Compromise and attraction effects in food choice

Food choices are being implicated as a key driver in the rising rates of obesity, as well as associated with other health problems that impact both individuals and society as a whole (Cawley and Meyerhoefer). Calorie listings, whether provided on menus or packaged goods, increase consumer's awareness of the calories in potential food choices and, as a result, make consumers more likely to evaluate a product relative to others in the choice set based on this attribute (e.g. choosing a higher or lower calorie option). In this research, we explore whether the provision of calorie information, when presented in the context of other food options, will result in (1) compromise effects, whereby individuals select intermediate (or middle) options in a choice set, and (2) attraction effects, whereby individuals gravitate towards items that are similar to others but also dominate these items in the choice set. In two experimental studies we find evidence for the compromise effect and the attraction effect. These findings extend work demonstrating that the context in which food decisions occur can impact choice, and builds on existing knowledge regarding the consequences of providing calorie information for food items. Although most work has shown that making calories salient has a beneficial impact on the accuracy of consumer calorie estimates and food choice, in this work we show that the compromise and attraction effects – two well‐established findings in decision‐making literature – can actually shift consumers to either higher or lower calorie options. This carries important implications for consumers making choices in information‐rich choice environments.     

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.     

Determinants in the modern choice of food

This paper is the first attempt to integrate contemporary discussions on the choice, role and significance of food in people's everyday lives. It goes beyond the purely economic-quantitative dimensions of food and relates them to the income factor. It is a revised version of a paper which first appeared in Finnish in Discussion Papers No. 33 published by the Labour Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki.     

Independent decision making of adolescents regarding food choice

The adolescence period is the stage in the life cycle in which individuals begin to develop independent decision making related to their social environment including their dietary intake. The period is fundamental in the development of longer term eating habits that may be reflected in adulthood. This study aimed to investigate the decision‐making process of adolescents and their dietary behaviour in the achievement of a balanced diet and to determine the underlying factors that may affect these choices. To meet this aim, a three phase data collection was utilized. In phase 1, a baseline questionnaire (n = 239) measured factors affecting dietary behaviour and the barriers in the achievement of a balanced diet. Phase two employed and measured respondents’ (n = 235) independent decision making by rating nineteen menu choices which reflected all options of dietary guidelines. This was analyzed through conjoint analysis. In phase three a subsample (n = 55) from the first two phases completed a food map which determined underlying reasons for food decisions and choice behaviour. Results revealed that when adolescents are given free choice they tend to follow an unbalanced diet with some diets raising concerns for their current and future health. Fifty‐seven percent of respondents displayed serious concerns in their dietary choice of which 18% were identified as requiring immediate intervention. The most noticeable factors affecting dietary choice were the desire to eat foods high in fat and carbohydrates and low in fruit and vegetable consumption. Food‐mapping indicated prior knowledge and attitudes had no effect on the choices made but that that behaviour of parents in the preparation of meals at home and peers in the selection of snack choices had the most influence on the unbalanced diet.     

Consumers’ everyday food choice strategies in Finland

In developed countries, choosing and purchasing food is today perhaps more complex than ever. In recent years, European consumers have experienced several food crises. We face a rapidly expanding range of novel food products, the food chain has become longer, and the origin of food more anonymous. At the same time, consumers confront increasing amounts of information on food every day. Consumers build their conceptions of modern food‐related risks on the basis of their everyday knowledge and coping strategies. Hence, the focus of this paper is on consumers’ food choices and everyday practices in relation to food safety and quality as well as food‐related risks. The paper is based on a Finnish study 1 examining consumers’ food choices. The data for the study were collected in September 2004 using an Internet‐based food diary accompanied by open‐ended questions on food‐related views and strategies. Altogether, 92 consumers completed the diary. The method combining the tradition of dietary intake and food consumption surveys with open‐ended questions was developed in order to gain an insight both on the types of foods purchased and on consumers’ conceptions of food‐related issues. In this paper, we focus on the key findings of the study as regards to consumers’ notions on food quality and safety issues and the practices they use in their everyday lives. We found eight everyday strategies consumers use. We suggest, first, that the strategies are important in simplifying food choice and making daily life easier, and second, that consumers use food‐related information flexibly in creating these strategies.     

Rational choice of food: on the domain of the premises of the consumer choice theory

This article contrasts the standard model of consumer choice of economics with three different theoretical perspectives – biological, ecological and cultural – in the context of food choice and origin of preferences. Biological and ecological frameworks seem to be in accordance with economic theory assuming stable preferences, while cultural theories are more critical about the premises of rational choice model. It seems, however, that many aspects of the ambiguous choice settings in modern society ask for an even more critical attitude towards optimization models. This study raises a number of methodologically oriented questions concerning the nature of the premises of the choice theory: Are these premises metahistorical and universal? Can they be assessed in the light of the findings of other fields of science? Can the assumption of stable preference be seen as irrelevant regarding the phenomena studied by economics? Is this just a simplification made for the purpose of explaining certain phenomena, or perhaps only an assumption that will be replaced by a more realistic one as research advances?     

Moderating effects of consumer empowerment on the relationship between involvement in eco‐friendly food and eco‐friendly food behaviour

This study investigates the moderating effect of consumer empowerment on the relationship between involvement in and purchase behaviour towards eco‐friendly food. It uses the generalized linear model, with data from the 2017 Research on Food Consumption. The results showed that gender is related only to involvement in eco‐friendly food and this involvement is higher for women than for men. Moreover, involvement in eco‐friendly food, purchase empowerment, engagement empowerment and frequency of buying eco‐friendly food increase as age increases, with the highest increases observed at ages 40–49 and 50–59; the score for those older than these age groups was much lower, resembling an inverted U shape. Groups with high education and income levels presented high scores for involvement in eco‐friendly food, purchase empowerment, engagement empowerment and frequency of buying eco‐friendly food. Regarding the effects of involvement in eco‐friendly food, purchase empowerment and engagement empowerment on the frequency of buying eco‐friendly food, the main effects of involvement in eco‐friendly food and purchase empowerment as well as the interactive effects between involvement in eco‐friendly food and engagement empowerment were statistically significant.     

Subalterns,empowerment and the failed imagination of markets

In our earlier paper, we drew upon Franz Kafka’s literary writings to attend to the repressive sides of the State and markets and their impact on subaltern positions. Moreover, we pointed to some of the key limitations in the theories of the base of the pyramid and subsistence marketplace. In this paper, responding to the commentaries, we clarify some doubts, provide correctives to misinterpretations and further develop the broad theoretical argument we made in our earlier paper. In response to Viswanathan’s commentary, we specifically clarify the role of neoliberal ideology as it impels discourse of subsistence markets. Moreover, as a corrective to Karnani’s reading, we explain the limitations of the State, markets and private enterprises in alleviating poverty in India. Through these clarifications, we ask scholars to attend to systemic features of the current political economy that create poverty and call for an imagination beyond the current capitalist zeitgeist to empower the subaltern.     

A conceptual framework for healthy food choice in full-service restaurant

The reasons for people’s food choices are complex and result from the interplay of several influences throughout various contexts. Although research has found that various factors influence people’s food choices, investigators have not considered the diverse elements affecting the methods or the procedures that people employ for selecting healthy foods in the context of full-service restaurants. Therefore, the current study was conducted to better comprehend family or casual dining consumers’ choices in relation to healthy eating behaviors. This qualitative study purposefully sampled three focus group interviews with three different types of participants (mature, nonmature, and chef/manager) to identify important factors that can encourage people to buy or eat healthy foods when dining at full-service restaurants. Content analysis of 16 interviews revealed three levels of healthy food choice factors that affect customers who want to enjoy healthy foods in full-service restaurants.     

Educating young consumers – a food choice model

It has been acknowledged that it is only by obtaining a more detailed understanding of food choice that people’s diets can be improved. In Northern Ireland, research into food choice has been limited yet the Province has the second highest rate of heart disease in the world, indicating the need for change. This study investigated the food choices of 9‐ to 17‐year‐olds in Northern Ireland and the influential factors. A range of research techniques were employed incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, namely observations, focus groups, picture associations, dietary case studies and questionnaires. The research indicated that the dietary patterns adopted by this group are characterized by a high consumption of fat, yet the reduction of fat tends to dominate the overall strategy for the prevention of obesity and lowering the risk of coronary heart disease. In addition, a high consumption of sugar products was evidenced along with a distinct dislike for healthier alternatives such as fruit and vegetables. The ‘skipping’ of meals, especially breakfast and a high prevalence of snacking was also apparent. However, these eating habits were found to be affected by various factors such as age and gender, emphasizing the complex nature of food choice. The findings from this research enabled the development of a model relating to the food choices of 9‐ to 17‐year‐olds in Northern Ireland, highlighting the influential factors and subsequent health implications.     

Effects of transactional leadership,psychological empowerment and empowerment climate on creative performance of subordinates: A cross-level study

This research surveyed 101 teams, involving 497 team members and 101 team leaders, in a large multinational company in China. A hierarchical linear model is used to examine the hypothesized mediated moderation model. It is found that: (1) individual psychological empowerment is positively related to creative performance; (2) the relationship between transactional leadership and subordinates’ creative performance is moderated by team empowerment climate; (3) individual transactional leadership behavior is positively related to subordinates’ creative performance in teams with higher empowerment climate, but negatively related to subordinates’ creative performance in lower empowerment climate; and (4) the relationship between transactional leadership, team empowerment climate and creative performance is partially mediated by subordinates’ psychological empowerment perception. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.     

Schoolchildren's abilities to frame,understand and successfully manipulate food label information: enabling consumer choice through education

At a time when the major dialogue in food labelling is directed towards the volume and type of information presented, it is important to understand whether adolescents leaving education have the abilities to comprehend and use the current label as they represent the next generation of consumers. Legislation has been created to protect consumers and to enable them to make informed food choices. Food labels carry a significant volume of mandatory and voluntary information, designed to fulfil a variety of commercial and consumer functions. For these laws to be effective at an individual level, it is important that information is framed correctly, and that people can manipulate the data in an accurate and meaningful manner. In order to optimise food label information consumers require some competence across three different conceptual dimensions: maths, English comprehension, and health and nutrition. Most individuals acquire such skills at school. The pilot research that this paper describes investigates changes in the abilities to frame, comprehend and manipulate label information, of 19 schoolchildren at one secondary school in Scotland. The main research, to be conducted in 2003, will include over a thousand children from another seven Scottish schools. Statistical analysis indicates that there is a significant improvement in the dimensions of both maths and English comprehension between levels S1 and S5, whilst the health and nutrition dimension does not show such significance. Each dimension has been measured against attitudes towards the use of labels in shopping and cooking to determine if the differences between those who use labels and those who do not are significant The research also proposes a new method of presenting nutrition information to make it more meaningful to individuals across a wide spectrum of competence by reducing the number of conceptual components required to comprehend it.     

平台赋能、价值共创与跨境电子商务企业绩效

跨境电子商务企业通过拓展平台功能,提高自身运营能力。本文以敦煌网、全球速卖通、京东海外、亚马逊等信誉度较高的平台跨境电子商务企业为研究对象,发放500份调查问卷,探究平台赋能、价值共创与跨境电子商务企业绩效之间的关联性。研究发现:平台赋能与跨境电商企业绩效之间为显著的正相关关系;价值共创与跨境电商企业绩效之间为显著的正相关关系;价值共创在平台赋能促进跨境电商企业绩效提升中起到部分中介作用。根据研究结果,本文建议从政府、跨境电商平台、跨境电商企业三个层面制定方针政策,以平台赋能提升参与企业资源整合、建立以及重构电商平台的内外部能力,从而提升电子商务企业快速适应外部市场环境的能力,最终提升企业绩效。     

Consideration, choice, and classifying loyalty

Presented is an approach to classify a brand’s buyers into groups with varying degrees of loyalty along a continuum from “hard-core loyal” to “hard-core switcher.” A taxonomy is developed based on the joint use of stated consideration set and brand-switching data. In an empirical application to the automobile industry, classic stochastic models such as Grover-Srinivasan (J Mark Res 24:139–153, 1987) and Colombo-Morrison (Mark Sci 8(1):89–99, 1989), which attempt to recover the heterogeneity existing in the switching matrix overstate the number of hard-core loyals (buyers who repurchase with probability one) by 48% and 67%, respectively. The proposed taxonomy illuminates the sources of the overestimation and provides insights into the brand health of competing automotive makes.

The contribution of home economics teaching to nutrition knowledge and food choice among adolescents

The diets of two groups of adolescent schoolchildren living in Lothian were assessed. Children who studied Home Economics at Standard Grade were compared with those who did not. A short questionnaire and a dietary diary were used to establish nutrition knowledge and food choice over a period of 7 days, allowing comparisons to be drawn between students who study Home Economics and those who do not. Nutrition knowledge was better among those studying Home Economics. Eating patterns among those studying Home Economics followed more closely the recommended percentages of dietary energy derived from protein, fat and carbohydrate, but there was also considerable evidence that those studying Home Economics tended to eat less generally and to have lower intakes of micronutrients, such as calcium, iron and folic acid. Possible reasons for the differences in nutrition knowledge and eating habits are discussed, with some indicators for future work in this area.     

The influence of age and gender on food choice: a focus group exploration

With 25% of the UK population predicted to be obese by 2010, the costs to individuals and society are set to rise. Due to the extra economic and social pressures obesity causes, there is an increasing need to understand what motivates and prevents consumers from eating a healthy diet so as to be able to tailor policy interventions to specific groups in society. In so doing, it is important to explore potential variations in attitudes, motivation and behaviour as a function of age and gender. Both demographic factors are easily distinguished within society and a future intervention study which targets either, or both, of these would likely be both feasible and cost‐effective for policy makers. As part of a preliminary study, six focus groups (total n = 43) were conducted at the University of Reading in November 2006, with groups segmented on the basis of age and gender. In order to gather more sensitive information, participants were also asked to fill out a short anonymous questionnaire before each focus group began, relating to healthy eating, alcohol consumption and body dissatisfaction. Making use of thematic content analysis, results suggested that most participants were aware of the type of foods that contribute to a healthy diet and the importance of achieving a healthy balance within a diet. However, they believed that healthy eating messages were often conflicting, and were uncertain about where to find information on the topic. Participants believed that the family has an important role in educating children about eating habits. Despite these similarities, there were a number of key differences among the groups in terms of their reasons for making food choices. Older participants (60+ years old) were more likely to make food choices based on health considerations. Participants between the ages of 18–30 were less concerned with this link, and instead focused on issues of food preparation and knowledge, prices and time. Younger female participants said they had more energy when they ate healthier diets; however, very often their food choices related to concern with their appearance. Older female participants also expressed this concern within the questionnaire, rather than in the group discussions. Overall, these results suggest that consumer motivations for healthy eating are diverse and that this must be considered by government, retailers and food producers.     

Consumer empowerment: global context,UK strategies and vulnerable consumers

Globalization has created new consumer needs and wants, and resulted in consumer confusion regarding the increasing complexity of products and services. This has stimulated global interest in educating and empowering consumers. The UK government has made a very ambitious commitment to ensure that the framework for consumer empowerment and support is at the level of the best in the world by 2008. The government, many consumer organizations and regulators believe that empowered consumers are key to the success of competitive markets. Two national strategies to co‐ordinate activities in the UK have been developed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The OFT consumer education strategy aims to deliver targeted, effective consumer education by increasing co‐ordination and making the best use of available resources. The FSA is leading a financial capability strategy designed to deliver change to improve the UK's financial capability. Both strategies share a vision of educated and confident consumers making informed choices about the products and services they buy, and both aim to empower vulnerable consumers. Given the global interest and the development of national strategies, it is useful to consider what is meant by the term consumer empowerment. Is there a shared view of consumer empowerment internationally? Does the education of consumers result in empowered consumers? To what extent do the national strategies address the empowerment of vulnerable, disadvantaged, excluded or susceptible consumers? These questions will be addressed in this article which reviews the global context for the consumer education and empowerment agenda and considers key UK developments, with particular reference to the needs of vulnerable consumers. The study found that the language of consumer empowerment is gaining prominence in policy and strategy documents at the highest levels internationally in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Community, and nationally in the UK.     

Religion,social class,and entrepreneurial choice

While considerable concern has emerged about the links between religion and economic growth, little is actually known about how religion and social class impact the decision making of individuals. Using institutional theory and social dominance theory, this paper examines the influence of religion and social class on individuals' occupational choices. Based on a large-scale database from India, this paper finds that while some religions are relatively conducive to self-employment, some others have a negative impact on self-employment choices. Furthermore, individuals belonging to social classes that are lower in the social hierarchy are less likely to be self-employed. The role of both religion and social class in influencing the likelihood of choosing self-employment suggests an important link between religion, social class, and occupational decision-making.     

Value choice,demographics, and life satisfaction

This study is an empirical investigation in an Asian environment to determine if value choice varied among a group of respondents along different demographic dimensions. The results suggest that in most cases, both birthright and ascribed demographic characteristics influence or are influenced by values. Similarly, life satisfaction and wishes are also found to be affected by value choice. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Globalization and the empowerment of talent

Many experts have identified globalization as the new way in which firms organize their activities and the emergence of talent as the new stakeholder in the firm. This paper examines the role of trade integration in the changing nature of the corporation. International trade leads to a ‘war for talent’ which makes it more likely that an organizational equilibrium emerges in the integrated world economy in which control is delegated to lower levels of the firm's hierarchy empowering human capital. Furthermore, trade integration is shown to lead to waves of decentralization and to convergence in corporate cultures across countries.