adoption theory, we show that consumers exhibit expected traits of innovation resistance, social contagion influence, and consumption innovativeness, but with specific local variation, including problems with trust, expectations of government action (paternalismo), and considerable definitional confusion. Foreign marketers wishing to access the growing Mexican market should account for these differences from broader product adoption theory.