Beyond convenience: the future for independent food and grocery retailers in the UK

The UK's independent food and grocery retail sector's competitive advantage of 'convenience' has been eroded in recent years as major retailers increase opening hours and develop their own convenience trading formats. As a result, large numbers of independent retailers are closing. A UK-wide survey was undertaken to identify other sources of competitive advantages, and the changes needed to stop or reverse the decline in this sector. Exploratory semi-structured interviews led to the development of a questionnaire on six major issues affecting the sector. 'Snowball' sampling, using industry partners, provided 142 respondents. The provision of a 'social shopping experience' emerged as a key competitive advantage that could be developed. Improving vertical and horizontal trading alliances, and the wider use of information technology, provided other options.     

Factors influencing food-choice behavior of African-American college students: implications for the foodservice industry

College students, particularly ethnic minorities in the US, are at a high risk for obesity and health complications. This study determines the type of foods that African-American college students are choosing to eat, and what factors influence those choices. Findings show that fresh fruits, whole grain bread, grilled chicken, and salad top the list of food choices. Knowledge of nutrition labels, gender, weight management, and eating facilities are among the factors found to influence these choices. Managerial implication of findings for the foodservice industry, and other interest groups are discussed. Directions for future research are given.     

Gendering the voiced complaining behavior of customers in small restaurant environments: A case of college students in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Understanding gender-related nuances connected to customer complaining behavior in a valuable market segment in a low-income economy is strategically important to customer relationship management practitioners in the hospitality industry. Using customer complaining behavior taxonomies and Eagly’s social role theory, this quantitative study examines how selected demographic variables, attitude toward complaining, customer loyalty, and likelihood of success affect the verbal complaining behavior of a sample of college students in Zimbabwe in restaurants contexts. The findings revealed that all the proposed predictors had statistically significant effects on voiced complaining. In addition, the gender variable moderated the influence of the non-demographic predictors. Interestingly, the likelihood of success variable had a negative influence on the respondents’ propensity to complain verbally. Based on this evidence, it is concluded that gender is integral to how college students react to service failure in restaurant environments. Consequently, marketers of related services should implement customized gender-sensitive customer complaint handling and service recovery strategies.     

Exploring the social value of organic food: a qualitative study in France

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether organic foods are used to signal social identity, class or status, i.e. if they have social value. Our analysis is based on two sociological approaches: Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction and symbolic interactionism. This paper analyses three research questions: (1) does organic food have social symbolism?; (2) does the social value of organic food depend on the venue where it is obtained?; (3) are other symbols associated with the social value of organic food? To answer these questions, we gather qualitative data from organic food shoppers' perceptions of the social value of organic food, using a qualitative study, with four group interviews in Montpellier (France) with a total of 20 participants. Results indicate that organic food has a social value for the participants in our group interviews. This social value depends on the venue (community‐supported agriculture, market or supermarket) where organic foods are purchased and also on whether consumers or producers exhibit additional green behaviours to validate their commitment to sustainability. Our results imply that a quantitative study on social value of organic food would be useful to investigate these findings in a larger sample since these findings have several marketing and advertising implications.     

Discursive power as a source of legitimation in food retail governance

In the food sector, retailers often present themselves as guardians of consumer interests, with superior efficiency and effectiveness in the governance of food, in relation to public actors. Concerns about retail governance institutions, such as private standards or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), mainly emphasise a lack of input legitimacy, that is legitimacy relying on democratic procedures. Less often concerns are raised regarding output legitimacy, that is legitimacy based on the effectiveness of retail governance institutions. Based on concepts of discursive power, this paper explores how retail corporations establish their claim to legitimacy in food governance via concepts of output legitimacy. The paper pursues its aim by performing a critical discourse analysis of retailers' discursive strategies identified here as imperialist, recursive, symbiotic and ironic.     

Predictors of credit card use and perceived financial well‐being in female college students: a Brazil‐United States comparative study

This article examines predictors of the financial well‐being of female college students living in São Paulo or New York, focusing upon the relationship with their credit card use behaviour. The results of structural equation models, based on 784 participants, suggest that financial self‐confidence and social comparison have an impact on the use of credit cards and exercise an influence on financial well‐being. Despite the fact that social comparison is more strongly predictive of credit card use among Brazilian women, credit card use behaviour has a greater impact on the well‐being of American women.     

An acceptance model for an Internet protocol television service in Korea with prior experience as a moderator

This study examines the effect of users' prior experience on the adoption behaviour in the Internet protocol television (IP TV) service domains. This article proposes a new acceptance model for an IP TV service considering the moderating effect of experience and verifies the model with an empirical study. Respondents are classified into either experienced or inexperienced groups according to their prior experience with the IP TV service. The results indicate that motivational factors used in our study affect behavioural intention. In addition, this study shows that the influence of extrinsic motivational factors on the behavioural intention are stronger for the experienced group than the inexperienced group and the influence of intrinsic motivational factors on the behavioural intention are stronger for the inexperienced group than the experienced group. This article concludes with study implications, as well as limitations and future research directions.     

Higher aims fulfilled: The Social Capital Academy as a means for advancing underrepresented students in comprehensive university business schools

Current research underscores how a college education can reflect broader social inequality via the disproportionate flow of resources to elite universities and advantaged students. In contrast, underresourced comprehensive universities disproportionately serve minority, first-generation, and working-class students. This article argues that the comprehensive university is uniquely positioned to reduce social inequality and that the comprehensive university undergraduate business school (CUUBS) should test a new approach to education. The article also advocates a substantive response to social inequality by (1) focusing on undergraduate business education within comprehensive universities rather than MBA programs in well-funded, elite business schools, (2) implementing a strategic emphasis on career-related jobs (CRJs) for underrepresented students, and (3) helping students pursue CRJs via the development of a Social Capital Academy (SCA). This article describes the benefits of an SCA for underrepresented students, its requirements and benefits for universities and business communities, and the possibilities for scaling the program to address social inequality. Future applications of the SCA to STEM-related fields are also explored.