Why U.S. Consumers Support Country of Origin Labeling: Examining the Impact of Ethnocentrism and Food Safety

ABSTRACT

The legality of U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) laws for agricultural products has been challenged by foreign countries. Isolating the reasons why consumers support COOL can help determine the efficiency of COOL as a policy. Therefore, this study investigated why consumers have a desire for COOL. Data were collected through an online survey with 566 U.S. participants. Results of a bivariate ordered probit model indicate that as consumers are more ethnocentric and more pessimistic about the safety of their food, they are more likely to support COOL for sugar and for sugar in soft drinks. Thus, policies designed to inform the public about the safety of foreign commodities could reduce their desire for COOL. Evidence is also provided that highly ethnocentric individuals support COOL in an effort to “buy American” products.     

Effect of Consumers’ Personality on Store Brand Choice in Grocery Stores: Insights from France and Germany

Abstract

Consumers’ personality can influence choice behavior. Considering disparities between food store brand market shares across countries, we investigate the impact of personality on food store brand decision making. We carried out two non-hypothetical choice experiments for milk, ice-cream, and cereal, one in France and one in Germany for a total of N?=?505 participants. Results show that in France neurotic and in Germany conscientious consumers purchase significantly less store brands for the food items in question. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence that both, personality and country-effects, influence consumer food choice behavior and serve as a motivating factor for multi-category purchases of grocery store brands.     

Are the bankrupt skies the friendliest?

We use data from the US airline industry to investigate whether firms that are under bankruptcy protection, as well as these firm's product market rivals, change the quality of the products they offer. We measure the quality of the services offered by a carrier using flight cancelations and delays, and the age of the aircraft used by the carrier. We find that delays and cancelations are less frequent during bankruptcy filings but return to their pre-bankruptcy levels once the bankrupt firm emerges from bankruptcy. We also find that firms use Chapter 11 filings to permanently reduce the age of their fleet. We do not find evidence of statistically and economically significant changes by the airline's competitors along any of the dimensions above.     

Growth, income distribution and well-being in transition countries

We apply several well-being measures that combine average income with a measure of inequality to international and intertemporal comparisons of well-being in transition countries. Our well-being measures drastically change the impression of levels and changes in well-being compared to a traditional reliance on income measures. Due to low inequality and moderate income levels, socialist countries enjoyed relatively high levels of economic well-being. In the transition process, rising inequality and falling incomes have led to a dramatic absolute decline in well-being and a considerable drop in relative well-being vis-à-vis non-transition countries. We also find a close correlation between income losses and inequality increases. While the transition has been successful in expanding political and civil rights, our indicators suggest that most transition countries are still below the level of economic well-being of the late 1980s.
JEL classification: D6, O15, P27.     

Union Membership in Post-Socialist East Germany: Who Participates in Collective Action?

This study has two aims: first, to examine the hypothesis that East German union members are strongly individualistic, instrumental and passive with regard to participation in collective activities; second, to test a selection of social psychological theories of willingness to participate in collective action, in a post-socialist context. A survey of members of the textile union provided some initial indication that union members in East Germany do not behave in a significantly different way from their Western counterparts with regard to their willingness to become active. Regression analysis revealed two major antecedents of participation: perceived instrumentality of collective action, and union identity.     

Growth, inequality, and welfare: comparisons across space and time

We propose and apply several welfare measures that combine averageincome with a measure of inequality to undertake cross-countrycomparisons of aggregate welfare for the 1970 to 2000 period.Our welfare measures, which are based on theoretical and empiricalfindings on the role of inequality in social welfare, drasticallychange the impression of levels of welfare, significantly affectthe welfare ranking of countries in different benchmark years,affect changes in ranking over time, and affect convergencebetween industrialized and developing countries. While the resultsare sensitive to the type of inequality and its presumed effecton welfare, the results are robust to different ways to addresscomparability problems inherent in the inequality data used.     

Loyalty Runs Deeper than Thread Count: An Exploratory Study of Gay Guest Preferences and Hotelier Perceptions

Alongside many global businesses, hotels have recently shared in the movement to serve the gay market. If the perception of being gay-friendly is not the same for hoteliers and their gay guests, a marketing discrepancy may exist and loyalty of the gay segment could be at risk. To address this issue, a sample of 188 gay guests and 48 hoteliers was explored. Differences tests were conducted to evaluate the hotel attribute importance ratings of gay guests versus hoteliers when considering that segment. After conducting a factor analysis, a regression determined the impact of each factor on gay guest loyalty, with the social environment component having the greatest impact. Most importantly, hotels should support the gay community beyond simply offering a room, an intangible yet important display of social responsibility. This study augments previous hospitality research on the gay guest segment and provides avenues for future qualitative and quantitative studies.     

Restaurant Managers’ Adoption of Sustainable Practices: An Application of Institutional Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior

The restaurant industry uses vast amounts of resources, but only a paucity of research discusses sustainability issues from restaurant management point of views. By applying both institutional theory and theory of planned behavior, this study addresses this gap by asking casual restaurant managers what motivates them to adopt and implement sustainable practices and by examining managers’ behaviors when facing environmental pressures. The study revealed restaurant managers were most influenced by pressures from their suppliers, customers and to a lesser extent from their employees and by expectations of society at large. Future research should investigate a nationwide sample of restaurant managers.     

Exploring Food Consumption Trends on Twitter with Social Media Analytics: The Example of #Veganuary

Using the example of the hashtag #veganuary, a neologism of vegan and January, on Twitter with over 52,000 tweets from 2022, this article shows how Social Media Analytics can provide valuable insights into timing, volume and sentiment within any emerging (consumer) trend. Social Media Analytics is increasingly being used for the analysis of Social Media data. Whether consumers, politicians or entrepreneurs, all stakeholders in the food value chain are present on Social Media and talk about various trends in food and agriculture. In the form of an overview article, this contribution uses the example of the Vegan Challenge to demonstrate how a combination of the manifold methods of Social Media Analytics can provide extensive insights into the public discourse on food topics. It shows that #veganuary communication on Twitter has a predominantly positive connotation in the discussion of all stakeholders involved. The Vegan Challenge can also be categorised as a strong marketing campaign with a competitive character. #veganuary is commonly discussed on Twitter in tweets related to topics, such as veganism and the climate crisis. We argue that Social Media Analytics usefully extends classical analytical tools of consumer research on emerging and spreading food trends, and offers opportunities for many research studies.