Meanings of Food among Polish and American Young Women

Food carries different meanings across cultures and times. This study aimed to explore the meanings of food among young women in Poland and the United States using a qualitative approach. The findings show that, in both countries, women associate food with health, pleasure, and socializing, but overall Polish women are less emotional about food. More specifically, in the United States, women associate food with love, their identities, and have more conflictual feelings about food, whereas in Poland women associate food with creativity. The study discusses marketing implications of the results.     

The influence of product and personal attributes on organic food marketing

The study adapts the theory of planned behaviour and proposes organic food-related attributes that constitute perceived behavioural control and individual attributes influence quality assessment and purchase intention. The study analyses these relationships separately for individuals who have purchased organic food and those who have not. Data were collected in two stages and conducted in both online and face-to-face formats. The findings show that surface food attributes in general have no significant influences on either quality assessment or purchase intention for both groups of consumers; whereas the attributes that are reflective of food safety and environment issues do. The latter explain additional variance in both quality assessment and purchase intention. Consumers’ purchase styles have significant moderation effects on product quality assessment and purchase intention in both groups. Implications are provided for researchers and practitioners to conclude the paper.     

The value of food waste: An exploratory study on retailing

Retailers are increasingly concerned with the sustainability of their business. Food waste is a major sustainability issue: 90 million tons of food are wasted in the EU every year. The production of much of this waste is directly linked to the food chain operations, included those performed at the retail stage. The literature on food waste has mainly focused so far on the quantification of the total food lost along the supply chain. However, the stage of retail has long been neglected. This paper attempts to partly fill this research gap, with the aim of measuring the extent of food waste in retailing as well as its environmental, social and economic value. To do so, we analyse the results of a food waste recovery project held in an Italian supermarket and, by drawing on the data collected in this case study, we perform an evaluation of the value of the food wasted. The results show that the extent of food waste in retailing is certainly considerable, both in terms of quantity and economic value. Moreover, we found evidence that it may be greatly reduced, with a significant limitation of its environmental impact and, through the mechanism of recovery, it may even generate social benefits. Despite the many limitations of such preliminary research, the results provide useful information for retailers aiming to develop strategies against food waste in the context of improving the sustainability of their business.     

Small Service Businesses: Advertising Attitudes and The Use of Digital and Social Media Marketing

Advertising is embraced by companies as a means of building awareness, sales, and customer loyalty. However, in recent years advertising has changed. Digital marketing and social media marketing have gained a greater prominence (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016 Lamberton, C., Stephen, A. T. (2016). A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and mobile marketing: Research evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an agenda for future inquiry. Journal of Marketing, 80(November), 146–172. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0415.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). While megabrands spend millions of dollars on advertising, small businesses often view advertising as an expense rather than a means of generating revenue. Small service business owners are often skeptical of the value of digital marketing and social media. This study examines various digital and social media channels that can be utilized to grow their business.     

Implementing social media marketing strategically: an empirical assessment

The purpose of this study is to examine how firms implement social media systematically to drive strategic marketing actions. To this end, the study conceptualises social media implementation as a multidimensional, organisational construct composed of social media strategy, active presence, customer engagement initiatives and social media analytics. Using primary data, the study operationalises the social media implementation construct and tests its effect on firm performance isolated into social media performance and marketing performance. The results indicate that all except the active presence dimension of social media implementation are positively related to social media performance. The results further indicate that social media performance is positively related to marketing performance. The study contributes to the literature by offering a novel conceptualisation and empirical validation of the social media implementation construct.     

The blog and the bountiful: Exploring the effects of disguised product placement on blogs that are revealed by a third party

This article investigates the effects of a revelation to blog readers that the blog has been sponsored by a company in exchange for favorable reviews of their products. We compare the responses of two groups of blog readers. One group was exposed to a revelation in a tabloid newspaper that the blogger has been sponsored without admitting it. The other group was not exposed to such a revelation. We find that the attitude toward the blog and the credibility of the blog will suffer after the revelation. The attitude toward the sponsoring brand and the purchase intention, however, will not suffer as a result of the revelation. We find that the effects on the blog can be partially explained by parasocial interaction, whereas the effects on the brand can be partially explained by correspondence bias. On the basis of our findings, we provide implications for both bloggers and brand managers.     

Social Media Marketing Management: A Conceptual Framework

Managers today face many challenges when using social media in their marketing strategies. Drawing from social media literature, this study introduces a new framework to assist managers in developing and using social media as a marketing tool. This framework has four dimensions related to the actions managers perform when implementing and engaging with social media: messaging/projecting, monitoring, assessing, and responding. Each dimension of the framework may be applied differently based on the firm’s strategic direction or focus. The framework provides an opportunity for a firm to examine the entire scope of social media marketing from a broad strategic perspective as well as a more tactical perspective. Propositions formulated by the authors suggest how organizations with different strategic characteristics may manage social media differently. The study provides an understanding for managers of the variety of issues related to the specific aspects of maintaining a firm’s online presence based on a firm’s scope, culture, structure, and governance.     

Local and organic food on wheels: exploring the use of local and organic food in the food truck industry

An exploratory study approach was used in this research to examine the use of local and organic food in Toronto’s food truck industry, the rationale for its use, and the challenges that food truck owners face in sourcing it. Results showed that all-but-one of the food trucks sourced local or organic food for their menu and were motivated by fresh taste/quality, social responsibility and customer preference. While there were challenges with utilizing organic/local food due to seasonality and cost, food trucks found they can derive benefits by way of increased patronage, menu differentiation, and competitiveness.     

Enablers for end‐user entrepreneurship: An investigation on Italian food bloggers

This article examines unconventional entrepreneurship (accidental or end‐user entrepreneurs) to determine whether the decision‐making phase of the entrepreneurial process is collective. The analysis identified a virtuous circle that links knowledge, innovation, judgment, and decision making to collective interactions built on passion, experience, and sharing. To study food bloggers as unconventional user entrepreneurs, data were collected and analyzed using netnographic analysis. A supplementary online survey of food bloggers and their followers was also performed. Three groups of food bloggers are identified: amusing, functional, and fervent. Only fervent food bloggers, thanks to the virtuous circle built on passion, experience, and sharing as enablers, can be considered accidental or end‐user entrepreneurs.     

Response to social media influencers: Consumer dispositions as drivers

Brand managers use social media influencers (SMIs) to influence consumers' attitudes and intentions. However, there is still ambiguity about the mechanisms by which SMIs influence their followers, as well as the metrics by which their performance can be evaluated. The existing literature has restricted itself to consumers' purchase intentions in order to evaluate SMIs influence and is silent on the role of the consumers' individual characteristics in SMIs influence mechanisms. Based on these research gaps and to provide a clearer picture of the SMI influence mechanism to practitioners, the present study assesses the role of consumer characteristics such as their social media attachment (SMA), parasocial relationships with social media influencer (PSR-SMIs), and susceptibility to SMIs influence (SSMII) in driving consumer response to SMIs influence through SMI compliance intentions. Study 1 found the sequential mediational role of PSR-SMIs and SSMII in the SMA-SMI compliance intentions relationship. Study 2 found the same sequential mediation and demonstrated how SMI skepticism negatively moderates the relationship between PSR-SMIs and SMI compliance intentions. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that this skepticism variable is being explored in the SMI literature.     

Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude

ABSTRACT

Findings of two experimental studies show that Instagram influencers with high numbers of followers are found more likeable, partly because they are considered more popular. Important, only in limited cases, perceptions of popularity induced by the influencer's number of followers increase the influencer's perceived opinion leadership. However, if the influencer follows very few accounts him-/herself, this can negatively impact popular influencers’ likeability. Also, cooperating with influencers with high numbers of followers might not be the best marketing choice for promoting divergent products, as this decreases the brand's perceived uniqueness and consequently brand attitudes.     

Children's perception of food and healthy eating: dynamics behind their food preferences

Childhood obesity epidemic has been a popular topic for research as it has become a major health concern in many countries. As the focus of earlier studies has been predominantly on food marketing to children, there is still limited research on what other factors, apart from food marketing, influence their food preferences and eating habits. Bringing in children's perspectives as well as those of parents and guardians, this study aims to fill this gap by shedding light on further dynamics that can be influential on children's preferences. Through a qualitative inquiry, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with children between the ages of 7 and 11. Aiming to investigate both meanings and practices, these sessions also included interactive and participatory research methods such as drawing, word games and role playing. Moreover, in-depth interviews were carried out with teachers and mothers to gain an understanding of their perspective on the topic. The findings show the different appeals and social influences behind children's food preferences, among which sensory and fun appeals as well as the influence of parents come forward. By revealing these different appeals of food and social influences, the study brings a new perspective to the discussions on childhood obesity and food marketing.     

Factors that influence the consumption of food outside the home in Brazil

The food sector has taken on an unprecedented dynamism in recent years. The processing and distribution of food, although heavily influenced by tradition, have seen intensive innovations, leading to changes in the way individuals consume. One of these changes is the consistent growth of the habit of eating outside the home. Consuming food outside the home involves a number of practices such as eating at commercial establishments that specialize in food (restaurants, fast food restaurants and snack bars) and those that offer food as a part of their services (hotels, in‐flight meals), and non‐commercial alternatives such as the homes of family and friends. In order to describe the eating habits of consumers in the town of Lavras in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, especially when it comes to eating outside the home, a quantitative study was conducted, with 413 questionnaires being distributed by convenience sampling. Among the main results are: (a) a search for variety as a motivator for eating outside the home; (b) convenience as an important element on many occasions of consumption; (c) more intensive consumption and more favourable attitudes towards eating out on the part of younger people, people with higher incomes, no children and a higher degree of schooling; (d) importance of paying for food by the kilo. When compared with a study conducted in England, important similarities were identified in socio‐demographic influences, although the cultural factors are notable when it comes to dishes and the types of eating establishment. The growing habit of eating out has therefore become a worldwide phenomenon, but with cultural and regional differences that have led to different rhythms in terms of change and the way food is supplied. The recovery of embedded cultural habits, with increased value being given to slow food, traditional dishes and tradition itself, appears to co‐exist with a productivity model of food courts, pasteurization and accessible prices. The occasion for consumption, which may be understood as the dichotomies of ‘weekday versus weekend’ or ‘convenience versus leisure’, is an important element that influences consumer behaviours. The undertaking of a cross‐cultural comparative study can be seen as an important step in this field of research.     

Consumers' reactions to food scares

In the past decade many food hazards appeared (i.e. bacteria of Escherichia coli, dioxins in pork). When information about food hazards is announced, many concerns about food product arise. As a result consumers stop buying the kind of food in which hazard appears, which makes losses to the food producer. In this study, the results of survey are presented. The survey was conducted among 712 respondents in the southeast Poland. Respondents were asked about the source of information they prefer to be informed about the food hazard, their reactions to food hazard and their ways to protect themselves from food hazards in case of food scares. On the basis of the results, it was found that the main sources of information they prefer are television (85.4% of indications) and the Internet (61.4% of indications). Moreover, when a food hazard appears and consumers are informed about this fact their first reaction is to check if they have bought this product, and 30% of respondents declared that they would not buy this product again. To make sure that a particular food product is safe, consumers buy products they know (70.5% respondents). The answers varied on the socio‐demographic characteristics of respondents.     

Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan

The emergence, proliferation, and ubiquity of the Internet have not only transformed businesses, but also altered the relationship between businesses and the customer. Recent advances in technology have helped to migrate this relationship to an interactive level where technology contributes to brand building by creating and sustaining a long-term relationship with the customer. Media fragmentation and customer indifference to traditional marketing tools are forcing marketers to seek new opportunities so the marketing message not only captures customers’ attention, but also tries to engage them with the company. This paper discusses blogs within the context of creating this new, more enduring relationship with the customer. Blogs are discussed within the framework of Web 2.0, the next generation of the Internet, which is comprised of user-generated content and social computing. The use of blogs by several companies as tools to better engage the customer in the creation, delivery, and dissemination of marketing messages is also demonstrated.     

Drivers and outcomes of political candidate image creation: The role of social media marketing

The study examines the role of social media marketing (SMM) activities and the influence of perceived candidate image in building voter–candidate relationship equity within the context of United Kingdom (UK) politics. Drawing from branding literature and social identity theory the article further investigates the role of candidate image as a mediator between SMM and voter–candidate relationship equity, whilst also testing the moderating effect of political ideologies. Survey results from 235 young UK voters indicate that while all SMM activities appears to positively influence the perceived candidate image, not all SMM variables directly relate to relationship equity. The relationship rather appears to be an indirect one, mediated through the political candidate's image. Surprisingly, political ideology also does not appear to moderate the connection between candidate image and voter–candidate relationship equity. The study findings highlight the growing importance of SMM activities and candidate image in political contexts, providing insights for political campaigners.     

The impact of lifestyles and food knowledge on the food patterns of German children

The German youth is relatively well informed about healthy eating, but does not act in accordance with this knowledge. It is also known from empirical studies that there is an association between lifestyles, food knowledge and the eating patterns of older teenagers. However, is there a similar correlation in regard to younger children? This article shows results of a study addressing this issue by empirically investigating leisure time activities, food intake and food knowledge. The study conducted with 907 children, on average 12 years old, out of an urban region in northwest Germany using a written questionnaire, implies that food patterns and food knowledge have to be improved because they are – on average – only marginally acceptable. On this level, they are not in line with a healthy future. For the first time in Germany, food patterns and food knowledge of seventh grade pupils were analysed in relation to their lifestyles. The study revealed four lifestyles. One family‐oriented lifestyle and three non‐family oriented lifestyles: outdoor and sociable youth, culture‐oriented youth, and multimedia kids. The family‐oriented lifestyle influences the children's food patterns in a positive way; the three found non‐family‐oriented lifestyles lead to less preferable food patterns. The results imply that there is a phase of unhealthy food patterns at the beginning of the second life decade, which seems to be linked to the detachment from the parents and the gained independency, expressed by the first self‐chosen lifestyles. As lifestyles have such a vital influence on healthy eating, and family is no longer the place where children get their everyday competencies, school has to enable pupils to make healthier food and lifestyle choices.     

WOM and social media: Presaging future directions for research and practice

Word of mouth (WOM) has become the focus of growing interest among marketing practitioners and consumers. However, the promises of WOM marketing are often oversold, and various assertions about the nature of WOM, its dynamics, antecedents, and consequences at times have been misstated in mass-mediated articles and books on the topic. In this introductory paper for the special issue on WOM and social media, we survey the current state of WOM knowledge and the role of WOM in contemporary marketing, reconsider common beliefs about the WOM process in an effort to separate WOM facts from fallacies, and presage some future directions and best practices in light of evolving online channels of WOM generation and transmission.