Search

Test whether the implementation of nudge strategy (i.e., dynamic social norm) increases parents' environmental-friendly school menu choice for children's lunch through a between-subjects design experiment (Control condition Versus Nudge condition) using an online application (mock).

This study aims to contribute to the debate on consumers’ food buying practices with regard to sustainability issues, and specifically to preferences for organic. In order to analyse organic food buying practices in depth, this paper proposes a methodology of analysis based on two steps. First of all, a fuzzy logic has been used for the construction of composite index. In particular, we propose three indices that summarize a set of variables for measuring organic consumption intensity (OCI), the degree of both food sustainability concerns (FSCI) and sustainability in consumers’ lifestyle (SLI). Then a regression has been implemented to analyse if organic consumption intensity is affected by the other two previously mentioned indices (FSCI and SLI), and by other selected covariates. As case study, survey data on a sample of consumers resident in Campania (a region in south of Italy) have been used. From our results it emerges that consumers with a high OCI show a higher level of sustainability concern in their general food choices and have a more sustainable lifestyle. Furthermore, food scares and concerns over food safety are strong predictors of organic consumption intensity. Lastly, women and young people show a higher intensity of organic food consumption. Overall, these empirical findings suggest to industry practitioners and policy makers that to increase organic food consumption efforts should be made, to communicate health, as well as environmental and social benefits related to the production and consumption of such food, focusing on younger consumers as key stakeholders in the transition towards more sustainable food systems.

In recent years the link between diet and disease has become well established, with studies increasingly pointing to the role of diet in disease prevention, as well as its ability to prevent chronic diseases affecting children. As a consequence, there are ever more functional products specifically targeting children, marketed in terms of the benefits conferred on children's health as well as their potential in reducing the risk of disease. The current study aims to explore factors affecting parents’ choices of suitable FFs for their children. The questions addressed in this paper concern how FFs for children are perceived by their parents and what driving factors affect their willingness to purchase FFs. The results from a web survey conducted in southern Italy on a sample of 365 parents of children aged from 1 to 10 years reveal that parents have a strong interest in functional nutrition for their children, even if their level of familiarity with these products is still low. Furthermore, multivariate analysis shows that the buying frequency of FFs targeting children is influenced by several variables, beyond socio-demographics, generally related to parents’ nutritional knowledge, and trust and familiarity with FFs. The paper provides some practical indications for both policy makers and marketers to build different strategies to improve communication on the nutritional and health benefits of FFs for children.

This research is aimed at investigating consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional, organic and functional yogurts in two different information treatments. The basic information treatment provided respondents with yogurts labelled conventional, organic or functional while the second treatment included additional information. To elicit values for these specific products, 100 Italian consumers participated in an experimental auction using the Vickrey fifth-price sealed-bid mechanism. Findings reveal that providing additional information through a specific health claim increases consumer's perceived value of the functional yogurt, while for the organic counterpart additional information on organic regulation does not add much to the premium. Moreover, our study shows that specific socio-demographic variables (as gender, age, presence of kids in the household and the need to follow a specific diet) positively affect WTP for functional and organic yogurts.

In the recent past, Europe has experienced an increase in several chronic diseaseslinked to dietary and lifestyle habits. In particular, obesity is continuously increasing atan alarming rate all over Europe. As a result healthier food products have rapidly gainedimportant market shares. The food industry has rapidly reacted to this trend bydeveloping a growing variety of new products with health-related claims and images,including functional foods (FF) that are selected by consumers for their health-promotingproperties. However, demand for FF within the European Union varies considerably fromcountry to country, mainly due to food traditions and different cultural heritage. Thischapter offers an overview of the current FF market situation in Europe and addresses themain cognitive, motivational and attitudinal determinants of consumer acceptance ofthese foods in different European countries, providing practical insights of the profile ofFF consumers. In particular, the major factors that are currently restraining growth of FFin Europe (beyond economic crisis) are highlighted and deeply discussed. As the lack ofcategorisation (it is still difficult for consumers to distinguish between functional andconventional food products); growing consumer confusion (due to increasing productvariety and product labelling, together with the overwhelming amount of generalmarketing and educational messages on food intake); low awareness of health benefits offunctional ingredients; lack of consensus on the level of scientific support anddocumentation required for specific health claims. The current work could helppractitioners in making more effective strategic and tactical marketing decisions, and addsome useful information for government bodies interested in designing public healthprograms.

Animal welfare has assumed in recent years an increasing significance for European consumers, becoming part of the Community Agricultural Policy strategy that encourages farmers to achieve higher standards of animal welfare. Undoubtedly, the superior social sensitivity towards animal welfare has produced over time notable changes within European Union (EU) Policy. However, while EU legislation has progressively focused on granting animals better possibilities to express their behavioural repertoire, recent analysis shows that consumer knowledge of animal welfare compulsory standards is still quite limited. Drawing on the results of a direct survey on 300 Italian food shoppers, our research analyses consumer knowledge of the welfare standards of laying hens. Our findings highlight important market opportunities and policy implications. Our research shows that, although the majority of the sample expressed concern on hen husbandry systems, most of respondents were unaware of the current mandatory labelling system for eggs. Through cluster analysis three segments were found: the inactive consumer cluster, the conflicted consumer cluster and the ethically competent consumer cluster. This segmentation is especially valuable for producers of 'animal-friendly' eggs to identify market opportunities and formulate appropriate marketing strategies.