Perception of Naturalness of Food Packaging and Its Role in Consumer Product Evaluation

The aim of this article is to understand the concept of food “naturalness,” as it is perceived by the consumer via the packaging. The research is based on a qualitative study from which three types of experimental packaging were constructed (emotional, functional, and mixed) and a quantitative study carried out on 163 French consumers. The research identified two dimensions of food naturalness and related them to credibility, attractiveness, quality, and purchase intention, with differences according to the three types of packaging tested. The highlighting of their role in the perception of the naturalness of a food product should help managers to avoid overexposure of the concept.     

The effects of traffic light labels and involvement on consumer choices for food and financial products

Traffic light (TL) labels that inform consumers regarding product safety have received increasing attention in different fields. Behind the background of behavioural economics, this paper presents the results of a split‐sample choice experiment conducted in Germany to evaluate the impact of TL labelling on purchases of food and financial products. We hypothesize that consumers experience different levels of involvement with these two types of products, leading to different recommendations regarding the use of TLs. The results show that TLs affect consumer purchases of both product groups by focusing their attention on specific product attributes. For food, whereas the low‐fat attribute has no significant impact on food choices that do not include TLs, this attribute has a positive impact on choices once it is signalled with a TL label. The positive evaluation of the organic production attribute of a food product without a TL decreases when the same product is labelled with a TL. In the case of financial products, TLs significantly reinforce the impact of all characteristics on choice probability. TLs also generate a halo effect with regard to return variance. Although consumers demonstrate different levels of involvement for the two types of products, involvement does not always impact the evaluation of attributes. Compared with less involved consumers, more involved consumers exhibit more heterogeneous evaluations of the return variability attribute in the case of the financial product and the organic attribute in the case of the food product.     

Marketing Novel Fruit Products: Evidence for Diverging Marketing Effects Across Different Products and Different Countries

The purpose of this study was to compare the influence of four different marketing claims and price information on consumers’ product choices for novel fruits and novel fruit products, using a choice experiment. In total, 1,652 people in Greece (n = 400), the Netherlands (n = 419), Poland (n = 423), and Spain (n = 410) participated in the study. The marketing claims entailed (1) information about scientific findings concerning health benefits, (2) social norm information, (3) information about the products’ naturalness, and (4) information about the products’ time-until-expiration. The results showed that all four marketing claims and price information influenced consumer choice, but the effect of naturalness depended on the specific novel fruit product being advertised, and the effect of time-until-expiration depended on both country and fruit product. These results suggest that marketing communications should be tailored to different national markets and to specific fruit products.     

The effect of naturalness claims on perceptions of food product naturalness in the point of purchase

Recent trends in marketing highlight an increased focus on naturalness claims with the hope of a higher consumer perception of product naturalness, but does this always make sense? This research examines this question in two experiments. Results show that the perception of naturalness depends on the types of points of purchase, those that convey a sense of naturalness, such as traditional markets, leading to more perceived naturalness. Importantly, results show that point of purchase type interacts with naturalness claim salience such that highly salient claims leads to higher perceived naturalness for product being displayed in a point of purchase that conveys a sense of naturalness. Finally, results show that the authority which claims the naturalness of the product is of major importance, brand-independent naturalness claims leading consumers to perceive the claim as more credible and consequently the product as more natural.     

Now that's a Bright Idea: The Influence of Consumer Elaboration and Distance Perceptions on Sustainable Choices

Integrating theory related to psychological distance and elaboration on potential outcomes, hypotheses are offered that predict that consumers’ elaboration levels moderate the effect of temporal distance on choice of energy efficient products. In three experiments, the authors examine the influence of temporal and psychological distance and the moderating effect of a consumer's propensity to elaborate on potential outcomes (EPO) in retail choice-based situations. Results support these predictions with consumers lower in elaboration more likely to choose an energy efficient product when perceived distance is proximal versus distal, while the distance effect has less of an influence on consumers prone to higher elaboration. We test the effect of distance perceptions within a retail lab environment, as well as across ad and retail contexts. These results will help marketers better understand how to promote products in ad versus retail-based contexts and across different consumer groups. Findings offer implications for theory, retailers, product marketers, and NGO's interested in promoting energy efficient choices.     

Condoms and bananas: Shock advertising explained through congruence theory

This research examines the impact of shock advertising on consumer brand evaluations, for both socially acceptable and controversial product categories. The intervening roles of brand familiarity, perceived incongruity and disgust are also investigated. Utilizing two experiments and drawing upon congruence theory, this research offers empirical evidence to demonstrate that: (1) when familiar brands are advertised using a shock advertisement, consumers will show less favorable evaluations towards brands in a socially acceptable product category as compared to controversial products, and (2) for familiar brands, the differences in consumer evaluations between a socially accepted versus controversial product categories is mediated by perceived incongruity and disgust (a serial mediation). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Consumer response to product construction: the role of haptic stimulation

This study investigates how consumers are affected by haptic information, that is, the information acquired through the sense of touch, when they take part in the construction or assembly of a product. In order to create value for consumers, marketers must understand how and why haptic information affects the evaluative processes of consumers and whether there are specific segments that are affected differentially by the process. An experimental design with two between‐subjects factors was used to examine consumers' responses to haptic stimulation during the physical construction of a picture frame. The results demonstrate that positive haptic stimulation evoked by the materials used in the product's construction results in an affective response and creates emotional attachment to the finished product. However, the effect is not generalizable to the general population. It depends on the level of autotelic (not functional) need for touch (NFT) that the consumer has. Consumers who have high autotelic NFT are more likely to become attached to and, consequently, enhance their evaluation of the finished product when the product materials used during the construction evoke a positive haptic stimulation.     

Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk

The paper explores the influence of greenwash on green trust and discusses the mediation roles of green consumer confusion and green perceived risk. The research object of this study focuses on Taiwanese consumers who have the purchase experience of information and electronics products in Taiwan. This research employs an empirical study by means of the structural equation modeling. The results show that greenwash is negatively related to green trust. Therefore, this study suggests that companies must reduce their greenwash behaviors to enhance their consumers’ green trust. In addition, this study finds out that green consumer confusion and green perceived risk mediate the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust. The results also demonstrate that greenwash is positively associated with green consumer confusion and green perceived risk which would negatively affect green trust. It means that greenwash does not only negatively affect green trust directly but also negatively influence it via green consumer confusion and green perceived risk indirectly. Hence, if companies would like to reduce the negative relationship between greenwash and green trust, they need to decrease their consumers’ green consumer confusion and green perceived risk.     

The impact of blockchain technology on the online purchase behavior of green agricultural products

The purpose of this study is to identify and investigate the types of trust and their impact mechanisms in the application of blockchain technology for green agricultural products. A mixed research approach was used in this study. First, qualitative in-depth interviews with consumers were conducted to identify the technological path (blockchain technology), and the information disclosure path (environmental information of green agricultural products) that affect consumer trust. Two types of consumer trust were also identified, namely, cognitive trust in blockchain technology (digital trust), and instantaneous trust in blockchain technology disclosure information (swift trust), both of which play a role in influencing consumers’ immediate purchase. Then, based on the interview results, a theoretical model for this study was developed by combining signal theory and trust transfer theory. Through a quantitative survey, 474 valid data were collected to empirically examine the role of consumer blockchain technology experience and environmental information transparency perceived on digital trust and swift trust, and the role of both types of trust on impulse buying. The results show that consumer blockchain technology experience can significantly and positively affect the environmental information transparency perceived. And both have a positive effect on digital trust and swift trust. Also both trusts have a significant effect on impulse buying. Further mediating effects confirm the environmental information transparency perceived as an important intrinsic mechanism by which the blockchain technology experience influences consumer trust. The results of this study add an empirical basis for the role of blockchain technology. It also provides a reference for technology adoption by related companies.     

Why do consumers prefer a hometown geographical indication brand? Exploring the role of consumer identification with the brand and psychological ownership

This research investigates the consumer purchase intention of products with geographic indications (GIs) based on a sample of 351 valid responses in three representative regions that are well known for their GIs of navel orange brands. Drawing on theories of consumer-brand relationship, social identity or consumer identification with the brand, and psychological ownership, our empirical results support our research hypotheses. Specifically, it is found that consumers tend to have a higher purchase intention for hometown GI brands than for non-hometown GI brands. Meanwhile, the impact of brand origin, that is, hometown versus non-hometown GI brand, on consumer purchase intention of GI products is found to be mediated by consumer identification with the GI brands. In addition, psychological ownership moderates the impact of hometown GI brands on purchase intention in that high psychological ownership enhances the impact of brand origin on purchase intention, whereas low psychological ownership negates this effect. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are provided.     

An examination of the effects of partitioned country of origin on consumer product quality perceptions

This paper deals with the effects of partitioned country‐of‐origin associations on consumer product quality evaluations. The main objective of this research is to examine the cognitive processes by which country‐of‐origin information influences the consumer's evaluation of a product. To study the psychological process by which the country‐of‐origin associations are integrated in the formation of related behavioural deliberation, a hypothetical structural model was developed. The model contains seven theoretical constructs, i.e. country of design, perceived product sophistication, country of assembly, perceived manufacturing excellence, country of parts, perceived product quality and perceived product design. Data were analysed via structural equation models using Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS) 5.0. Results show that countries that already have positioned themselves around a reputation for technological innovation related to product development and manufacturing may expect consumers to transfer those associations to new products from the country.     

The Effects of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Country of Origin on Polish Consumers' Evaluation of Foreign Manufactured Products

The admission of Poland to the European Union may be perceived as the symbolic crowning of a long period of economic transformation. Poland today is not only an emerging market but an emerging culture experiencing a strong economic development wherein old ideals are confronted with new Western values. On this background, the objective of this research is to assess the level and impact of consumer ethnocentrism and the effect of country of origin on consumers’ evaluation of and buying intentions toward foreign manufactured products. Medium-expensive consumer durables—design furniture and fashion clothes—imported from Denmark are examined. Findings show consumer ethnocentrism is present and that more than one-fifth of consumers are highly ethnocentric but also that ethnocentrism has no direct effect on the evaluation of product quality or on buying intention for either of the products from Denmark.     

Factors affecting consumers’ intention towards purchasing halal food in South Africa: a structural equation modelling

This research study highlighted the factors that influence the intention of consumers to buy halal food products. In this study, the researchers have chosen to address the gap in the literature pertaining to non-South African consumers’ purchase intention. Non-South Africans are foreign people who reside in South Africa including immigrants, workers, and students. Through utilising the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to determine the attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and awareness of non-South African towards purchasing halal food products. This also attempts to identify the strongest factor that influences the purchasing intention of halal food by non-South African consumers. The sample of the study consisted of 230 non-South African consumers in Cape Town. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to identify the structural relationships among the constructs identified and to test the study hypotheses. The findings of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between awareness and buying behaviour. Interestingly it found that only the attitude dimension of TPB had a significant relationship with purchase intention, whereas subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not show a significant relationship with the consumer intention variable.     

普通消费者口碑和专家评论对消费者购买决策的影响研究

在线评论作为营销信息中新的要素,已成为当下消费者购买产品或服务时的重要因素。文章根据获得诊断性模型和调节导向理论,引入自我调节导向作为调节变量,探讨在线评论信息源对品牌评价和购买意愿的影响。文章采用情境模拟实验方法,考察了普通消费者口碑和专家评论对消费者的品牌评价和购买意愿具有不同的影响。具体来说当消费者处于促进调节导向时,普通消费者口碑比专家评论更容易使消费者产生良好的品牌评价和购买意愿;当消费者处于预防调节导向时,专家评论比普通消费者口碑更容易使消费者产生良好的品牌评价和购买意愿,其中感知诊断性在这个过程中起到中介作用。文章整合了不同领域的理论,拓宽了不同来源的在线评论对消费者影响的理解力,而且研究结论对网站的营销人员如何管理在线评论有一定的启示意义。     

Ethnocentric tendencies of Indian consumers: impact on preference for domestic versus foreign products

India is witnessing a plethora of foreign and domestic products competing against each other in its retail market. In order to understand how ethnocentrism among Indian consumers leads to attitudes toward foreign/domestic products, this study aims to understand the antecedents (socio-psychological and demographic) of consumer ethnocentric tendencies (CET) among Indian consumers, the impact of ethnocentrism on attitude toward domestic versus foreign product and service, and the impact of a moderator (perceived economic threat) on the relationship between ethnocentrism and attitudes. Using a sample of 800 Indian consumers, the relationships among variables were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) using one product (soap) and one service (mobile phone service) category. The findings suggest that Indian consumers who are ethnocentric prefer domestic product/service to foreign product/service. Ethnocentrism of Indian consumers is influenced by education, income, cultural openness, and collectivism. The relationship between ethnocentrism and attitudes was moderated by perceived economic threat. Implications are provided for both Indian and foreign marketers to successfully promote their products to Indian consumers.     

Polish and Belgian consumers' perception of environmentally friendly behaviour

The aim of this study was to design a method for evaluating the importance that consumers place on the characteristics of environmentally friendly (EF) products and on consumer EF behaviour. Attitudes and opinions of consumers regarding the EF value of the different aspects of consumer behaviour – purchasing, using and disposing of goods – were measured. The perception of EF behaviour was analysed for Belgian and Polish consumers, a Western and an Eastern European country. The cultural, economic and political differences between Belgium and Poland may imply that their consideration of EF behaviour is different. The perception of consumers about buying, using and disposing of EF products does not necessarily indicate their own EF behaviour, but it gives an indication of what consumers think is EF behaviour. On the basis of the results, policy‐makers and industry can diagnose the consumers' perceived cost–benefit relationship of EF consumer behaviour. An evaluation of what consumers think is EF can be made for the two countries. Marketers, government and EF organizations can draw on our research results when developing EF products and/or advertising campaigns.     

Financial literacy education and behaviour unhinged: combating bias and poor product design

The growth of products available in the consumer financial market has provided more choice and formal control over household financial decisions than ever before. Financial literacy education programs are generally assumed to improve consumer behaviour in relation to financial products and services. However, there is scant evidence that demonstrates the causal link between education, literacy and behaviour. Through the use of a sample study, we show that the actions of individuals who are financially literate do not necessarily mean they will demonstrate good financial behaviour. We propose that in order to improve the financial behaviour of consumers, two critical areas need to be addressed. Firstly, the objectives of financial literacy programs should be not only to educate consumers about financial markets and products but highlight to individuals the psychological biases and limitations that they as humans cannot easily avoid. Secondly, the regulation of financial products sold to consumers needs alteration to meet the aim of protecting retail consumers from complex financial products that are confusing, ambiguous and inappropriate. We propose regulation and redesign of product information offerings using techniques employed in ecological interface design models to derive a suitability test for consumer financial products.     

Green intentions under the blue flag: Exploring differences in EU consumers’ willingness to pay more for environmentally‐friendly products

Recent research on consumer social responsibility highlights the need to examine psychological drivers of environmentally‐friendly consumption choices in a global context. This article investigates consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) more for environmentally‐friendly products across 28 European Union (EU) countries, using a sample of 21,514 consumers. A multigroup structural equation modeling analysis reveals significantly different patterns and relationships, in how (a) subjective knowledge about the product's environmental impact, (b) environmental product attitudes, and (c) the perceived importance of the products’ environmental impact influence consumers’ WTP more for environmentally‐friendly products across countries. The hypothesized model predicts WTP for 20 out of 28 countries and the findings show that a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach is inadequate in capturing the heterogeneity of EU consumers. Hosfstede's cultural dimensions of uncertainty tolerance and individualism explain differences in WTP for environmentally‐friendly products across EU countries. Business, marketing communications, and policy making implications are discussed.     

Psychological antecedents and risk on attitudes toward e-customization

Consumers can experience relatively low prices with the dramatic diffusion of online shopping even with customized products, which are commonly more expensive than regular products, due to unique functions of customized product order processes in online environments. This paper investigates how two psychological antecedents, (1) need for uniqueness and (2) status aspiration, can influence consumers' attitude with regard to forming procedures toward e-customized products and how perceived risk, another psychological factor, on purchasing e-customized products plays a role of moderating factor. A self-administered online survey of 321 Japanese consumers is conducted to examine a proposed conceptual model with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The analysis using results indicates that the need for uniqueness directly impacts on attitude toward e-customized products while it mediates the effect of status aspiration. A multi-group analysis to test a moderating effect of the perceived risk on purchasing e-customized products highlights the significant effects of psychological factors. The result also provides potential guidelines to e-tailors on possibility of segmenting markets as well as promoting their customized products using these psychological criteria of their target consumers.     

Understanding post-pandemic market segmentation through perceived risk,behavioural intention,and emotional wellbeing of consumers

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumer behaviour, leading to varying levels of perceived risk for different products and services. Companies must reassess their market segmentation strategies and adapt them to take effective countermeasures to improve employee performance and achieve the desired results. Research on post-pandemic segmentation is lacking. Thus, this study aims to create consumer archetypes based on perceived risk and examine how they affect behaviour and emotions post-pandemic. Based on 1,140 survey responses from Taiwanese consumers, consumer segments are classified into three archetypes: Moderate, Aggressive, and Hesitant. The Hesitant group mainly comprised senior women who faced high physical and psychological risks. In contrast, the moderate archetype group had the lowest levels of perceived risk but showed less interest in shopping activities and personal hygiene than the other two groups. Aggressive shoppers prioritise quality and convenience, with fluctuating emotions during shopping, despite moderate concerns about the virus.