Investigating gender differences in consumers’ experience of guilt: A comparative study

The literature of guilt in the context of consumer behavior is notably limited. It is particularly limited with respect to examining gender differences across nations. Existing studies have only evaluated gender differences, in terms of consumer guilt, in the United States. In addition, those studies evaluated gender differences in specific consumption situations such as consumer boycotting and food consumption. Thus, they do not give a comprehensive understanding of gender variations in consumer guilt. Notably, gender differences with regard to consumer guilt were shown to be limited in countries other than the United States. These studies provided contradictory results to established findings in social psychology. In view of this, by using quantitative techniques, numerous consumption settings, and samples from two distinct countries, this study provides a holistic assessment of gender differences in consumer guilt across nations. The findings indicate that gender differences, with respect to consumer guilt, are predominately present in individualistic countries and notably absent in collectivist countries. Hence, marketers should consider gender as an influential variable when devising guilt related strategies in individualistic countries. In contrast, marketers may reconsider allocating resources, with respect to gender related marketing strategies, in collectivist countries.     

Can Hand Washing Influence Hedonic Food Consumption?

The act of hand washing has been a routine part of hygienic practices across time and society. Aside from its physiological effects, hand washing has also been shown to symbolically cleanse individuals of their transgressions. However, most research demonstrating the metaphorical effect of hand washing has mainly been focused within the domain of morality. The objective of the current research is to explore the role of hand washing on consumption behavior, and more specifically, hedonic food consumption. Across two studies, this article establishes the role of hand washing after hedonic food consumption as well as prior to a hedonic food choice. In Study 1, washing one's hands after consumption of hedonic food decreased perceived guilt. In Study 2, washing one's hands prior to choice led to an increased likelihood of choosing a more hedonic (compared to less hedonic) food item. Thus, by washing one's hands, individuals are provided with a license to indulge in hedonic foods without the guilt that is commonly associated with such a choice. Several implications for consumer behavior research and the effects of hand washing on food decision making are discussed.     

Can health “halos” extend to food packaging? An investigation into food healthfulness perceptions and serving sizes on consumption decisions

The purpose of this research is to examine how perceived food healthfulness and package partitioning interact to impact intended and actual consumption. Across three studies, findings indicate that both intended consumption and actual consumption of the perceptually healthier food items increase when packaging is not partitioned. Further, partitioning does not change the intended or actual consumption of foods perceived as less healthy. Accordingly, perceptually healthy foods tend to be consumed more when servings are not partitioned, suggesting a positive health halo leading to a “healthy = eat more” consumption pattern. The role of affect regulation theory and, more specifically, guilt, in this process is examined. These findings have implications for marketers, food manufacturers, and public policymakers interested in reducing obesity.     

Segments of sustainable food consumers: a literature review

Sustainable food consumption is an important aspect of sustainable development. When adopting a sustainable food lifestyle, consumers are confronted with complex choices. Today's food consumption is too complex to be explained by socio‐demographic factors exclusively. A broader perspective is needed. In order to explain behaviour across different consumer segments better, relatively homogenous segments of food consumers were identified by segmenting food consumers based on a wide range of variables. The current study aims to provide an overview of published studies that have segmented consumers with regard to sustainable food consumption. The literature review has been conducted by searching SciVerse Scopus for all relevant articles available until November 2010. The main criterion for including a specific study was the inclusion of empirical analyses of primary data, resulting in consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption. Sixteen articles were incorporated in the final analysis. First, the variables used for segmentation and profiling in the included articles have been categorized into three levels of abstraction: personality characteristics, food‐related lifestyles and behaviour. The three levels of abstraction proved to be helpful in categorizing the segmentation studies. The findings indicate that variables on all three levels were efficient in differentiating consumer segments regarding sustainability. In addition, the importance of price and health differed across the segments, although these variables are only indirectly related to sustainability. Second, the three most frequently identified consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption were: ‘greens’, ‘potential greens’ and ‘non‐greens’. These segments differed from one another on all three levels of abstraction. This implies that future segmentation studies should include variables on all levels of abstraction to get a complete picture of existing sustainable consumer segments. Marketers should be aware that targeting specific segments based on socio‐demographic variables exclusively is not sufficient. Personality characteristics, lifestyle and behaviour are all important to take into consideration. Attempts at stimulating sustainable consumption might be most effective when differences across consumer segments are taken into account. Future research is needed to explore the characteristics of different sustainable food consumer segments with respect to their potential contributions in promoting sustainable development.     

The effects of age cues on preferences for organic food: The moderating role of message claim

Organic food, a form of green consumption, is a growing industry, with consumers purchasing for both altruistic and egoistical motives. However, there is limited research into how marketers can develop advertising strategies to promote organic food. The present research examines how age cues influence consumer preferences for organic food. Across two experimental studies, this research demonstrates that consumers exposed to a younger cue show higher preferences for organic fruits when evaluating an altruistic claim. More importantly, this research draws upon psychological reactance theory to test the opposite effect, such that consumers exposed to a younger cue show lower preferences for organic fruits when evaluating an egoistic claim. Further, the emotions of compassion and anger are established as the mediators of the interactive effect between age cue and message claim on consumer preferences for organic food. These findings thus offer theoretical and managerial implications for the use of age cues and motivational claims, specifically in promoting organic food.     

The effects of consumer empowerment on risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption

This study intends to measure consumer empowerment related to food consumption and determine its effect on food risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption. Data were derived from an analysis of the “2017 Research on Food Consumption Behaviour” by the Korea Rural Economic Institute. Consumer empowerment, risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption were measured using a 5‐point Likert scale. The differences in consumer empowerment according to gender, age, educational level and monthly income were statistically significant. The factors that affected risk perception were information use, healthy eating, consumer rights, consumer responsibility and monthly income. The higher the scores for information use, healthy eating and consumer responsibility, the higher the score for satisfaction with food consumption.     

The Nature of Self-Reported Guilt in Consumption Contexts

This research uses consumer guilt narratives to identify a typology for consumption related guilt. Three major dimensions of guilt circumstances emerged involving other individuals, societal standards, and more specific situations related to oneself. The connection between categories of consumer guilt experience and the resulting consumer response is also explored, with resulting consumer actions involving amendment, rationalization, and/or denial to resolve guilt experienced. The findings are integrated into a general discussion of the theoretical and substantive implications and the potential avenues for future research in the area.     

Perceptions that matter: perceptual antecedents and moderators of healthy food consumption

Unhealthy eating patterns present in most Western countries pose a serious threat to economic welfare and have severe consequences for the health and quality of life of the individual consumer. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a conceptual model for understanding how health authorities and marketers can affect consumption of healthy food – and ultimately body mass index (BMI) – by addressing perceptual antecedents of consumers' involvement and health competencies. A qualitative (n = 16) pilot study and a consumer panel survey (n = 599) assisted in completing this task. The obtained structural equation modelling results confirmed that increasing consumers' competencies concerning healthy food consumption may improve the healthiness of their food behaviour, and ultimately reduce their BMI. Notably, these effects may occur even for consumers who perceive healthy food consumption to be a challenge. Our results also revealed that it may be problematic to improve health competencies for food consumers who are less involved in healthy food consumption. However, our study shows that two perceptual factors, ‘personal food identity’ (the extent to which consumers believe that their health identity is linked to their food behaviour) and ‘unhealthy food taste belief’ (the extent to which consumers believe that unhealthy food is more enjoyable and tastier than healthy food), may assist health authorities and marketers in increasing consumers' involvement in healthy food consumption.     

内疚广告诉求对消费者道德消费意愿的影响机制研究

基于认知失调理论和心理抗拒理论,通过两个实验探究了企业道德营销中内疚与非内疚诉求影响消费者道德消费意愿的心理作用机制。结果表明,内疚诉求比非内疚诉求更能促进消费者的道德消费意愿,强迫性感受和操纵意图推断发挥了中介作用,且该中介作用受到消费者涉入度的调节。具体而言,低消费者涉入度情境中,相比于非内疚诉求,内疚诉求能够降低消费者的强迫性感受和操纵意图推断,进而增强其道德消费意愿;高消费者涉入度情境中,相比于内疚诉求,非内疚诉求能够降低消费者的强迫性感受和操纵意图推断,进而增强其道德消费意愿。研究结论有助于企业设计道德属性产品的广告策略,有效降低受众心理抗拒反应,提升受众广告体验,进而推动道德消费。     

Feelings that Make a Difference: How Guilt and Pride Convince Consumers of the Effectiveness of Sustainable Consumption Choices

A significant body of research concludes that stable beliefs of perceived consumer effectiveness lead to sustainable consumption choices. Consumers who believe that their decisions can significantly affect environmental and social issues are more likely to behave sustainably. Little is known, however, about how perceived consumer effectiveness can be increased. We find that feelings of guilt and pride, activated by a single consumption episode, can regulate sustainable consumption by affecting consumers’ general perception of effectiveness. This paper demonstrates the impact that guilt and pride have on perceived consumer effectiveness and shows how this effect rests on the ability of these emotions to influence perceptions of agency. After experiencing guilt or pride, consumers see themselves as the cause of relevant sustainability outcomes. The process of causal attribution associated with these emotions influences consumers’ use of neutralization techniques. Through the reduction in consumers’ ability to neutralize their sense of personal responsibility, guilt and pride positively influence perceived consumer effectiveness. The inability to rationalize-away their personal responsibility, persuades consumers that they affect sustainability outcomes through their decisions. The research advances our understanding of sustainable consumption and identifies a new avenue for the regulation of individual consumer behavior that has significant implications for the development of sustainable marketing initiatives.     

Contradictions in food consumption

This study asked consumers to identify the possible contradictions in their food consumption. The article takes the so‐called ‘antinomies of taste’– health vs. indulgence, convenience vs. care, extravagance vs. economy, novelty vs. tradition and together vs. alone – by Warde and Mäkelä as a starting point. The empirical part of the research analyses between which opposing poles the contradictions emerge when the consumers themselves are asked. Findings from a survey (745 respondents) indicate that consumers prefer to engage in food‐related activities that would be more aesthetic, healthful, tasty, convenient, caring and economic, but state significant barriers for not being able to fulfil these desires. Finally, the article draws theoretical conclusions about the connections between the prevailing food consumption‐related contradictions and contemporary consumer society.     

Facts-up-front: should food companies follow the FDA or industry label format? The effects of combining virtue and vice information on consumer evaluations

This research examines consumers’ processing of Facts-up-front food labels as implemented by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). Facts-up-front labels include both positive (virtues) and negative (vices) nutritional icons. The processing and relative efficacy of Facts-up-front labels are compared to the original FDA proposal of front-of-pack labels which only included vices. The results suggest heuristic processing of these labels, whereby consumers consider the nutritional icons on the front-of-pack labels similar to affective stimuli. The addition of virtues alongside vices on the label has a compensatory effect, i.e., the food item is evaluated as healthier when there are both virtues and vices on the label compared to when there are only vices. Such heuristic processing of Facts-up-front labels that allows nutritional virtues to compensate for nutritional vices has the potential for consumers evaluating harmful foods as relatively “healthy” thus compromising consumer well-being. These findings illustrate the importance of empirically testing changes to nutritional labels before large scale implementation. Since consumers process front-of-pack labels heuristically and not cognitively, it is not surprising that nutritional literacy does not moderate the effects of label design on healthiness evaluations. Furthermore, the order of the negative and positive information on Facts-up-front labels also has no effect.

     

Guilt appeals in cause-related marketing

Despite the growth of cause-related marketing (CRM), little is known about how consumers process cause-focused messages that contain emotional appeals. The present research seeks to further the understanding of guilt appeals in CRM by clarifying the moderating roles of product type and donation magnitude, and exploring the situations when a guilt appeal backfires. Although experimental results indicate that a guilt appeal is more effective than a non-guilt appeal, a guilt appeal backfires when the perceived hedonic value of a product is high. A high donation magnitude also eliminates CRM effectiveness of the guilt appeal. There is an interaction between guilt appeal and donation magnitude when promoting hedonic products with CRM. The findings underscore the importance for marketers of learning more about how guilt appeals work, and in turn describe how practitioners can avoid negative consumer reactions to their guilt appeals.     

The effects of physical activity calorie equivalent labeling on dieters' food consumption and post-consumption physical activity

Effective body weight management requires dieters to engage in healthy eating and physical activity. This research explores the influences of physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labeling on dieters' food consumption and post-consumption physical activity. PACE indicates the amount of physical activity required to burn off food energy intake. This labeling aims to raise awareness on energy balance by highlighting an immediate link between food intake and exercise. This research shows that when exposed to PACE labeling, dieters (but not non-dieters) reduce their food consumption, increase their post-consumption physical activity, and are considerably motivated to achieve energy balance. This occurs because PACE labeling active energy balance-goal for dieters and influences their food consumption and subsequent physical activity. Implications for consumer well-being and policymakers are discussed.     

The impact of stereotyping on consumers' food choices

There is mounting evidence to show that people's food choices are influenced by social others. However, there is scant research on how consumers' food choices are affected by perceived competence of others present in the retail setting. The findings of Study 1 indicate that when the other customer is perceived as competent (i.e., paying with a Platinum Amex), the focal consumer chooses the same (organic vs. standard) chicken wrap. However, such a mimicking behavior is absent when the other customer lacks competency cues (i.e., paying with food stamps). Study 2 shows that social modeling doesn't occur in the context of indulgent food choices. Moreover, the findings of Study 2 demonstrate that competence cues perceived similarity between the other customer and the focal consumer.     

Fast‐food addiction and anti‐consumption behaviour: The moderating role of consumer social responsibility

This study aims to understand the drivers of fast‐food addiction and the role of consumer social responsibility (CSR) on the relationship between fast‐food addiction and anti‐consumption. Due to growing health concerns, an increasing number of consumers have been avoiding the consumption of fast food. Based on a sample of 539 respondents, all pertaining to generation Y in Pakistan, this study tests a model including addiction and anti‐consumption behaviour. Empirical results provide strong evidence that individual and sociocultural factors together with advertising practices influence consumers’ fast‐food addiction. Results also reveal that CSR moderates the relationship between fast‐food addiction and anti‐consumption behaviour. Interestingly, the present study pioneers the discussion on how addiction can drive anti‐consumption. The findings can help public policy makers and managers to understand consumers’ anti‐consumption tendencies and help promote healthier consumption habits.     

Hear what I appreciate: activation of consumption motives for healthier food choices across different value segments

Abstract

This study represents ‘nudging’ interventions aiming to promote healthier food choices by altering the environment where choices are made, without price incentives. The study focuses on the activation of a consumer’s different consumption motives immediately prior to making food choices, thereby drawing a direct goal-priming approach that is postulated to stimulate congruent behaviours. The twofold purpose of this experimental research is to (1) evaluate the usefulness of direct goal priming when aiming at healthier food choices and (2) to identify the boundary conditions that either favour or inhibit the emergence of motivational priming effects. This purpose contributes to the literature on consumer health behaviour in two ways. First, it reveals new motivational origins for health-goal priming effects. Second, it gleans unprecedented empirical evidence for the moderating capacity of consumers’ values. Direct priming of a health goal proved to be effective in steering consumers towards healthier food options. Surprisingly, however, responsibility and status primes also led to an increase in choices of healthy food products. Moreover, a moderation analysis showed that the consumer’s values (achievement, conservation, and universalism) play an important role in how goal priming works. Thus, the success of priming greatly depends on the underlying values of the consumers.     

Organic food corporate image and customer co-developing behavior: The mediating role of consumer trust and purchase intention

The impact of organic food corporate image on customers' surpassing purchasing behavior is absent in prior literature. Based on the S–O-R framework, the current study focuses on organic food member customers to explore the influence of corporate ability (CA) image and corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of organic food company on the consumption behavior and co-developing behavior of customers. The consumer samples came from 269 member customers of an organic food enterprise in southwest China. The results show that organic food company CA and CSR image positively affect consumer trust and co-developing behavior. CSR image enhances consumer trust and co-developing behavior than CA image does. Additionally, consumer trust and purchase intention play a multi-step mediating role in the relationship between corporate image (CA and CSR) and consumers' co-developing behavior. In conclusion, our findings provide new insights for understanding the relationship between the corporate image of organic food and the co-developing behavior of customers. The research results provide support for organic food companies that can effectively promote consumer trust, continuous purchase, and active engagement in the co-development of products and services by creating an image of ability and social responsibility.     

The interactive effect of numerical precision and message framing in increasing consumer awareness of food waste issues

Food waste has become a pressing problem in the world, leading to a range of economic, social, and environmental issues. As a result, there are increasing calls to develop effective messages that can increase consumer awareness of food waste and its negative impacts. Drawing upon a recent research on the influences of numerical precision on consumer decision making, the present research tests the ‘match-up’ effects between numerical precision and message framing on consumer awareness of food waste issues. Two experimental studies (N_total = 799) show that more (vs. less) precise numerical information can increase consumer awareness of food waste issues when combined with a loss message framing, whereas less (vs. more) precise numerical information is more effective when combined with a gain message framing. This research also examines the role of time availability as a boundary condition, such that when perceptions of time availability is heightened or reduced, the predicted effects are attenuated. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.