Who buys from farmers’ markets and farm shops: The case of Germany

In this article, we analyze the influence of sociodemographic factors and consumer attitudes toward direct marketing products and sources (outlets) on the frequency of buying food from farmers’ markets and farm shops. By conducting an intercept survey with pedestrians in 2011 and 2012, we interviewed a total of n = 550 consumers. The target regions of the study were the Eastern German federal states. The study uses two ordered logit regression models to investigate consumers’ shopping behaviour at farmers’ markets and farm shops separately. We find that different factors significantly influence consumers’ buying behaviour at the two direct marketing outlets. Specifically, both a more favorable view toward the freshness of directly marketed foods and the intention to support local producers are positively related to consumers’ purchase frequency from farmers’ markets. In contrast, consumers’ purchase frequency from farm shops is significantly influenced by their perception of the cost of the products, confidence in food producers of directly marketed products, perception of the safety of the food and perception of the accessibility of farm shops. The study results indicate that considering consumer behaviour separately for different direct marketing channels for food rather than considering the entire category of local food outlets may provide new and valuable insights.     

A survey of Canadian consumer perceptions of beef in relation to general perceptions regarding foods

Approximately 250 consumers were interviewed in each of three Canadian provinces Nearly all of the consumers interviewed expressed concerns about environmental issues, and a majority expressed strong concerns about such matters. A majority interviewed also felt agriculture and farming had an impact on the environment, and over one-fourth (29–88%) believed modern beef production had an environmental impact. It was also evident that concern over environmental issues has influenced purchasing decisions and consumption patterns. A majority of the consumers interviewed also had concerns regarding the safety and wholesomeness of certain foodstuffs. However, 30·71% of the consumers interviewed considered beef to be an extremely safe and wholesome food and 38·03% indicated that this perception had influenced their purchasing habits and beef consumption. Over three fourths (75·7%) of the consumers interviewed expressed some concern regarding the Canadian meat inspection system. However, much of this concern was dispelled through provision of factual information. Although the quality of beef currently available is generally regarded as acceptable, a significant portion is regarded as unacceptable primarily as a result of toughness. Significant portions of the Canadian consumers interviewed perceived beef quality to have either improved or deteriorated during the past decade, and nearly half of these consumers indicated that these perceived changes had influenced their beef buying and consumption patterns.     

综合防腐技术在肉制品生产中的应用

随着经济的发展,人们的日常生活质量不断提高,消费者对食品的要求也逐渐严格,特别是对肉制品质量要求也变得严格起来。目前,综合防腐技术的出现对肉制品制作技术得到了提高,同时也对肉制品的防腐能力得到了很大的提高。对肉类产品的观感与新鲜度得到了很大程度上的改善。     

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.     

Are Stated Preferences Confirmed by Purchasing Behaviours? The Case of Fair Trade-Certified Bananas in Switzerland

As the market share of Fair Trade food products in countries of the North grows, understanding consumer preferences with regard to this recent label is becoming increasingly important. This article reports on a test of the consistency of consumers’ stated preferences, for which a survey was conducted at the place and time of actual purchase decisions. The aim of the survey was to further improve the understanding of consumers’ stated motivations for buying ‘Fair Trade’ and ‘organic Fair Trade’ bananas in Switzerland. Hypothetical questions with double dichotomous choices were used to compare two types of bananas – conventional and labelled – and to assess the average stated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for Fair Trade-labelled bananas. The results show that Fair Trade is largely accepted in Switzerland and that the premium for purchasing such products is influenced by age, the number of young children and the perception of the Fair Trade label. I then used a comparative test of field observations and stated preferences for bananas to measure inconsistency in choices. This comparison reveals that less than one-fifth of the answers are in principle inconsistent. These results point to the importance of confidence in the Fair Trade labels if consumers’ purchases are to increase.     

Transaction factors’ influence on the choice of payment by Polish consumers

The choice of payment instrument, which is used every day to make life easier, comprises one of the consumer financial decisions influenced by several factors. To investigate when, where, and for what amount customers use different forms of payment an interview of statistically representative group of 1005 consumers from all over Poland have been realized, in the first quarter of 2019 with the use of the computer assisted personal interviewing method. The data gives a unique combination of information on consumers payment choice and detailed information about demographics, income, and consumer preferences within a nationally representative consumer survey. Within this article statistical analyzes of the influence of transaction factors on consumer choice of payment have been performed together with a first attempt to employ a data-mining method known as Random Forests for predict the choices that those consumers make regarding the method of payment. The results revealed the complexity and diversity of factors influencing consumer choices. The findings show that, despite the development of innovative forms of payment, traditional forms, especially cash, still have a strong position. Notwithstanding among the customers' personal traits, financial knowledge is one of the most important determinants of their payment choices. These results are an important step toward a predictive model of consumer choice. Additionally presented findings on consumers’ payment behavior can guide policy formulation and strategic decision-making of central banks and stakeholders, and thereby contribute toward improving the efficiency of the payment system in Poland as a whole.     

Building Shopping Arousal through Direct Marketing in Retail Environment

This article attempts to analyze behavioral drivers which influence consumers’ leisure shopping behavior and measure customer value through empirical investigation in Mexico. The study reveals that outsourced salespeople significantly stimulate customer interest toward buying products and trigger shopping arousal. Product attractiveness and pre-purchase arousal generated by the sales promoters influences consumer buying decisions. The study reveals that pre-purchase arousal is felt by the consumers through product advertisements, inter-personal communications, and product simulations provided by the sales promoters. Consumers experience post-purchase arousal as an extended benefit associated with purchase of the product.     

Indian Consumers’ Perception for Packaged Food and the Strategies of Food and Grocery Retailers in India—An Analysis

The aim of this article is to study the Indian consumer buying decisions of packaged food and to assess the impact of demographic dynamics on their behavior and their perception about the practicing marketing strategies of different leading food retailers across the National Capital region. We have taken six different retailers—viz. Big Bazaar, Spencer’s Retail, Reliance Fresh, 6Ten retail stores, convenience stores, and kirana (mom-and-pop) shops—in our research in an attempt to examine the consumer’s perception for these retailers’ marketing strategies to sell packaged food. The purpose to choose these retailers is to assess the impact as a whole from organized food retail as well as unorganized food retailing on consumer buying decisions. Respondents were selected by using the stratified random sampling method, and participation was voluntary. 925 respondents from the cities Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, and Faridabad were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Statistical tools such as chi-square, factor analysis, ANOVA, and the Bonferroni test were used to attain final empirical results and to know the comparison of food retailer strategies with the customer’s choice of retailer.     

Measuring consumer vanity: A cross‐cultural validation

Given the unmistakable trend toward a more integrated global economy and the tremendous impact of consumer vanity on demand for countless goods and services, there exists a need for more cross‐cultural research on the important psychological construct known as consumer vanity (Netemeyer, Burton, & Lichtenstein, 1995). This article examines four components of the vanity construct: appearance concern, appearance perception, achievement concern, and achievement perception. To test the vanity construct cross‐culturally, a survey was undertaken in the United States and China. This article illustrates the use of the comprehensive analytical framework proposed by Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998) to assess measurement invariance in cross‐cultural consumer research. The results provided a rigorous cross‐cultural validation test of the vanity scale that has implications for both academics and practitioners in cross‐cultural consumer research and marketing. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Consumer Attitudes and Decision-Making With Regard to Genetically Engineered Food Products – A Review of the Literature and a Presentation of Models for Future Research

Few studies have to date explained consumer attitudes and purchase decisions with regard to genetically engineered food products. However, the increased marketing of genetically engineered food products and the considerable concern that consumers seem to express with regard to the technology call for the development of a theoretical basis for research into these issues. The aim of this article is to present three models which the authors have developed to explain consumer attitudes, buying behaviour, and attitude change with regard to genetically engineered food products.All three models build on established consumer behaviour theory and on existing and comparable research in the field. Consumer attitudes toward genetic engineering in food products are explained in an attitude model that builds on Fishbein's multiattribute attitude model but deviates from Fishbein's model in a number of ways. Consumer buying behaviour with regard to specific genetically engineered food products is explained in a behavioural intention model which uses Ajzen's Theory of planned Behavior as its point of departure. How consumers' attitudes towards genetically engineered food products are affected by various information strategies, finally, is explained in an attitude change model which integrates aspects of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Social Judgment Theory. The model specifically takes into account the impact of source credibility and various informational factors, such as persuasive content of the information provided, on attitudes.     

Do family members agree on family purchase decision? – an empirical study among families in Hong Kong

Family decision making is one of the most important consumer decisions. It is complicated because all family members can be involved in the decision‐making process. The current study examined the impact of perceived buying preferences of individual family member on perceived family buying preferences. A new family decision‐making model with family members’ buying preference is proposed based on resources theory, social learning theory and family system theory. It is found that there is a synergy effect in a family decision‐making process. The synergy effect is expressed as positive correlations between individual family members buying preferences. Quota sampling was adopted to collect primary data in Hong Kong using triadic approach. Managerial implications and future research directions are suggested.     

The use of event related potentials brain methods in the study of Conscious and unconscious consumer decision making processes

The question of whether consumer purchasing decisions are conscious choices or unconscious has long been studied in marketing. The ability to measure mental changes with high temporal resolution makes the EEG-based event-related potentials (ERP) method very useful in studying the distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness. Although experiences with brands significantly affect the awareness or unconsciousness of decisions to purchase, ERP studies have ignored experiences of consumers in relation to brand purchases. For this purpose, EEG recordings of participants were taken in the order they saw brand names: experienced brands, review-based brands, and unknown brands. Participants chose one of the three options for the brands they saw on the screen: buying, not buying, and no idea. 35 people participated in the study. The results indicate that early ERPs, which are unconscious mental reactions, related to purchase decisions for previously unknown brands. Late ERPs associated with conscious mental reactions are related to purchasing review-based brands or experienced brands. We conclude that purchasing decisions about unknown brands occur as a result of automatic, unconscious mental processes, whereas purchasing decisions about previously experienced brands and based on consumer reviews result from conscious mental processes. Our study is the first that demonstrates the relationship between ERP's and purchasing decisions, with an experimental design focused on consumer experience and consciousness.     

Food Safety and Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Labelled Beef in Spain

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to assess the quality/safety value for beef consumers, measuring their willingness to pay a price premium for labelled beef. From a survey conducted among food shoppers within the household, consumers are segmented according to their safety perception of specific food products. For each segment, their willingness to pay for labelled beef is calculated. Finally, the main factors explaining such a decision are considered. The results indicate that food scares, the perception of a negative impact of agricultural production on the environment and health concerns are having a major impact on the food consumer purchasing decisions for beef. However, most consumers are not willing to pay a price premium for labelled beef.     

Impulse buying and variety seeking: A trait-correlates perspective

Impulse buying and variety seeking are low-effort feelings-based behaviors, yet the similarities and differences in their socio-psychological origin are under-explored. This article addresses this gap with a conceptual framework incorporating several individual and situational factors with a focus on three relevant consumer traits — consumer impulsiveness (CI), optimum stimulation level (OSL), and self-monitoring (SM). Findings from a survey with retail shoppers about their actual purchase decisions show that both CI and OSL have a positive association with the level of impulse buying and variety seeking. However, CI is more strongly associated with impulse buying and OSL with variety seeking. Moreover, SM relates negatively with impulse buying and positively with variety seeking; it also moderates the influence of CI and OSL on both the behaviors in opposite directions. Finally, the article discusses the contribution of this research, its limitations and some directions for future research.     

危机产品的购买行为研究: 威胁评估和不确定规避的作用

文章旨在探讨影响消费者继续购买危机产品的因素。归纳了产品危机的3个重要属性（伤害性、群发性、持续性）,并基于保护动机理的威胁评估概念构建了危机属性对购买意愿影响的模型。在“速成鸡”事件后及时展开问卷调查,通过对数据的结构方程和层级回归分析,得出以下结论：产品危机属性（伤害性、群发性、持续性）通过威胁评估（感知严重、感知易损）的完全中介作用对消费者购买意愿产生负面影响;消费者不确定规避水平能调节威胁评估与购买意愿之间的关系,具体而言,与不确定规避较低的情况相比,当不确定规避较高时,感知严重与感知易损对购买意愿的负向影响更大。     

消费认知、政府规制与中国食品安全--一个综述及其引申

尽管影响食品安全的因素众多,但食品安全问题本质上是经济问题,仍无法脱离基本的供需矛盾。本文从有效需要的角度出发,以消费认知和政府规制为两条主线对相关前沿的研究文献进行了梳理,并将其纳入到一个基本的供需分析框架中。通过文献研究发现,频发食品安全事件是粗放型经济增长的阶段性产物,而消费认知的偏误以及政府规制的合理程度对食品安全市场的有效供给具有很强的引导作用。食品安全治理中的政策制定与制度安排不能仅着眼于对供给的约束,如何提振有效需求则更有利于监管资源的优化和规制效果。对于中国食品安全问题的研究目前仍主要停留在一种概述性、工具性的研究阶段或某一领域的经验性研究,关于食品安全经济的内在价值和深度机理性研究还十分缺乏。     

新疆主要肉类产品之间的价格波动关联分析

基于2001年~2017年新疆4种主要肉类产品价格时间序列数据,采用VAR模型和脉冲响应方法,分析了猪肉、牛肉、羊肉和鸡肉之间的价格波动关系以及相互影响程度,结果表明:2001年~2017年新疆各肉类产品价格均呈上涨趋势,其中2017年牛肉、羊肉价格与猪肉和鸡肉价格比较上涨幅度更大;短期内,各肉类产品受自身价格波动影响显著,长期内,牛肉、猪肉价格波动是引致新疆肉类产品市场价格波动的主要因子;从价格波动传导机制上看,猪肉和牛肉二者互为彼此价格波动的影响因素;鸡肉价格相对独立,不受其他肉类产品价格影响;羊肉价格受到猪肉、牛肉价格的影响较显著,但羊肉价格波动对猪肉、牛肉价格的影响有限。通过保证猪、牛产业规模化发展,保护扶持羊产业,鼓励发展鸡产业,建立新疆主要肉类市场价格联动的监测预警机制等措施,可以增加新疆肉类产品有效供给,降低肉类产品价格波动,保障新疆主要肉产品供需平衡。     

Applying the Institutional Theory at the Level of Halal Consumers: The Case of Cape Town in South Africa

The institutional theory, especially at an individual level, has not been conducted on halal consumers in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree to which halal consumers who have higher institutional pressures are more expected to purchase halal food products. This study draws upon institutional theory to present empirical evidence that institutional factors may show a significant effect on halal consumer’s purchase intention and buying behavior toward purchasing halal food products. A sample of 298 halal consumers in South Africa was selected. Data samples were collected via self-administrated questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test study hypotheses. The study showed that all institutional factors have a direct effect on halal consumer’s intention and indirect effect on buying behavior. Based on the results, normative pressures had a high significant effect among institutional pressures, followed by other factors such as mimetic and coercive pressures, respectively. This study is first of the uncommon studies examining halal consumers’ purchase intention and buying behavior in a non-Muslim country, employing the institutional theory in the context of halal food consumption.