Traffic lights and food choice: A choice experiment examining the relationship between nutritional food labels and price

In this paper we investigate how consumers respond to the UK nutritional food label Traffic Light System (TLS). Employing a choice experiment (CE) we find that consumers appear to behave in a manner consistent with our expectations regarding the impact of the TLS. We identify a strong preference on the part of respondents to avoid a basket of goods containing a mix of foods with any “Red” lights. In addition, we find that consumers have a hierarchy of importance in terms of perception of the various nutrients examined and there are clear behavioural differences associated with particular socio-economic characteristics confirming early research on the use of nutrition labels. Overall our results indicate significant heterogeneity in the attitudes and responses of consumers to the TLS nutritional food labels within and across socio-economic strata.     

Alliances and Networks: Creating Success in the UK Fair Trade Market

Data from a longitudinal study into the key management success factors in the fair trade industry provide insights into the essential nature of inter-organizational alliances and networks in creating the profitable and growing fair trade market in the UK. Drawing on three case studies and extensive industry interviews, we provide an interpretive perspective on the organizational relationships and business networks and the way in which these have engendered success for UK fair trade companies. Three types of benefit are derived from the networks: competitive developments through virtual integration in which the organizations remain flexible and small while projecting size to the market; intellectual developments through the sharing of intellectual capital with a diverse network of organizations in many fields; and ideological developments through an ideological network of like-minded individuals by which the companies can prevent the co-opting of the original purpose of fair trade. However, relative success at leveraging these benefits is influenced by three managerial factors: partner choice, partner use and partner management.     

Steps to Space; opportunities for astrotourism

Recent years have seen the emergence of the astrotourist following the $20 million trip by Dennis Tito to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001. Although this is the preserve of the hyper-elite, within the next decade it is likely that there will be more affordable opportunities on sub-orbital reusable vehicles pioneered by the Virgin group. This paper offers an overview of recent developments in the space tourism industry as a whole and offers definitions for the new sector of astrotourism. Drawing on motivational theory, the study examines the motivations and experiences that astrotourists have demonstrated through interviews reported through the media. However, parallels are demonstrated with the existing terrestrial space tourism industry, which has been largely ignored to date. Consequently the paper also examines the management of these sites and the challenges this niche presents. There is also evidence of a travel career being marketed by space tourism travel agents, dubbed by one interviewee as ‘steps to space’. This builds on potential tourists' existing aspirations for space experiences allied to these companies' credentials in adventure tourism. Whilst sharing parallels to the work of Pearce (1982), the focus of this career on one particular theme is of interest. This theoretical bridging is useful for observing tourism organisations at work, and furthermore uncovers the massive potential that developments in space tourism present for the tourism industry as a whole.     

Nutrition Transition and Changing Food Preferences in India

We present empirical evidence on how changes in food preferences have contributed to nutrition transition, where the dietary pattern of households shifts away from traditional staples. Using household-level time series cross-section survey data for India, we estimate time varying demand elasticities, revealing evidence of the declining importance of cereals in Indian household diets. The estimates show that Indian demand for cereals has become more income inelastic and price elastic. We also find that cereals are a substitute rather than a complement to animal products in household diets. Since changes in elasticities can only be attributed to variation in utility parameters, this indicates that cereals are losing favour with Indian households. These findings have implications for Indian food policy design and implementation.     

Comparative politics and quasi-rational markets

This article synthesises psychology, economics and political science theories that can explain market reaction to elections. In order to test the theories, we conduct event studies of the impact of elections on the interest rates on government bonds for 122 elections in 19 countries. The efficient market hypothesis states that rational markets immediately incorporate all information relevant to asset prices. According to psychology, human decision-making is quasi-rational. Market actors should be slow to accept evidence that conflicts with previously held opinions, leading them to under-react to new information. We show that markets under-react to elections and that under-reaction is greater in majoritarian countries because they provide more information to the market. Assuming fully rational markets underestimates the impact of elections and variations in impact across political systems. Most of the literature on market constraint assumes rational markets and may thus be underestimating the extent of market pressure in the aftermath of elections and its distribution across different types of electoral systems. Our results suggest that markets can calculate risk around elections, but are slow to do so, thereby suggesting that the role of uncertainty and the resort to heuristics is relatively minor.     

“Moral Distance” in Organizations: An Inquiry into Ethical Violence in the Works of Kafka

In this paper, we demonstrate that the works of Franz Kafka provide an exemplary resource for the investigation of “moral distance” in organizational ethics. We accomplish this in two ways, first by drawing on Kafka’s work to navigate the complexities of the debate over the ethics of bureaucracy, using his work to expand and enrich the concept of “moral distance.” Second, Kafka’s work is used to investigate the existence of “ethical violence” within organizations which entails acts of condemnation and cruelty purportedly in the name of ethics. Kafka’s work provides insight into the processes of moral distancing across a range of organizational contexts including highly formal as well as more informal settings. The paper enriches the concept “moral distance” by identifying the existence of facilitators of moral distance beyond the mechanisms of formal rationality that have been the focus of existing studies. We argue that Kafka’s intense portrayal of “ethical violence” points to an aporia at the very heart of organizational ethics.     

Functional ingredients and food choice: Results from a dual-mode study employing means-end-chain analysis and a choice experiment

In this paper we present the results of a choice experiment (CE) conducted to examine how the inclusion of a functional ingredient (to increase the quantity and effectiveness of fibre) affects consumer attitudes towards bread. An novel feature of the design of our CE was that it was informed by a means-end-chain (MEC) to reveal key attributes to be included in the CE. In addition, we included the Dutch eating behaviour questionnaire (DEBQ) to collect information on all participants underlying eating behaviours. We find that bread type is a major factor in determining choice, and that the inclusion of a functional ingredient yielded relatively small measures of value. We also find that there are differences in willingness-to-pay (WTP) between respondent segments and that segment membership is explained by the DEBQ information. Finally, we find that respondents have a stronger preference for a simple health statement compared to, or in addition to, the implied benefits that result from consuming a functional food product. These findings are important in informing both pricing and promotional messages for a functional bread product.     

On the Flexibility of Optimal Policies for Green Design

Several recent papers show that different combinations of taxes and subsidies can achieve the social optimum for green design and household waste management when there are various market failures. This note shows that such policy flexibility exists only if all relevant actions by individual agents can be properly targeted by economic instruments. If the household can make a private effort to reduce waste, then an optimal policy is shown to be a unique combination of given economic instruments.     

Models of Consumer Bankruptcy: Implications for Research and Policy

The author explores three models of individual bankruptcy law which might provide some guidance for analysing policy and for posing further research questions in relation to bankruptcy as a legal and social institution. The models are: (1) Bankruptcy law as a response to deviant behaviour; (2) Bankruptcy as consumer protection; (3) Bankruptcy as social welfare law. Some tentative thoughts are also offered on the comparative analysis of consumer bankruptcy as a focus for understanding relationships between legal and social norms.