Does country matter in urban organic food products consumption?

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of finding international consumer segments in the organic food product (OFP) market. For that purpose, the power of country of residence in discriminating between urban frequent, occasional and non‐consumers of OFP was evaluated; and the most appropriate international segmentation bases for that market were studied. In order to achieve this goal, a survey of organic food consumers from Lisbon (Portuguese) and Berlin (German) was implemented through a structured questionnaire. Upon this, factorial and discriminant analysis was applied to the data. The results highlight the significance of the “Country” variable when distinguishing between groups of urban OFP consumers and non‐consumers as well as between frequent and occasional urban OFP consumers. The different levels of OFP consumption are mostly explained by the level of declared “OFP knowledge”. Therefore, we can conclude that in order to increase the consumption of OFP and dilute the effect of the country variable and to be able to work with international segments, marketers should aim to increase awareness and knowledge on these products. It is important to mention that this study was based on a non‐probabilistic sample and, consequently, generalizations of its conclusions must be made with care.     

契约选择与食品的安全供给:基于交易成本的视角

食品生产供应链中,各个阶段、各交易节点之间的契约模式选择在交易成本的约束下,最终会对食品的质量安全水平产生影响。本文以交易成本的三个维度为研究视角,从理论上分析了食品供应链上的交易主体在交易成本约束下的契约选择行为,进而考察其对食品安全供给的影响。研究表明:首先,专用性资产投资越多,交易契约越倾向于紧密型,有利于食品的安全供给;其次,不确定性(质量、价格等)程度越高,下游企业越倾向于生产契约形式,有利于食品的安全供给;第三,交易频率越高,交易双方对彼此的信任程度越高,企业越倾向于采取生产契约模式,有利于食品的安全供给。     

Children's perception of food and healthy eating: dynamics behind their food preferences

Childhood obesity epidemic has been a popular topic for research as it has become a major health concern in many countries. As the focus of earlier studies has been predominantly on food marketing to children, there is still limited research on what other factors, apart from food marketing, influence their food preferences and eating habits. Bringing in children's perspectives as well as those of parents and guardians, this study aims to fill this gap by shedding light on further dynamics that can be influential on children's preferences. Through a qualitative inquiry, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with children between the ages of 7 and 11. Aiming to investigate both meanings and practices, these sessions also included interactive and participatory research methods such as drawing, word games and role playing. Moreover, in-depth interviews were carried out with teachers and mothers to gain an understanding of their perspective on the topic. The findings show the different appeals and social influences behind children's food preferences, among which sensory and fun appeals as well as the influence of parents come forward. By revealing these different appeals of food and social influences, the study brings a new perspective to the discussions on childhood obesity and food marketing.     

食品安全规制必要性的法经济学分析

从法经济学的视角看,食品安全问题的根源在于食品的品质具有隐蔽性,买卖双方之间存在严重的信息不对称。信息不对称会导致市场交易的负内部性或负外部性,从而使市场失灵;由于法律的不完备性,普通法制度的阻吓效果会被削弱。应创造监管职能,并且将这些职能赋予特定国家机关而非法庭,是对不完备法律引起的威慑失灵问题做出的回应。由特定国家机关对食品安全实施规制,是对市场和法庭的必要补充。     

What’s behind organic certification of extra-virgin olive oil? A response from Italian consumers

Organic certification represents a growing business in international food market. In this article, an analysis of the factors influencing the purchase of organic extra-virgin olive oil is done for Italian consumers. A k-means cluster analysis was used to identify market segments. Results showed that it is possible to classify the Italian market into three clusters, respectively, indicating high, intermediate, and low willingness to pay a premium price (WTP) for organic certification of extra-virgin olive oil. Safety, nutritional, and health aspects appear to influence WTP. Factors concerning environmental sustainability and the supports to Italian food system are considered important, but do not play a fundamental role in increasing the consumer’s WTP.     

To Launch or Not to Launch: An Empirical Estimate of New Food Product Success Rate

New product introduction is one of the most important activities for a company’s growth. It is generally accepted that new product introductions are essential to the health of food companies. Yet, many believe that most new products fail, therefore discouraging companies to introduce some new products. However, most of the estimates suggesting high failure rates are either anecdotal or qualitative. This article provides a quantitative approach to measuring new product success rates for food products and to show the relationship between the success of new product and entry strategies. This article uses a quantitative approach to measuring product success/failure exclusively for food products. The authors contend that failure rates for food products are not nearly as low, and success rates much higher than it was previously established in the literature and perceived by the industry professionals. There was a significant variability of success rates between various food groups ranging from 58% for both fruit and vegetables and desserts and ice-cream categories to 88% for baby food. Success rates also varied among the different introductory strategies of the new food products, ranging from 50% for new packaging to 75% for re-launch strategies.

Academics and practitioners usually quote very low success rates for new products based on subjective and/or strictly qualitative information. This empirical quantitative research shows that success rates for food products are much higher than previously reported. This should encourage greater use of new products to grow sales and profits. The previously reported low success rate may have led to the reluctance to introduce new products and therefore set many of the legacy food companies in their current poor financial condition.     

Orthorexia Nervosa: Can Healthy Eating Food Trends Impact Food Companies Marketing Strategies?

The purpose of this article is to explore foods companies’ knowledge of food trends and assess how orthorexia nervosa may affect food companies’ marketing decisions. Data was gathered through a multiple case-study approach, and four semi-structured interviews to CEOs/CMOs of food companies from four distinct non-competing sectors of the food industry. The results show that although marketing managers are conscious of the existence of consumer behavior changes regarding food habits, they are not particularly concerned neither interested in micro-segments as they are not profitable. Despite the deficiencies on CMOs’ knowledge of particular food trends they declare to be attentive to the changes in consumer behavior and prepared to respond to competitors moves. This research adds to the existing knowledge on the food industry since it is the first study to explore the impact of food trends on food companies’ management marketing decisions from the company point of view.     

Conceptualising innovative customer-facing responses to planning regulation: the UK food retailers

While receiving extensive coverage across a wide range of industries, brand adaptation in the face of regulatory change has been largely under-researched in the field of retail marketing management. This paper seeks to fill this void by reviewing the strategic customer-facing responses of the leading UK food retailers to the tightening of retail land-use planning regulations; in doing so, this paper exposes a highly variable range of strategies that include store format adaptation, new format development, entry into new markets and more controversially the outright challenging of government regulation. The findings underline that although regulatory intervention can serve to restrict continued expansion, it can also encourage customer-focused innovation where well-established retail brands retain market focus but modify the shape of their ongoing growth.     

Consumers' perceptions of individual and combined sustainable food labels: a UK pilot investigation

Consumers are faced with an increasing number of sustainable food labels. These different labels may be complementary or add to the increasing competition of product information in consumers' minds. We investigate: (1) the perceptions that consumers in the UK have about sustainable labels vs. other labels, such as origin or nutrition labels; and (2) consumers' reactions to combinations of different sustainable labels. Overall, the findings from two focus groups conducted in the UK indicate that consumers have positive perceptions of organic and fair trade labels but tend to be sceptical about unfamiliar labels and general claims such as ‘climate friendly’. The results also indicate the importance of familiarity, trust and fit between combinations of labels as well as between associating a label with a brand. While the combination of certain labels can enhance the value of a food product, this study also indicates that other label combinations (e.g. private and sustainable label) can detract from a label's value. Implications and recommendations are suggested for managers to counter the image of greenwashing, and for policy makers to facilitate sustainable food choices.     

Consuming nostalgia? The appreciation of authenticity in local food production

Many consumers consider local food a more sustainable choice than conventional food because of the shorter transport distances involved as well as the support provided to local economies. In addition, consumers value the perceived safety benefits, ethical associations and improved taste of local food. In this study, we focus on the cultural meanings of locally produced food among Finnish consumers. Based on interviews with 22 consumers, our analysis suggests that, besides consumers valuing sustainable, healthy and tasty locally produced food, they perceived self‐produced, self‐processed items, including those they have gathered, hunted and fished themselves, as the most authentic local food. Furthermore, local food is associated with craftsmanship and artisan production. We also found that interviewees tended to historicize their relationship to food through local production. Thus, consumers seem to be in search of ‘real’ or ‘true’ food that is embedded in their personal and shared social histories.