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.     

Materialism and conspicuous consumption in China: a cross‐cultural examination

With the growing rise in consumer spending and economic power in Asian societies, it is increasingly important to explore the implications of these developments on consumer culture. This cross‐cultural study first discusses the rise of materialism and conspicuous consumption in post‐revolution China then examines differences in these phenomena between young adult consumers, aged 18–35, living in urban China and the United States. Utilizing survey data from over 600 respondents, significant differences were found in both materialism and conspicuous consumption, with Chinese young adults scoring higher in both variables. The findings show, that compared with past comparative studies, it appears both materialism and conspicuous consumption are on the rise among urban Chinese consumers.     

Cross‐cultural evaluation of factors driving intention to purchase new food products – Beijing,China and south‐east England

It has been reported that consumers in different countries have distinctive perceptions of, and attitudes to, products. This study investigated consumers’ thoughts on new food products in south‐east England (n = 222) and Beijing, China (n = 139), using a questionnaire‐based largely on the Theory of Reasoned Action. Results indicated that consumers in both countries believe it is necessary for the food industry in their respective countries to introduce new food products and they would like to try new products. There appears to be great interest in new products among the Beijing Chinese, with most interest in new healthy food products. The influences on choices suggest that a marketing focus on quality, utility and health benefits would be most fruitful, as personal beliefs were more important in intention to purchase than the influence of other people. Results point away from the expected result that the Chinese, as a collectivist culture, would place more emphasis on others’ opinions than their own beliefs. This may be linked to food not being an item of conspicuous consumption, or to a cultural shift among urban Chinese.     

Organic food consumers' trade‐offs between local or imported,conventional or organic products: a qualitative study in Shanghai

This paper presents a qualitative study of the trade‐offs made by organic food product consumers in the Chinese Metropolis of Shanghai. More precisely, this article deals with trade‐offs that consumers make between three types of products: (1) locally produced organic food products, (2) products that are locally and conventionally produced and (3) imported organic food products. We used a qualitative methodology using open questions and projective techniques and based on 23 individual interviews. Local organic products are the products best perceived by the Chinese interviewees, who think that organic food is beneficial to health and makes agriculture more environmentally friendly. The fact that food is produced locally is another positive argument for many interviewees who do not perceive any important differences between local and imported, more expensive, organic food products. Local and conventionally produced food products give rise to worries related to health and consumers buy them only because they are much cheaper than organic products. The reasons for choosing organic products are mostly related to health issues. Altruistic motives such as environmental concerns, food miles concerns or support for small producers are only emerging. This study mostly highlighted consumers' trade‐offs between different individual benefits, mainly health vs. economic benefits. However, some trade‐offs between altruistic (environmental concerns) and individual (economic) benefits are apparent, confirming emerging altruistic motives behind organic food consumption.     

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.     

Finns and functional foods: socio‐demographics,health efforts,notions of technology and the acceptability of health‐promoting foods

Eating is increasingly characterized by concerns over health and well‐being. New types of foods designed to promote health or to reduce the risk of diseases, known as functional foods, have been entering the market since the 1990s. This article focuses on the appropriation of functional foods among Finnish consumers from the perspective of acceptability. We analyse the relationship between consumers’ views of functional foods and their socio‐demographic backgrounds, health efforts and notions of food, health and technology. The article is based on a survey of a representative sample of Finnish consumers (n = 1210). The data were collected by using computer‐assisted telephone interviews and analysed by factor analysis and analysis of variance. The factor analysis resulted in four dimensions of acceptability: (1) experiences of functional foods; (2) views on product quality and safety; (3) societal concerns over current developments; and (4) views on regulation and research. According to the results, the differences in consumer views of functional foods were to some extent linked with age and education but better explained by the differing roles of food and health in people’s lives and the acceptability of modern food technologies. Efforts to lower blood cholesterol and/or blood pressure, the use of dietary supplements, regarding healthy eating as very important and having an optimistic outlook on the use of technology in food production were all related to more optimistic views of functional foods. Finns seem to have a relatively trusting position on functional foods. Familiarity of functional foods in Finland, absence of serious food scandals, the health‐oriented Finnish culture and the generally high level of societal trust may account for this optimism.     

Food choice: student consumers' decision‐making process regarding food products with limited label information

Food label information theoretically facilitates consumer decision‐making and food choice, but the extent to which consumers actually use this information during decision‐making is a subject of considerable debate. Therefore, this study focused on the importance of label information in student consumers' decision‐making process when exposed to limited label information food in a cafeteria environment. Because of a paucity of research in this area, a qualitative research approach that was exploratory in nature was used, accompanied by semi‐structured interviewing and a vignette. Undergraduate students from the North‐West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in South Africa served as the target population. The findings suggest that internal and product‐related strategies are applied when food choices are made whereby the importance of label information only features in the latter strategy. Student consumers with a label interest were more inclined to use label information strategies in the absence of complete label information to base food choice on. Those with a lack of label interest made use of alternative strategies using product and personal‐related information, such as freshness and product knowledge to make decisions. The decision‐making process was more complex because of insufficient label information and product appearance, and thus previous experiences and habitual purchasing became more important to participants. Student consumers should be supported to make healthier food choices through food manufacturers supplying cafeteria products with more complete label information and by providing students with the knowledge to use label information correctly through educational programmes.     

A segmentation of Turkish consumers based on their motives to visit shopping centres

This paper aims to contribute to the literature by providing a segmentation of Turkish consumers based on their motives for visiting shopping centres. First, we identified the motives that Turkish consumers had for visiting shopping centres and then we used those motives to segment consumers. Data were collected through a survey from 390 participants living in the six largest cities in Turkey. First, the results showed that Turkish consumers had five groups of motives when it comes to visiting shopping centres. The results of a two-step cluster analysis used for segmentation revealed four distinct segments of Turkish shopping centre visitors. Those segments were named as serious consumers, recreational consumers, enthusiast consumers, pragmatic consumers. These findings suggest that Turkish shopping centre managers need to recognize that Turkish consumers are not a homogeneous unit when it comes to visiting shopping centres. Finally, academic and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.     

Decision Making by Low‐Literacy Consumers in the Presence of Point‐of‐Purchase Information

Low‐literacy consumers face disadvantages when making product choices. This article presents the results of two studies designed to explore differences in decision‐making behavior across consumer literacy levels, focusing on consumers’ ability to evaluate information in print ads and product packaging. The authors demonstrate that the presence of a visual decision aid at the point of purchase can improve choice for low‐literacy consumers.     

The effects of traffic light labels and involvement on consumer choices for food and financial products

Traffic light (TL) labels that inform consumers regarding product safety have received increasing attention in different fields. Behind the background of behavioural economics, this paper presents the results of a split‐sample choice experiment conducted in Germany to evaluate the impact of TL labelling on purchases of food and financial products. We hypothesize that consumers experience different levels of involvement with these two types of products, leading to different recommendations regarding the use of TLs. The results show that TLs affect consumer purchases of both product groups by focusing their attention on specific product attributes. For food, whereas the low‐fat attribute has no significant impact on food choices that do not include TLs, this attribute has a positive impact on choices once it is signalled with a TL label. The positive evaluation of the organic production attribute of a food product without a TL decreases when the same product is labelled with a TL. In the case of financial products, TLs significantly reinforce the impact of all characteristics on choice probability. TLs also generate a halo effect with regard to return variance. Although consumers demonstrate different levels of involvement for the two types of products, involvement does not always impact the evaluation of attributes. Compared with less involved consumers, more involved consumers exhibit more heterogeneous evaluations of the return variability attribute in the case of the financial product and the organic attribute in the case of the food product.     

Budget over health unless overweight: A Solomon four‐group study

Budget and health motivations for food purchase (e.g., discounts and health consciousness, respectively) affect consumer choice while shopping and well‐being afterward. However, not all findings from research have suggested that discounts/taxations on healthy/unhealthy food encourage health‐conscious food choice. On the other hand, the consumer behaviour line of research on the influence of front‐of‐package health messages has mostly echoed similar results that such communication leads to overconsumption; thus, obesity. We examined the influence of market practices targeting consumers’ budget and health‐related motivations for food purchase in a 2 (price: recommended retail price, discount price) × 2 (product: regular potato chips, potato chips with ‘75% less saturated fat’) experiment using six Solomon four‐group designs. Our results indicate that overweight consumers are not prone to discounts, unlike their normal‐weight counterparts. A price cut nullifies the influence of health messages on purchase intentions among normal‐weight buyers when the regular and healthier packaged foods are both on discount.     

Hong Kong parents' perceptions of the transference of food preparation skills

Food preparation skills among young adults are associated with healthy food choices, better diets and a greater likelihood of an independent, healthy adult life. This study conducted in Hong Kong aimed to investigate parents' perceptions of cooking skills; to explore the transference of cooking skills in the home setting; to identify parents' expectations regarding the transference of cooking skills; and to inform the development of educational initiatives for developing healthy eating habits. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect information of the subjects' cooking experience, attitudes about cooking skills, cooking habits at home, family meal habits, transference of cooking culture in the family and the factors influencing the choice of ingredients and cooking. It was administered to 1009 Hong Kong parents (of students aged between 11 and 18, studying in 15 secondary schools). The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 12.0, SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and cross‐tabulation analyses were used to compare the responses of the parents by gender, employment status and income. The results show that parents valued cooking as important life skills for both boys and girls. Parents generally perceived their cooking skills either good (41.9%) or mediocre (54.5%), yet children are rarely taught these skills in the home. Family meals prepared primarily with fresh ingredients are still an important part of the daily routine, and mothers are dominating the roles in food choice decision, cooking and buying the ingredients for family meals. Mothers and schools are expected to be the major channel to teach children cooking skills. Findings suggest that parents are well‐disposed towards providing food and nutrition education at home, but need more support (50% reported that home should be a primary support for learning cooking skills; 36% indicated that the school should have a responsibility to teach children to cook starting in elementary school). Schools may do well to collaborate with families in food literacy education initiatives. Developing individuals' cooking skills paves the way for long‐term health benefits and the well‐being of the local population.     

Consumers' perceptions of functional foods: trust and food‐neophobia in a cross‐cultural context

Consumers' perceptions of functional foods are complicated by perceived risks and complexity that appear from growing and sometimes confusing information flow. Social trust can serve as a mean for the reduction of risk and complexity. It is thus vital to understand the sources of distrust and food‐neophobia as well as coping mechanisms used by consumers to ensure food provision and safety. We discuss the results of a qualitative inquiry in the form of focus groups into consumers' perceptions of functional foods in Russia and Germany. Altogether eight focus group interviews were carried out in different parts of Russia and Germany in December–January 2012–2013. A total of 59 people participated in the discussions. Different perspectives provided by the discussions in the two countries indicate different levels of trust. Deeper culturally embedded and wider‐spread distrust in formal institutions in Russia pushes consumers towards developing informal networks to ensure food provision and safety. It leads to high levels of food‐neophobia as consumers perceive traditions as the most important guarantee for healthy food. On the other hand, German participants indicate a number of formal institutions that are trustworthy and through which information concerning novel and healthy attributes in foods can be communicated. We provide exploratory views on the importance of social trust in consumers' perceptions of functional foods and lay out mechanisms that consumers develop to deal with increasing risk and complexity in food choices.     

Does Payday Lending Hurt Food Security in Low‐Income Households?

During the study period of 2005–2011, household food insecurity rates as well as regulations over payday lending industry increased in the United States. This study evaluates the association between access to payday lending and the risk of food insecurity using cross‐sectional samples of low‐income households from the 2005 to 2011 Food Security Supplements of the Current Population Survey. The study uses county‐level payday lender density, state‐level legislative status, and county border indicators of cross‐state payday access to examine how payday lender availability affects household food insecurity. The findings suggest that access to payday lending, which may be presumed to provide convenient short‐term credit to underserved consumers, increases the likelihood of household food insecurity by 2.8–6.0 percentage points in absolute terms. Furthermore, the county border effect of payday access has become insignificant later in the sample period, the potential reasons for which are discussed.     

Targeting Financial Management Training at Low‐Income Audiences

While interest in financial management training programs for low‐income persons has grown in recent years, the specific training needs of low‐income consumers have not been well articulated. This article describes needed training content for such audiences, based on review of previous research and the authors’ experiences in evaluating the Financial Links for Low‐Income People (FLLIP) program. We also illustrate how the choice of financial management training models can seriously impact the subgroups of the low‐income population who attend training, as well as the success of programs in recruiting and graduating participants. The implications of these findings both for financial management curriculum development and for the selection of program models are presented.     

Consumers’ perception of CSR motives in a post‐socialist society: The case of Serbia

Questionnaire‐based consumer research was conducted in Serbia, as a country in a long post‐socialist transition. The focus was on consumers’ opinions of benefits and attitudes which motivate companies to act in a socially responsible way. Analysis resulted in a division of CSR motives into two main clusters: cluster I—stakeholder and value‐driven motives, and cluster II—egoistic motives, performance, and market‐driven motives. The division obviously concerned motives which were the socialist legacy (endogenous motives in cluster I), and motives imported from open market economies (exogenous motives in cluster II). Consumers’ perceptions are significantly different for endogenous and exogenous CSR motives. Exogenous motives are perceived as principal companies’ motives to practice CSR, but there are no significant correlations between the perception of these motives and consumers’ purchase decisions. Endogenous, value, and stakeholder‐driven motives are perceived in a significantly lower degree as CSR motivators with highly divided consumers’ opinions and female consumers rating them significantly higher. Consumers’ purchase decisions are in a statistically significant positive correlation with attribution of endogenous, value, and stakeholders’ needs‐driven motives.     

Adolescents’ perceived brand deprivation stress and its implications for corporate and consumer well‐being

Stress can impact various aspects of a person's well‐being. While some researchers have suggested that consumption‐related activities may cause stress, no research has yet explored such stress among vulnerable, younger consumers. To better understand this phenomenon, the concept of adolescents’ perceived brand deprivation stress (BDS) is introduced as a state of tension perceived negatively by a young consumer when he or she does not have specific brands from a particular product category. In a series of three studies with adolescents aged 11–17 years, a reliable and valid measure of BDS is developed and a framework encompassing antecedents and consequences of it is tested. This research demonstrates that an adolescent's peer group compared to the media exerts the strongest influence on BDS which is also affected by product involvement and age. In turn, stress influences both brand purchase intentions and psychosomatic illnesses, with the latter being reduced by consumer self‐confidence. The studies show that BDS is real, but seemingly problematic for only a small portion of vulnerable adolescents. The findings suggest that marketers should be cautious when targeting young consumers and that educational programs aimed at developing consumer skills and confidence in adolescents are advisable.     

Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Factors affecting consumers’ purchase intention of eco‐friendly food in China: The evidence from respondents in Beijing

The purpose aims to examine the key factors influencing Chinese consumer’s purchasing behaviour of eco‐friendly food in China giving its context as an emerging economy and its rapidly rising importance in the world eco‐friendly food market. This paper adopts and extends the Responsible Environmental Behaviour (REB) theory by empirically testing key psychosocial factors influencing the purchase intention of eco‐friendly food and the moderating effects of consumers’ demographic characteristics on the relationship between the key psychosocial factors and the purchase intention. A number of hypotheses are proposed. A questionnaire was designed and distributed via online survey in Beijing, China. A total of 239 valid responses were received. The empirical data were used to test the research hypotheses using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The research finds that the personality factors in the REB model (i.e., pro‐environmental attitudes, the internal locus of control and personal responsibly) have significant positive effects on the consumers’ eco‐friendly food purchase intention. Such effect is stable across consumers with different income levels. On the other hand, the knowledge–skill factors in the REB model do not have significant effect on the purchase intention of consumers. This study contributes to a better understanding of factors affecting eco‐friendly food consumption intention in China and the behavioural characteristics of consumers in developing countries. Moreover, the findings also shed light on the applicability of the REB theory in emerging economies and a specific industrial context.