Direct governmental production in agriculture in Ghana: Consequences for food production and consumption, 1960–1966 and 1967–1975

The article examines the effects of direct government production in agriculture in Ghana, both during the period 1962–1966 when it was a high agricultural priority, and during 1967–1975 when the government tried to withdraw. The article concludes that direct government production was a constraint on overall domestic food production in both time periods, although there may have been other social benefits resulting from the policies.     

Financial constraints of private firms and bank lending behavior

We investigate whether and how financial constraints of private firms depend on bank lending behavior. Bank lending behavior, especially its scale, scope and timing, is largely driven by bank business models which differ between privately owned and state-owned banks. Using a unique dataset on private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) we find that an increase in relative borrowings from local state-owned banks significantly reduces firms’ financial constraints, while there is no such effect for privately owned banks. Improved credit availability and private information production are the main channels that explain our result. We also show that the lending behavior of local state-owned banks can be sustainable because it is less cyclical and neither leads to more risk taking nor underperformance.     

Individual choice or collective action? Exploring consumer motives for participating in alternative food networks

Alternative food networks (AFNs) are growing in number and relevance in Germany. Those networks include new models of production and distribution, such as food cooperatives (FoodCoops), self‐harvest gardens or community‐supported agriculture (CSA) schemes. AFNs, as an alternative to conventional food supply systems, are characterized by a close producer‐consumer interaction. They are typically located within urban or peri‐urban areas. The study aims to identify the rationale and motivation of urban residents in participating in AFNs and developing a consumer typology. We also assess whether AFNs potentially lead to collective action with societal impact. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative content analysis based on 18 interviews with members of existing AFN projects in three German metropolitan regions. Our results revealed that the willingness of urban consumers to participate in AFNs is driven by a broad range of motives. They include personal desire for high‐quality food (in terms of taste or freshness) and health reasons, but also political or environmental motives (opposition to conventional agriculture or short transport distances). Furthermore, consumers often want to support a certain farmer and his/her philosophy or they appreciate the community‐building aspect. Three different consumer types were derived from the motive combinations. Many consumers communicated a sense of belonging to a societal movement, however, our study revealed a lack of organization and collective action. Although AFNs can influence the consumption patterns of individuals, their potential to induce social change and to challenge traditional models of consumption in the near future does not appear to be high.     

Proud volunteers: the role of self- and vicarious-pride in promoting volunteering

This research examines the role of self- and vicarious-pride in eliciting divergent mindsets and behaviors toward volunteering. We propose that the congruent matching of self-pride (vicarious-pride) emotions with promotion (prevention) focus-framed messages increases the effectiveness of promoting volunteering behaviors. The positive “match-up” effects arise because self-pride elicits a competitive mindset, whereas vicarious-pride elicits a collaborative mindset toward volunteering. We test our predictions across three experimental studies using behavioral measures in different non-profit organizational settings. The findings contribute to research on the role of pride in prosocial consumer behavior by providing empirical evidence that self-pride and vicarious-pride lead to different mindsets and behavioral outcomes.     

The effect of perceived advertising effort on brand perception: implication for retailers in Hong Kong

This paper examines how advertising effort, specifically advertising creativity and advertising believability, may influence consumers’ perceptions of a retailer’s business philosophy, and in turn consumers’ behavior toward retailers in Hong Kong. Altogether five hundred and eighty-three respondents (i.e. 320 college students and 263 shoppers) were surveyed. The results suggested that retailers that are regarded as having more creative advertising are perceived as being more learning-oriented, which leads to higher brand recognition. Meanwhile, retailers that are regarded as having more believable advertisements are perceived as having higher levels of integrity, and as a result are better recognized and more likely to be patronized. This research contributes to literature in retailing and marketing communication by establishing the antecedents and consequences of building a learning-oriented and trustworthy business philosophy in a cultural specific context. It also provides practical guidance for retailers who aim to increase brand recognition and purchase intentions through promotional effort.     

Drivers of autonomous vehicles—analyzing consumer preferences for self-driving car brand extensions

Autonomous cars are considered to be the next disruptive innovation that will affect consumers. It can be expected that not only traditional automakers will enter this market (e.g., Ford) but also technology companies (e.g., Google) and newer companies dedicated to self-driving cars (e.g., Tesla). We take a brand extension perspective and analyze to what extent consumers prefer autonomous cars from these brand categories. Our empirical study is based on discrete choice experiments about adopting autonomous vehicles in a purchase scenario and in a renting context. Our findings show that brands play a central role when making autonomous driving decisions. Brand preferences differ systematically when buying versus renting a self-driving car. While technology brands are most preferred overall, consumers favor automaker brands over new brands only when purchasing, not when renting. We further disentangle the brand strength into the marginal effects of image associations. For example, Google’s strong brand positioning can be explained by experiences with the parent brand, but it could still improve brand strength by highlighting the relevance of the associated brand portfolio for self-driving cars. The effect of these brand extension success factors differs between parent-brand categories and also between the renting and purchasing scenarios, which requires a dedicated brand management.

     

Controlled and uncontrolled communication stimuli and organic food purchases: The mediating role of perceived communication clarity,perceived health benefits,and trust

Despite a growing demand worldwide, organic food remains a niche category, with consumers only purchasing it some of the time. This study examines the mediating effects of consumers’ perceived clarity of organic food-related communication, trust for, and perceived health benefits of organic foods in the relationship between controlled and uncontrolled communication stimuli and organic food purchases. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 1011 Australian organic food consumers using Structural Equation Modeling. We find that all mediators except perceived communication clarity perform as hypothesized, with the latter not mediating the relationship between uncontrolled communications and perceived health benefits of organic foods. The results suggest that marketers should ensure clarity in controlled organic food communications, signal health benefits of organic food and build consumer trust to generate organic purchases.