What Role Does Sense of Power Play in Consumers’ Decision Making of Risky Food Consumption While Dining Out?

One way to understand risky food consumption is to look at the influence of the sense of power, as well as optimism bias. The purpose of this study was to examine how the sense of power affects consumers’ intention to consume risky foods by assessing the direct relationship between their sense of power and subsequent consumption of risky foods, and investigating the indirect relationship between sense of power and risky food consumption with general optimism bias or food safety optimism bias as a mediating variable. A web-based questionnaire with 387 responses was used to test the hypotheses and the indirect relationships from the sense of power to intention to consume risky foods via food safety optimism. Findings indicate the theoretical implication of a new variable (food safety optimism) that is useful in understanding the relationship between the sense of power and risky food consumption. Results also offer practical implications on better ways to market raw or undercooked foods to potential consumers.     

Factors Influencing Young Consumers’ Acceptance of Genetically Modified Food in India

We analyzed the determinants of acceptance of genetically modified food (GMF) by using the probit model. In this study, we found that around 41% of the students are willing to buy GMF, and acceptance of GMF is less in female respondents than male respondents. The findings indicate that in India, benefit perception of GMF outweighed the risk perception. We also found that respondents’ trust in international organizations for truthful information has a positive and significant influence on acceptance of GMF.     

Consumers’ Preferences and Attitudes Toward Local Food Products

In recent years, consumers’ interest in local food has significantly increased. Several studies in the agricultural economics and marketing literature have analyzed mainly consumers’ preferences for local food products. In this study, we perform a consumer segmentation with regard to consumer behavior toward local food. We collected data from a survey conducted during summer 2010 in Naples, South Italy. Consumer segments were identified taking account of five aspects: (1) food consumption styles; (2) perception of local food; (3) purchasing motives; (4) perceived quality of local food; and (5) sociodemographic characteristics. They could be profiled as ethnocentric consumers, environmentalists, strict localists, and quality labeling oriented.     

Consumers’ Intent: In the Organic Food Market

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the determinants that influence consumers' intention to purchase organic products. Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) provides the conceptual framework of the research and the appropriateness of the theory is tested. A survey of 144 consumers was used to determine the beliefs which determine consumers’ intent to purchase organic food. Furthermore, attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were examined to determine whether they affect consumers’ intention to make organic products purchases. The findings offer considerable support for the robustness of the TPB in explaining intention in the sample. In addition, empirical evidence suggest that price, availability of organic products, product information and the subjective opinions of others are important determinants of consumers intent to buy organic products. The results are consistent with previous research.     

Exploring Urban Consumers’ Attitudes and Intentions to Purchase Local Food in Chile

Although local food consumption is growing in importance, there remains a lack of research addressing local food consumption preferences in less developed countries. This article aims to examine the drivers of local food purchase intentions for Chilean consumers. A model of local food behavioral intention was developed from consumer behavior theory. The model was tested using structural equation modeling with data from Chilean shoppers located in Santiago (n = 283). The analysis revealed that Chilean consumers are willing to purchase local food based on their positive attitude toward buying local food and their feelings of connectedness with the environment, but not because they have a desire to support local businesses. These findings have implications for retailers, marketers, and food producers.     

Consumers’ Perceived Value and Willingness to Purchase Organic Food

ABSTRACT

The demand for organic products has rapidly expanded worldwide in recent years. However, the organic market remains a niche market in most countries, and research in this area remains limited. Further investigation is necessary to better understand consumer perceptions about organic food and the circumstances in which they are willing to purchase organic food. Accordingly, the authors seek to understand the perceived value that consumers associate with organic food and the factors that impact their willingness to purchase organic food. This study is exploratory in nature and uses a qualitative approach through the use of in-depth interviews. Findings from the study suggest that consumers who perceive a positive value with regard to organic food are more willing to purchase organic food, in which health was the primary perceived benefit. For consumers who perceive a negative value with regard to organic food, they are less willing to purchase organic food. Many did not see any difference between organic food and nonorganic food. Instead, they viewed the prices of organic food as being expensive and argued that more efforts are needed on their part to source for organic food. Implications and recommendations from research findings are also presented.     

The Concept of “Consumption Corridors” Meets Society: How an Idea for Fundamental Changes in Consumption is Received

Journal of Consumer Policy - The concept of consumption corridors is a concept to guide policy design and policy-making. It suggests applying good life and justice as the primary...     

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.     

Is an Increase in Organic Consumption Accompanied by A Healthier Diet? A Comparison of Changes in Eating Habits among Danish Consumers

Several studies have shown that consumers with a high organic consumption often have dietary habits that include more fruit and vegetables but less red meat. This paper takes a novel approach by investigating whether changes in consumption of organics and improvements in dietary habits also are related. The results show that many consumers seem to improve their diet while increasing the organic consumption. Further, the study suggests that some households already have a relatively healthy diet in terms of fruit, vegetables, and meat consumption, when they start buying organic food. When organic consumption reaches a certain level, further increases in organic consumption are more likely to take place at the same time as dietary habits are improved. References to health and climate considerations seem to be the most important motivations for reducing meat consumption, while higher availability of organics is the most important reason for increasing organic consumption.     

Sophisticates or Dupes? Attitudes toward Food Consumers in Edwardian Britain

In this article, we explore how reformers, manufacturers, andtraders perceived British food consumers and the significanceof those perceptions in debates about food quality and regulation.By considering basic commodities, our analysis extends a literatureon consumption that is otherwise derived primarily from thestudy of luxury commodities, and it identifies conflicting imagesof the interests, competence, and concerns of early twentieth-centuryconsumers. We find that discussions of appropriate policy involvedcompeting interpretations of modernity and its implicationsfor food consumers, and these discussions anticipated latertwentieth-century debates.     

Impact of Food Brand Controversy on Consumers’ Attitude Toward Brand and Company

It is critical to understand the impact of controversy on the consumer. There is a scarcity of research measuring post-controversy consumer attitude on both product and corporate brand during a controversy. The study is based on a recent brand controversy linked with instant noodle brand “Maggi” in India. The study examines impact on brand perceived quality, credibility, trust and loyalty, and attitude about brand and company. Data have been collected during July–October 2015 when the brand Maggi was banned in India due to quality-related controversy. Results indicate that respondents, with higher post-controversy brand loyalty, hold positive attitudes about brand. The interaction effect reveals that the relationship is significant and positive. During controversy, consumers’ attitude about brand and company is not identical. For a strong brand, consumers may have positive attitude but they become quite negative about company.     

Who Buys Overpackaged Grocery Products and Why? Understanding Consumers’ Reactions to Overpackaging in the Food Sector

While most studies dealing with waste reduction at the consumer level focus on recycling, this paper rather concentrates on precycling strategies and purchasing behaviors in order to understand how to promote waste reduction at the source. More specifically, the purpose of this work is to grasp consumers’ perceptions of overpackaging and understand the mechanisms underlying their choice of overpackaged versus non-overpackaged food products. Based on the different themes that emerged from a qualitative study (study 1, n = 11), a quantitative research was conducted among French interviewees (study 2, n = 327) in order to identify relevant groups of consumers. Five profiles emerged from the cluster analysis: the supporters, the self-sacrificing, the detractors, the indifferent, and the self-centered. Finally, an experiment was conducted (study 3, n = 808) that highlights the influence of range positioning and salience of non-overpackaging on consumer choice. Implications for public policy makers and companies are discussed.     

Coping with Time Pressure and Stress: Consequences for Families’ Food Consumption

This study explores the coping strategies that families apply when under time pressure and stress (time stress), and how such strategies affect food consumption at dinnertime. The data were based on photo interviewing methodology with a sample of 12 Norwegian children (ages seven and eight) and their parents. In this case, the children were asked to take photographs during their dinners at home and while shopping for groceries with their parents. The findings show that the most dominant explanation for time stress was the children’s participation in sport activities. In this regard, the families applied several coping strategies, such as skipping dinner and eating snacks instead, consuming convenience food, avoiding preference conflicts, planning for healthy dinners, involving children and grandparents in food preparation, and practising compensatory health beliefs and behaviours. This might be the first study that identifies parents’ use of compensatory health beliefs to justify children’s diets. More specifically, the parents stated that the children’s high activity levels could compensate for unhealthy food consumption. The strategies that were applied had varying influences on the families’ food consumption, depending on the parents’ confidence in cooking and meal-planning skills. It was found that parents with high confidence and skills were more likely to make healthy cooking a priority. Consequently, they served more healthy dishes at dinnertime, compared with other parents. Unlike previous studies, the findings indicate that children’s active lifestyles might not be directly related to healthy diets.     

Sharing Sustainability: How Values and Ethics Matter in Consumers’ Adoption of Public Bicycle-Sharing Scheme

This study investigates the antecedents and mechanisms of consumers’ adoption of a public bicycle-sharing scheme (PBSS) as a form of shared sustainable consumption. Drawing on marketing ethics and sustainability literature, it argues that cultural and consumption values drive or deter the adoption of PBSS through the mediating mechanism of ethical evaluation. This study tests its hypotheses using a sample of 755 consumers from one of the largest PBSS programs in China. The results confirm the significance of collectivism, man–nature orientation, materialism, and face-consciousness as key determinants of the adoption of PBSS. Interestingly, these values play mixed roles in influencing PBSS adoption. It also finds that such values and beliefs need to be effectively translated into ethical evaluations of PBSS adoption, and need to be addressed in the specific social context. Thus, ethical evaluation constitutes a cognitive strategy that allows consumers to justify and defend their adoption of sustainability practices. The results suggest that a desirable sustainability program needs to not only cater to the cultural and psychological motivations of consumers, but also reflect the social norms and social context in which the sustainability practices and consumers are embedded.     

Throwing It All Away: Exploring Affluent Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Wasting Edible Food

The skewed allocation of food across the world population is a major concern, as the result is that some of us live in abundant supply while others spend their life in constant scarcity. While researchers have studied a variety of issues related to the amounts of food being wasted, or the waste of edible food across consumers with different demographic characteristics, less is known about the drivers of attitudes toward food waste. Based on survey data from a sample of affluent Norwegian consumers, we test how subjective food knowledge, environmental concern, age, and income are related to consumer attitudes toward wasting edible food. We find that all variables except income drive consumer attitudes. Implications for theory and public policy are offered.     

The Influence of Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors on Consumers’ Healthy Cereal Food Choices

An increase in the dietary intake of wholegrain cereals can reduce the risk of developing certain non-communicable diseases and can play an important role in a healthy diet. However, consumption of wholegrain cereals across many countries is lower that the recommended guidelines. The main objective of this research was to gather purchase-related information from end users on different types of cereal foods. A mixed research methodology was used to identify key sociodemographic and lifestyle factors that may influence consumer acceptance of new cereal foods. Three distinct clusters were identified based on six identified lifestyle dimensions. This research suggested that the combined use of sociodemographic and lifestyle segmentation variables could help identify specific consumer segments that can be used in the market-oriented development of new cereal foods.     

Theory of Virtue Ethics: Do Consumers’ Good Traits Predict Their Socially Responsible Consumption?

Drawing upon the theory of virtue ethics, this study builds a decision tree predictive model to explore the anticipated impact of good traits (i.e., virtuous and personality traits) on socially responsible consumption. Using R statistical software, we generate a classification tree and cross-validate the model on two independent datasets. The results indicate that the virtuous traits of self-efficacy, courage, and self-control, as well as the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness, predict socially responsible purchase and disposal behavior. Remarkably, the largest segment of socially responsible consumers in the study (41 %) scored high in self-efficacy and openness. This result suggests that marketers should focus on these good traits when creating advertisements to encourage sustainable consumption. Our study contributes to enhancing knowledge about the social and psychological aspects of the sustainability movement and provides a new analytical approach to predicting socially responsible consumption.