Search

BACKGROUND: Double-blind placebo controlled food (DBPCFC) is the gold standard diagnostic test in food allergy because it minimizes diagnostic bias. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential effect of diagnosis on the socioeconomic costs of food allergy. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal cost analysis study was conducted in Spain and Poland within the EuroPrevall project. Food-allergic patients were enrolled into the study and in all cases diagnosis was confirmed through a standardized DBPCFC. Data were collected through a self-administered survey on all aspects of health and social care resource use, costs of living, and costs of leisure activities. Costs were measured before and 6 months after the DBPCFC and reported in international dollars with 2007 as the benchmark year. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were enrolled. Twenty-one patients had a negative DBPCFC and the suspected food was reintroduced into their diet. Comparing total direct costs before and after the DBPCFC, the reactive group spent a significantly higher amount (median increase of $ 813.1 over baseline), while the tolerant group's spending decreased by a median of $ 87.3 (P=0.31). The amount of money spent on food 6 months after diagnosis was also significantly higher in the reactive group (P=40). Finally, a larger, but not statistically significant, decrease in total indirect costs was observed in the tolerant group compared with the reactive group ($538.3 vs $ 32.3). CONCLUSION: DBPCFC has an impact on indirect and direct costs of living. The main contrubition to this increase was money to spent on food. Keywords: Food allergy. Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenge. Diagnosis. Socioeconomic impact.

Introduction: Food allergy is a recognized health problem, but little has been reported on its cost for health services. The EuroPrevall project was a European study investigating the patterns, prevalence and socio-economic cost of food allergy. Aims: To investigate the health service cost for food-allergic Europeans and the relationship between severity and cost of illness. Methods: Participants recruited through EuroPrevall studies in a case-control study in four countries, and cases only in five countries, completed a validated economics questionnaire. Individuals with possible food allergy were identified by clinical history, and those with food-specific immuno-globulin E were defined as having probable allergy. Data on resource use were used to estimate total health care costs of illness. Mean costs were compared in the case-control cohorts. Regression analysis was conducted on cases from all 9 countries to assess impact of country, severity and age group. Results: Food-allergic individuals had higher health care costs than controls. The mean annual cost of health care was international dollars (I$)2016 for food-allergic adults and I$1089 for controls, a difference of I$927 (95% confidence interval I$324-I$1530). A similar result was found for adults in each country, and for children, and was not sensitive to baseline demographic differences. Cost was significantly related to severity of illness in cases in nine countries. Conclusions: Food allergy is associated with higher health care costs. Severity of allergic symptoms is a key explanatory factor..

In this paper we analyze the impact of the sensitivity and specificity of a Mycobacterium avium (Ma) test on pig producer incentives to control Ma in finishing pigs. A possible Ma control system which includes a serodiagnostic test and a penalty on finishing pigs in herds detected with Ma infection was modelled. Using a dynamic optimization model and a grid search of deliveries of herds from pig producers to slaughterhouse, optimal control measures for pig producers and optimal penalty values for deliveries with increased Ma risk were identified for different sensitivity and specificity values. Results showed that higher sensitivity and lower specificity induced use of more intense control measures and resulted in higher pig producer costs and lower Ma seroprevalence. The minimal penalty value needed to comply with a threshold for Ma seroprevalence in finishing pigs at slaughter was lower at higher sensitivity and lower specificity. With imperfect specificity a larger sample size decreased pig producer incentives to control Ma seroprevalence, because the higher number of false positives resulted in an increased probability of rejecting a batch of finishing pigs irrespective of whether the pig producer applied control measures. We conclude that test sensitivity and specificity must be considered in incentive system design to induce pig producers to control Ma in finishing pigs with minimum negative effects.

It is a common finding that recipients of threatening health-promoting information are motivated to dismiss or disregard the information, thus reacting defensively'. This article gives an overview of the literature on defensive reactions to health-promoting information. A distinction is made between: (1) avoidance, (2) denial, (3) cognitive reappraisal and (4) suppression. Although these defensive reactions have been studied repeatedly and thoroughly, we propose that a number of questions remain unanswered. First, little is known about whether avoidance, denial, cognitive reappraisal and suppression have distinct or similar effects on emotional experience and health-conducive behaviour. Second, little is known about the development of defensive reactions over time in case recipients are repeatedly exposed to health-promoting information, which is often the case in a real-life setting. In the present article, we present preliminary answers to these questions, suggesting that cognitive reappraisal has greater potential to result in effective emotion regulation and is more likely to impede healthy behaviour than the other three strategies. We also propose that defensive reactions to health-promoting information do not always reduce health-conducive responses but can co-occur with more adaptive responses or even facilitate them. Finally, we present a hypothesised model of the development of defensiveness over time.

PurposeThis article aims to address the relationship between price strategies and price‐setting practices. The first derive from a normative tradition in the pricing literature and the latter from a descriptive tradition. Price strategies are visible in the market, whereas price‐setting practices are hidden behind the boundaries of an organization.Design/methodology/approachThe study deals with the relationship between price strategies and price‐setting practices that refer to the use of customer value, competition, and cost information. Hypotheses are tested on survey data on 95 small and medium‐sized manufacturing and service firms in The Netherlands.FindingsThe results show that price strategies and price‐setting practices are related because strategies are implemented through price‐setting practices. However, some firms do not pursue any of the strategies indicated by pricing theory, some firms engage in practices for no clear strategic reasons, and some firms insufficiently engage in appropriate practices to implement their strategic choices.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are limited to small companies. Researchers should examine why firms may not pursue any price strategy that is offered by pricing theory. They may also focus on organizational learning and pricing capabilities.Practical implicationsManagers need greater awareness about the price strategies they can use, should be cautious about a potential mismatch between price strategies and price‐setting practices, and should reassess whether their firms are capable of engaging in the appropriate practices.Originality/valueLinking price strategies to price‐setting practices reduces conceptual confusion in the pricing literature and may help to specify the gap between pricing theory and practice.

Dried fruits consumption has not received much research attention, although these foods are associated with potential health benefits. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare fresh fruits and dried fruits on measures of health, convenience and consumer feelings. An on-line questionnaire that measured consumers' perceptions of the health benefits and convenience characteristics and their feelings about the consumption of both fresh fruits (apples and plums) and dried fruits (e.g., raisins, dates, and apricots) was completed by 693 respondents (Polish, French, and Dutch). Generally, fresh fruits were perceived to be healthier and less convenient than dried fruits. Consumers also reported more positive feelings about the consumption of fresh fruits compared to dried fruits. The more that the respondents were willing to sacrifice for their health, the more positively they rated the health aspects of both fresh and dried fruits, as well as several perceptions of convenience of both fresh and dried fruits. Health preoccupation was unrelated to most of the convenience perceptions and was associated with lower scores on several perceptions of healthiness. Recommendations for the consumer-oriented development of dried fruits are also provided.

The controversy we turn to in this chapter is about food marketing based on the idea of food products as real goods versus a focus on foods as feel goods. There are good reasons for modern food marketing to take the idea of foods as feel goods seriously. From this perspective, the well-known marketing mix appears rather poorly able to meet the modern desires and wishes of contemporary food consumers. In addition to the four supply-oriented Ps of the familiar marketing mix, four complementary and demandcentred Ps stemming from consumer wishes provide supplements. These eight Ps are introduced and specified in the context of organic food consumption.

Nutritional advice has mainly focused on population-level recommendations. Recent developments in nutrition, communication, and marketing sciences have enabled potential deviations from this dominant business model in the direction of personalisation of nutrition advice. Such personalisation efforts can take on many forms, but these have in common that they can only be effective if they are supported by a viable business model. The present paper takes an inventory of approaches to personalised nutrition currently available in the market place as its starting point to arrive at an identification of their underlying business models. This analysis is presented as a unifying framework against which the potential of nutrigenomics-based personalised advice can be assessed. It has uncovered nine archetypical approaches to personalised nutrition advice in terms of their dominant underlying business models. Differentiating features among such business models are the type of information that is used as a basis for personalisation, the definition of the target group, the communication channels that are being adopted, and the partnerships that are built as a part of the business model. Future research should explore the consumer responses to the diversity of "archetypical" business models for personalised nutrition advice as a source of market information on which the delivery of nutrigenomics-based personalised nutrition advice may further build.

A single solution to promote higher animal welfare across the whole EU is unlikely due to significant regional differences and because what is most appropriate for each region depends on many factors. Based on analyses of eight member and candidate EU countries, this paper provides a conceptual framework, an ‘animal welfare roadmap’, which can be used to assess the stage of maturity of a country in farm animal welfare policy development and identify appropriate policy instruments and indicators to monitor progress towards higher animal welfare. The ‘roadmap’ consists of five sequential stages: increasing compliance with legislation; raising awareness; product development; mainstreaming; and integration of animal welfare with other issues. For each stage, specific policy instruments are identified alongside the category of stakeholders most likely to be influential in the implementation of each instrument. The policy instruments used to achieve these stages are those used by government departments/agencies, private enterprises, academic bodies or non-governmental organisations who formulate standards for animal welfare. These are supported by indicators best suited to document their effectiveness. Although we have emphasised how different situations and contexts within the EU mean that there is no single optimal policy instrument for the EU as a whole, but rather appropriate policy instruments should be selected according to the stage of development of a country or sector, we do propose a harmonised choice of indicators to allow benchmarking of changes at the EU level with regard to progress towards animal welfare.

In recent years, researchers have observed the process of mainstreaming Fair Trade and the emergence of alternative sustainability standards in the coffee industry. The underlying market dynamics that have contributed to these developments are, however, under-researched. Insight into these dynamics is important to understand how markets can develop to favor sustainability. This study examines the major developments in the market for certified coffee in the Netherlands. It finds that, in the creation of a market for sustainable coffee, decisions that significantly influence market creation are made in the lead companies (retailers and coffee roasters). These decisions are made possible by the availability of multiple systems of sustainability standards and by the existence of a small segment of loyal Fair Trade customers that ensured that sustainability remained an issue on the coffee market in the years before the market creation took-off. Fair Trade did not become the new rule in this process, but it became the benchmark against which companies could compare themselves and the basis upon which they built in adopting or developing new standards that would be more feasible in their business models.

Animal welfare is becoming one of the most contentious issues in animal husbandry and meat production industries. We assess the relative importance of animal welfare, with respect to pig castration and the avoidance of boar taint, alongside different attributes of pork meat, amongst consumers in six EU countries. We use the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a multi-criteria decision-support method aimed at deconstructing the purchasing decisions of consumers. Our results show that in all surveyed countries, consumers are generally not concerned about the ‘gender of the animal’. This particular attribute represented approximately 10 per cent or less of the final buying decision, while ‘flavour and odour’ was the most important attribute, representing approximately 45 per cent of the final buying decision. The results also demonstrated that pig castration is not necessarily perceived as a relevant aspect of animal welfare. However, any future regulation on banning castration to increase pig welfare could undesirably affect the ‘flavour and odour’ of the meat and thus might negatively impact the most important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Thus, effective public awareness campaigns about the relationship between pig welfare and castration and between castration and sensory meat qualities are needed to help policymakers address the true interests of consumers in future food policies. Le bien-être animal est en train de devenir l’une des questions les plus controversées dans les industries de l’élevage et de la production de viande. Nous évaluons l’importance relative du bien-être animal, en ce qui concerne la castration des porcelets et la suppression de l’odeur de verrat, en termes des différentes caractéristiques de la viande porcine, parmi les consommateurs de six pays de l’Union européenne. Nous utilisons une procédure analytique de hiérarchisation (AHP) comme méthode de prise de décision multicritère visant à déconstruire les décisions des consommateurs en matière d’achat. Nos résultats montrent que dans tous les pays de l’enquête, les consommateurs ne s’intéressent en général pas au sexe de l’animal. Cette caractéristique compte pour environ 10 pour cent ou moins de la décision finale d’achat, tandis que la caractéristique ‘goût et odeur’ domine avec une contribution d’environ 45 pour cent à la décision finale. Les résultats montrent également que la castration des porcelets n’est pas nécessairement perçue comme un aspect pertinent du bien-être animal. Cependant, toute future réglementation interdisant la castration pour améliorer le bien-être des porcs pourrait affecter négativement ‘le goût et l’odeur’ de la viande et donc le facteur d’achat le plus important pour les consommateurs. Il est donc nécessaire de mener des campagnes publiques d’information sur la relation entre le bien-être des porcs et la castration, et entre la castration et la qualité observée de la viande, afin d’aider les décideurs en matière d’action publique à s’intéresser réellement aux préoccupations des consommateurs dans les politiques alimentaires futures. Das Wohlergehen der Tiere entwickelt sich zu einer der umstrittensten Fragen in der Tierzucht und der Fleischproduktion. Wir bewerten die relative Bedeutung des Tierwohls für Verbraucher in sechs EU-Lndern im Hinblick auf Ferkelkastration und Vermeidung von Ebergeruch sowie verschiedene Eigenschaften von Schweinefleisch. Wir bedienen uns eines Analytischen Hierarchieprozesses (AHP), ein multikriterielles Verfahren zur Entscheidungsfindung, das die Kaufentscheidungen von Verbrauchern analysieren soll. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich die Verbraucher in allen betrachteten Lndern im Allgemeinen nicht mit dem Geschlecht der Tiere befassen. Dieses bestimmte Merkmal trug etwa zehn Prozent oder weniger zu der endgültigen Kaufentscheidung bei, whrend “Geschmack und Geruch” das wichtigste Merkmal darstellte und mit etwa 45 Prozent in die endgültige Kaufentscheidung einging. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen ebenfalls, dass Ferkelkastration im Hinblick auf das Tierwohl nicht unbedingt als relevant erachtet wird. Zukünftige Bestimmungen in Bezug auf die Kastration zum Schutze der Ferkel könnten sich jedoch in unerwünschter Weise auf den Geschmack und den Geruch des Fleisches auswirken und somit das wichtigste Merkmal für die Kaufentscheidung der Verbraucher negativ beeinflussen. Daher sind effektive Kampagnen zur Schrfung des öffentlichen Bewusstseins über den Zusammenhang zwischen Ferkelschutz und Kastration sowie Kastration und wahrnehmbare Fleischqualitt erforderlich, um die Politikakteure darin zu unterstützen, die wahren Verbraucherinteressen im Rahmen zukünftiger Lebensmittelpolitiken zu vertreten

One of the greatest challenges to developing more successful marketing strategies in the food sector is gaining an understanding of the diversity of consumer needs. The current study aims to identify consumer segments based on consumers’ self-stated general importance ratings of a range of food benefits. It also aims to explore whether these segments are predictive for the importance that these consumers attach to food benefits at different consumption moments and in different consumption situations and whether these segments are predictive for consumers’ perceptions of specific food products in terms of these food benefits. A large survey (N = 2083) was administered in four European countries. The present study shows that meaningful cross-national consumer segments can be identified on the basis of the importance that consumers attach to benefits related to health, convenience, satiety, sensory aspects, affect and personal norms. Furthermore, the study shows that the consumer segments identified on general importance ratings differ in the importance they attach to benefits across different moments and situations of consumption and across perceptions of different healthy food products versus unhealthy food products. The findings indicate that consumer segmentation based on general food choices is meaningful for policymakers and marketing managers, as this general segmentation provides information on specific consumer choices.

Sustainable food consumption is an important aspect of sustainable development. When adopting a sustainable food lifestyle, consumers are confronted with complex choices. Today's food consumption is too complex to be explained by socio-demographic factors exclusively. A broader perspective is needed. In order to explain behaviour across different consumer segments better, relatively homogenous segments of food consumers were identified by segmenting food consumers based on a wide range of variables. The current study aims to provide an overview of published studies that have segmented consumers with regard to sustainable food consumption. The literature review has been conducted by searching SciVerse Scopus for all relevant articles available until November 2010. The main criterion for including a specific study was the inclusion of empirical analyses of primary data, resulting in consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption. Sixteen articles were incorporated in the final analysis. First, the variables used for segmentation and profiling in the included articles have been categorized into three levels of abstraction: personality characteristics, food-related lifestyles and behaviour. The three levels of abstraction proved to be helpful in categorizing the segmentation studies. The findings indicate that variables on all three levels were efficient in differentiating consumer segments regarding sustainability. In addition, the importance of price and health differed across the segments, although these variables are only indirectly related to sustainability. Second, the three most frequently identified consumer segments with regard to sustainable food consumption were: ‘greens’, ‘potential greens’ and ‘non-greens’. These segments differed from one another on all three levels of abstraction. This implies that future segmentation studies should include variables on all levels of abstraction to get a complete picture of existing sustainable consumer segments. Marketers should be aware that targeting specific segments based on socio-demographic variables exclusively is not sufficient. Personality characteristics, lifestyle and behaviour are all important to take into consideration. Attempts at stimulating sustainable consumption might be most effective when differences across consumer segments are taken into account. Future research is needed to explore the characteristics of different sustainable food consumer segments with respect to their potential contributions in promoting sustainable development

Contains fulltext : 103109.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This study investigated the influence of individual differences in people’s dispositional avoidance orientation on the persuasive effects of low- and high-threat messages promoting moderate drinking. First, participents (N = 99) individual differences in avoidance orientation were assessed, after which they were provided with either high- or low-threat messages about the consequences of drinking too much alcohol. The primary outcome measures were information acceptance, attitude and intention. Results showed that participants low in avoidance orientation were more likely to be persuaded by the low-threat message, whereas participants high in avoidance orientation were more likely to be persuaded by the high-threat message.

This paper investigates the opportunities for further collaboration between the natural and social sciences. From 81 systematically identified and reviewed papers published in scientific journals, it became clear that complex situations that depend on human behaviour as well as natural processes require natural–social science collaboration. The creation of a community of collaborative natural–social science research, that learns from and can contribute to best practice across the sciences, is advocated to support natural– social science collaboration. Across disciplines, it became clear that such a community should deal with (1) difference between paradigms in the current sciences; (2) creation of skills and competences of the involved scientists; (3) scarcity of institutions sympathetic to collaborative research; and (4) the internal organization of collaborative projects.

ObjectiveTo simultaneously identify consumer segments based on individual-level consumption and community-level food retail environment data and to investigate whether the segments are associated with BMI and dietary knowledge in China.DesignA multilevel latent class cluster model was applied to identify consumer segments based not only on their individual preferences for fast food, salty snack foods, and soft drinks and sugared fruit drinks, but also on the food retail environment at the community level.SettingThe data came from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) conducted in 2006 and two questionnaires for adults and communities were used.SubjectsA total sample of 9788 adults living in 218 communities participated in the CHNS.ResultsWe successfully identified four consumer segments. These four segments were embedded in two types of food retail environment: the saturated food retail environment and the deprived food retail environment. A three-factor solution was found for consumers’ dietary knowledge. The four consumer segments were highly associated with consumers’ dietary knowledge and a number of sociodemographic variables.ConclusionsThe widespread discussion about the relationships between fast-food consumption and overweight/obesity is irrelevant for Chinese segments that do not have access to fast food. Factors that are most associated with segments with a higher BMI are consumers’ (incorrect) dietary knowledge, the food retail environment and sociodemographics. The results provide valuable insight for policy interventions on reducing overweight/obesity in China. This study also indicates that despite the breathtaking changes in modern China, the impact of ‘obesogenic’ environments should not be assessed too strictly from a ‘Western’ perspective.

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology particularly vulnerable to societal unrest, which may hinder its further development. With the increasing convergence of several technological domains in the field of nanotechnology, so too could convergence of social science methods help to anticipate societal response. This paper systematically reviews the current state of convergence in societal response research by first sketching the predominant approaches to previous new technologies, followed by an analysis of current research into societal response to nanotechnology. A set of 107 papers on previous new technologies shows that rational actor models have played an important role in the study of societal response to technology, in particular in the field of information technology and the geographic region of Asia. Biotechnology and nuclear power have, in contrast, more often been investigated through risk perception and other affective determinants, particularly in Europe and the USA. A set of 42 papers on societal response to nanotechnology shows similarities to research in biotechnology, as it also builds on affective variables such as risk perception. Although there is a tendency to extend the rational models with affective variables, convergence in social science approaches to response to new technologies still has a long way to go. The challenge for researchers of societal response to technologies is to converge to some shared principles by taking up the best parts from the rational actor models dominant in information technology, whilst integrating non-rational constructs from biotechnology research. The introduction of nanotechnology gives a unique opportunity to do so.

This study focuses on self-efficacy as a potential moderator of the effects of gain- and loss-framed health messages. Undergraduate students ( N = 124) received a gain- or loss-framed message about consuming ecological meat. The data revealed that for participants high in self-efficacy, the gain-framed message resulted in consuming more ecological meat than the loss-framed message. Moreover it was found that — within the gain-frame condition — participants low in self-efficacy scored higher on measures of defensive processing than participants high in self-efficacy. This study provides further evidence for the role of self-efficacy as a potential moderator of the effects of framed health messages.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is first, to develop constructs to measure three important concepts in the supply chain literature: contracts, trust and market environment, in the Chinese context and to further investigate the relationships amongst these three concepts based on the formulated hypothesis.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology has strictly followed the recommended scale development procedures, which include specifying each constructs, item generation, data collection, reliability and validity test, and finally test hypothesis. The primary data were collected in October 2008 in Hubei Province, China. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis are applied to assess the reliability and validity of the three constructs.FindingsIn total, 22 items were retained to measure six dimensions for the three core concepts: contract (marketing and production), trust (reliability and benevolence), and market environments (diversity and volatility). Second, the finding supported this argument that contracts and trust functions as complements. Furthermore, a positive relationship between environmental uncertainty and the use of contractual governance was found.Research limitations/implicationsThe measurement model for environmental volatility is less satisfied. More research should be carried out on the measurement of market environment in the future.Originality/valueThis paper identifies and validates key constructs underlying supply chain management research: contract, trust and market environment, in a Chinese context. These measurable concepts could be applied in similar settings to further investigate small‐scale farmer's position along the supply chain.

There have been important developments in the measurement of farm animal welfare in recent years. Measuring animal welfare is one thing, implementing a farm animal welfare assessment system another. The implementation of such a system occurs in an environment that is influenced by economic, political, technological and socio-cultural factors which interact with each other. This creates enormous complexity, generates a huge number of different potential ‘futures’, and makes the eventual impact that the system will have on the welfare of farm animals uncertain. This article draws upon strategic management literature to apply scenario analysis as a technique to help understand the variance of the uncertainty associated with the implementation of an animal welfare assessment scheme. Specifically, it develops two extreme scenarios based on a theoretical European-wide implementation: one scenario in which all uncertain factors influence the implementation of the assessment system in a negative way, and one scenario in which all these factors have positive impacts. These scenarios provide insight into the variance of possible futures in which the system may have to function. Although consumers are an important stakeholder group, their role in creating uncertainty for the system may be overestimated; it is apparent that the roles of companies, brands and certification organisations deserve significant attention, as well as any relevant institutional structure. Keywords: animal welfare, certification, farm animal welfare assessment, implementation, policy, scenario analysis

Consumption is a major driving force in China's economy. The consumer society is particularly emerging in the more urbanized and affluent regions in China. Given the rise of consumerism on the one hand, and the rise of overweight and obesity on the other, this study explored whether the proliferating consumer culture is a threat to the traditional health culture in China. The lifestyle-oriented approach used in this study does not confirm a straightforward relationship between an upward trend in Chinese with (economic) assets to join the consumer society and a downward trend in health interest among urban Chinese. The result that the rise of the consumer society is not directly accompanied by a devaluation of health issues does not imply that lifestyle research is of no use. On the contrary, this paper successfully identified four dimensions of health-related lifestyle for urban China, namely Food-health Belief, Perceived Knowledge, Health Careless and Group Conformity. This result is informative with respect to the complexity of sociocultural factors influencing the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity

There is ample evidence to suggest that a significant part of daily eating behaviours consists of habits. In line with this, the concept of habit is increasingly incorporated into studies investigating the behavioural and psychosocial determinants of food choice, yielding evidence that habit is one of the most powerful predictors of eating behaviour. Research shows that habitual behaviour is fundamentally different from non-habitual behaviour: when behaviour is habitual, people require little information to make decisions, intentions are poor predictors of behaviour, and behaviour is triggered by situational cues. These insights have vast implications for research in the food domain that are only just beginning to be addressed. Also, theorizing on habits has important implications for behaviour change interventions, yet few interventions that are based on habit theory have been tested in a food context. The present article provides an overview of habit research and discusses possibilities to increase our knowledge of the role of habits in eating behaviour. It is shown that interventions targeting habitual behaviour can try to (i) change the situation that triggers the habitual behaviour, (ii) promote or inhibit the habitual response and (iii) change relevant contingencies. These insights can act as a starting point for future intervention research.

Frans de Waal’s view that empathy is at the basis of morality directly seems to build on Darwin, who considered sympathy as the crucial instinct. Yet when we look closer, their understanding of the central social instinct differs considerably. De Waal sees our deeply ingrained tendency to sympathize (or rather: empathize) with others as the good side of our morally dualistic nature. For Darwin, sympathizing was not the whole story of the “workings of sympathy”; the (selfish) need to receive sympathy played just as central a role in the complex roads from sympathy to morality. Darwin’s understanding of sympathy stems from Adam Smith, who argued that the presence of morally impure motives should not be a reason for cynicism about morality. I suggest that De Waal’s approach could benefit from a more thorough alignment with the analysis of the workings of sympathy in the work of Darwin and Adam Smith

In general, fruit consumption in the EU does not meet governments' recommended levels, and innovations in the fruit industry are thought to be useful for increasing fruit consumption. Despite the enormous number of product innovations, the majority of new products in the market fail within the first two years, due to a lack of consumer acceptance. Consumer segmentation may be a useful research tool to increase the success rates of new fruit products. The current study aims to identify consumer segments based on individual importance rankings of fruit choice motives. We conducted a cross-national, online panel survey on fresh fruit innovations in four European countries: the Netherlands (n=251), Greece (n=246), Poland (n=250), and Spain (n=250). Our cluster analysis revealed three homogeneous consumer segments: Average Joe, the Naturally conscious consumer, and the Health-oriented consumer. These consumer segments differed with respect to their importance ratings for fruit choice motives. Furthermore, the willingness to buy specific fruit innovations (i.e., genetically modified, functional food and convenience innovation) and the perceived product characteristics that influence this willingness differed across the segments. Our study could lead to more tailored marketing strategies aimed at increasing consumer acceptance of fruit product innovations based on consumer segmentation.

Green consumerism and the role of eco-marketing have become increasingly important for increasing the market share of sustainable (non-) food products. The current study examines the effect of social identification with certain green consumer groups on brand knowledge, brand attitude and buying behavior. An online panel study was conducted among a representative sample of the German population (N=961). For brand knowledge and brand attitude, we presented five well-known organic brands in the German market to the respondents. To test the hypothesized model, we used structural equation analysis in SPSS Amos 16.0. Several competing path models were tested. One of the main conclusions of the current study is that people who are aware of their social identity concerning environmentally friendly consumer groups also seem to feel more attached to consumers who buy organic food products. In addition, brand knowledge and brand attitudes concerning specific organic brands have an effect on buying behaviors for organic food products. Moreover, the influence of brand knowledge on buying behavior seems to be mediated by brand attitude. The results of the current study can be used to develop more effective branding strategies in eco-marketing. Aside from classical strategies, marketers could use social identity theory to create future market strategies with regard to green consumerism.

Understanding how consumers’ concerns affect the consumer decision-making process is important for developing a market for animal-friendly products. This paper presents a synthesis of research on the role of animal welfare in consumer decision-making. Drawing on basic models and concepts from consumer behaviour literature, we present the findings along the lines of five phases of the consumer decision-making process: (i) need recognition; (ii) information search; (iii) information evaluation; (iv) purchase decision; and (v) post-purchase evaluation. Consumer decision-making about animal-based food products is routine, situational and sometimes irrational, instead of based on complete information. Consumers associate animal welfare with a higher quality perception and labels and high prices further increase the perception of quality. The findings have implications for stakeholders that aim to develop a market for animal-friendly products, like (coalitions of) governments, animal interest groups, retailers and brand manufacturers.

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains that are associated with healthy behaviour (gain frame) or the losses that are associated with unhealthy behaviour (loss frame). In the present research, we examined the role of positive and negative affect in the persuasive effects of gain-and loss-framed health-promoting information. Experiment 1 (N=98) showed that gain-framed information resulted in higher levels of information acceptance than loss-framed information and that this effect was mediated by positive affect. The results of Experiment 2 (N=129) showed that gain-framed information resulted in higher levels of information acceptance and attitude, an effect that was again mediated by positive affect. In addition, loss-framed information resulted in more negative affect than gain-framed information and negative affect increased participants' intention to engage in the healthy behaviour. These results suggest that affect may be of great importance in the persuasion process and may be particularly helpful to explain the underlying mechanisms of message framing effects. The findings also suggest that gain-and loss-framed messages offer distinct pathways to persuasion. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The objective of this study is to identify the underlying subgroups of Chinese consumers in terms of their perceptions and attitudes toward GM foods. In particular, we address the following specific questions: may researchers segment Chinese urban consumers in terms of their attitudes and perceptions toward GM foods? Are there any relationships between segmented consumer groups and other factors – such as their exposure to GM knowledge and socio-demographics? And, what policy implications can be drawn from this research to the future biotech development in China? Based on a large-scale survey data collected by the authors in 2002 and 2003 in 11 cities of China, this research applies consumer research methodologies. The combination of factor and cluster analysis enables us to identify successfully and consistently four Chinese consumer clusters based on their perceptions and attitudes toward GM foods, which include a food safety cluster, a nutritional technologist cluster, a GM skeptic cluster, and a cluster of GM for non-food promoter.

PurposeThis paper aims to present the results of a study into the relationship between horizontal and vertical communication and professional and organisational identification.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was carried out at a large hospital in The Netherlands with multiple locations. Hospital employees (n = 347) completed a written questionnaire.FindingsThe results show that although employees identify more strongly with their profession than with their organisation, there is a positive connection between professional and organisational identification. Dimensions of vertical communication are important predictors of organisational identification, whereas dimensions of horizontal communication are important predictors of professional identification.Research limitations/ implicationsIdentification with the overall organisation does not depend primarily on the quality of contact with immediate colleagues within a work group or department; rather, it depends more on appreciation of the communication from and with the organisation's top management.Practical implicationsManagement should find a balance between communication about organisational goals and individual needs, which is crucial in influencing professional and organisational identification.Originality/valuePrevious research has shown a positive link between the communication climate at a specific organisational level and the employee's identification with that level. The current study adds to this concept the influence of horizontal and vertical dimensions of communication on identification among different types of employees.

Although the positive effect of a market orientation on new product success is widely accepted and the market orientation literature has increased its understanding of how a market orientation leads to performance, the extant literature has overlooked the role of value-informed pricing in the relationship. Value-informed pricing is a pricing practice in which the decision makers base the price of the new product on the customers’ perceptions of the benefits that the product offers and how these benefits are traded by customers against the price (that has yet to be determined). Considering that pricing mistakes may hit hard on the profitability of product innovations, it is important to firms to have a good understanding of its role. This study develops a framework in which value-informed pricing is integrated in the relationship between market orientation and new product performance. A distinction is made between customer and competitor orientations, and relative product advantage is also included in the conceptual model. The model is tested on data obtained from managers based on a cross sectional sample of 144 firms. The respondents were involved in a decision-making process of the pricing of a new product. The model is tested using structural equations modeling. The results show that value-informed pricing has a strong effect on new product performance. It also reveals that each component of a market orientation fulfills a specific role in a market-oriented organization. Value-informed pricing is found to have important mediating effects in the market orientation–new product performance relationship. Results show that firms with a strong customer orientation engage in valueinformed pricing and develop superior benefits to customers in an advantageous product. In turn, both value-informed pricing and relative product advantage positively affect new product market performance. However, no significant effect of competitor orientation on value-informed pricing is found. Combined with the finding that competitor orientation negatively affects relative product advantage, this suggests that competitor orientation may hurt new product performance when this orientation is not balanced with a strong customer orientation. The results also portray that value-informed pricing leads to higher product advantage. Interestingly, this relation is contingent on the degree of interfunctional coordination within the firm. This suggests that the relationship between market orientation and new product performance is strongest if firms integrate value-informed pricing in the new product development process. In this sense, a market-oriented firm mirrors the customer value perception that makes a tradeoff between benefits and price.

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains associated with healthy behavior, or the losses associated with unhealthy behavior. Studies show inconsistent results as to which type of framing is more effective. In this study, we examined the influence of self-efficacy to perform skin self-examination on the effects of gain- and loss-framed skin-cancer detection messages among 124 university students. For participants with high self-efficacy, a loss-framed message resulted in a higher intention to perform skin self-examination than a gain-framed message. For participants with low self-efficacy, there were no differences in intention between the gain- and loss-framed message conditions. Our results suggest that self-efficacy levels play an important role in message-framing effects. For health communication strategies promoting the active detection of skin-cancer symptoms, messages stressing losses may be more effective than messages stressing gains, but only in persons with high self-efficacy. In addition, our results suggest that health promoting messages can be framed to match recipients' self-efficacy levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

Item does not contain fulltext The following study compared the food choices made by overweight and non-overweight preschoolers while role-playing a mother who bought food for a family, and examined the influence of maternal restriction on food choice. After screening 619 children for height and weight, 56 overweight children (equal sex distribution, ages 4-6) and 56 non-overweight children (matched on age, sex, demographics) were selected to participate. Children's purchases of low and high caloric snacks, drinks, and dinner products in a miniature supermarket were recorded. Mother and child-reported maternal restriction were assessed using the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) and the Kid's CFQ. Compared to non-overweight children, overweight children choose more high-caloric foods when role-playing a mother. Maternal restriction did not differ between overweight and non-overweight children. Both children's and mothers' reported maternal restriction were unrelated to food choices and there were no significant interactions between restriction and weight status on food choices. In conclusion, while parental restriction seems to be unrelated to children's food choices, family food patterns might have great impact already at young ages.

Generally, radical innovations are not easily adopted in the market. Potential adopters experience difficulties to comprehend and evaluate radical innovations due to their newness in terms of technology and benefits offered. Consequently, adoption intentions may remain low. This paper proposes bundling as an instrument to address these problems. More specifically, this paper examines how consumer comprehension, evaluation, and adoption intention of radical innovations may be enhanced by bundling such products with existing products. In addition, it is argued that the proposed effects are contingent upon the level of fit perceived to exist between the radical innovation and the product that accompanies it in the bundle. Furthermore, consumers' prior knowledge may affect the influence of bundling on the innovation adoption process as the interpretation of the meaning of new products may be strongly related to prior knowledge. This study therefore investigates whether consumer prior knowledge has such a moderating effect. Hypotheses are tested by means of an experimental study with three different radical innovations and distinguishing among offering the radical innovation separately, offering the radical innovation in a bundle with moderate perceived fit between the products, and offering the radical innovation in a bundle with high perceived fit between the products. Results show that product bundling enhances the new product's evaluation and adoption intention, although it does not increase comprehension of the radical innovation. Moreover, the results show that comprehension, evaluation and adoption intention of the innovation significantly decrease when consumers perceive a moderate fit between the products in a bundle. Taken together, these findings contribute to the bundling literature by showing not only that product bundling may indeed be an effective instrument to introduce a radical innovation but also that product bundling may be counterproductive when ignoring the critical role of perceived product fit as core characteristic of a product bundle. In addition, the notion that product bundling helps to enhance the evaluation and purchase intention of new and relatively complex products suggests a suitable strategy for new product managers to enhance benefits and reduce learning costs for radical innovations. Moreover, the effects of bundling on consumer appraisals of radical innovations are also shown to depend on the level of knowledge respondents possess regarding the product category of the radical innovation. More specifically, if bundled with a familiar product, novices tend to evaluate the innovative product more positively, but for experts no such effect can be detected. As such, these results provide additional specific implications for managers when introducing radical innovations in the market. Offering a radical innovation in a product bundle could be a fruitful strategy for companies that target customers with little or no prior knowledge in the product domain.

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains associated with healthy behavior or the losses associated with unhealthy behavior. It has been argued that gain-framed messages promoting physical activity (PA) are more effective than loss-framed messages, but empirical findings are inconsistent. Also, no previous studies investigated the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages in the context of a computer-tailored PA intervention. In this study, we provided participants with computer-generated tailored feedback concerning their PA levels. In total, 787 participants entered in the study, of whom 299 completed all measures at a 3-month follow-up. We investigated whether gain- and loss-framed messages promoting PA affected information acceptance, attitude, intention and behavior differently. The results showed that gain-framed messages resulted in stronger intentions to be physically active than loss-framed messages. This did not result in a significant increase in actual PA, however, as measured by a 3-month follow-up assessment. For information acceptance and attitude, a non-significant advantage of gain-framed messages was found. All effects had small effect sizes. Thus, whereas gain-framed information might be more persuasive than loss-framed information when it comes to promoting PA, the differences between gain- and loss-framed messages are likely to be small. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains associated with healthy behavior or the losses associated with unhealthy behavior. Studies show inconsistent results as to which type of framing is more effective. In this study, we investigated whether participants' self-efficacy to decrease salt intake would moderate the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages promoting a low-salt diet on information acceptance, intention, and behavior. We hypothesized that loss-framed messages would more effectively decrease salt intake than gain-framed messages, but only when participants had high self-efficacy. A total of 575 adults, recruited from an Internet panel, took part in the study. Half of the participants received self-efficacy enhancing information, whereas the other half received no such information. After this self-efficacy manipulation, half of the participants received a gain-framed and half of the participants received a loss-framed message promoting a low-salt diet. Information acceptance and intention were assessed at immediate posttest and salt consumption was assessed at a 3-week follow-up. The results revealed the hypothesized effect on behavior. However, the interaction between self-efficacy and framing on salt consumption was not mediated by measures of information acceptance and intention to reduce salt intake. Our results suggest that messages stressing losses may be more effective than messages stressing gains in decreasing salt intake but only in persons with high self-efficacy to do so.

Earlier studies have shown that perceived external prestige (PEP) and communication climate influence employees' overall organizational identification. This paper presents the results of a longitudinal study into the determinants of organizational identification at two organizational levels during an internal merger. Data were collected in a university where four divisions merged into two new divisions. Respondents filled out a questionnaire on organizational identification, PEP and communication climate 4 months before the merger (T1) and 2 years after the merger (T2). Results indicate that pre-merger identification primarily influences post-merger identification at the same organizational level. Furthermore, the determinants of employees' overall organizational identification differ from the determinants of employees' division identification. Internal communication climate is particularly important for employees' identification with their division. PEP affects employees' identification with the overall organization. Management implications are discussed for monitoring employee identification both in times of (internal) mergers and in general.

PurposeChinese agri‐food chains consist of the millions of small scale farmers, who are not well structured and organized in the supply chain. Owing to market liberalization and globalization, one of the most challenging issues along agri‐food chains in China is becoming the issue of how to link these small‐scale farmers into the modern chains. Consequently, it is essential for both policy makers and private sectors to understand the governance structure in agri‐food supply chains. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for supply chain governance, including its antecedents and consequences, as well as a series of hypotheses for empirical testing.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework of chain governance is proposed in this study, where governance structure consists of two dimensions: contractual governance and relational governance. The study intends to propose a complementary relationship between contracts and relational aspects, such as trust, in the Chinese context. Future research is needed to empirically test this model.FindingsThe proposed conceptual model is unique, since the majority of the articles addressing this topic focuses on contract farming while limited research touches upon the issues of trust and relations. However, a combination of both contracting and relationships are seldom addressed.Originality/valueThis paper evaluates a novel concept of two dimensional governance structure in the agri‐food supply chain, where transaction cost economics theory and relational theory are combined to study the governance relationships between small scale producers in China and their buyers.

This study demonstrates that the Chinese apple export chains are highly coordinated through ongoing long term loyal network relationships and vertical integration. Various chain governance mechanisms were formed and link small-scale apple farmers in China with export markets. These institutional innovations have perfected chain performances by improving the efficiency of price transmission and generating higher profit margins for chain actors, in particular for small-scale farmers. Relevant policy implications and further challenges are discussed in the conclusion

This paper describes an integrated project approach that forms the basis of the studies on consumer-driven innovative and responsive supply chains in ISAFRUIT Pillar 1. This integrated approach leads to a wide range of indepth results on trends, preferences, and innovativeness of the European consumer in the context of fruit, and on product innovation, chain innovativeness, and transition strategies for the European fruit industry. Differences ill, for instance, preferences for different fresh, prepared, and processed fruit products across consumers and across consumption situations, and differences in consumer innovativeness in the context of novel fruit products, lead towards a cross-cultural European segmentation and a variety of consumer-driven fruit chain strategies to valorise the added value of fruit products. Inputs from social, natural, and technical sciences are combined to optimise true consumer-driven innovativeness.

Modern drying technology provides the opportunity to obtain dried fruits with high concentrations of bioactive compounds. Such products may also be fortified with functional ingredients. The adoption of dried fruit as a carrier of functional ingredients for consumers is indispensable to launch this kind of product successfully on file market. Thus, the aim of this study was to collect data on consumer perceptions and interests in dried fruits (plain or fortified) through a questionnaire distributed on the Internet to 1,092 Dutch, French, and Polish respondents. In this quantitative study, the respondents were first asked to rank statements about a product with different positive influences on human health. Products which lowered the risk of cancer or heart diseases were mainly of interest to Polish and Dutch respondents, whereas French consumers emphasised the prevention of intestinal problems. Furthermore, we checked the level of consumer interest in dried fruits enriched with a particular functional ingredient (e.g., anti-oxidants, natural fruit sugars, or prebiotics). Products with anti-oxidants seemed to be the most promising in all three countries investigated. Among five different forms of product (i.e., candy, fruit teas, cereals, bars, or cookies) in which dried fruit could be incorporated, cereals were selected by approx. 33% of all respondents as the best product to which a functional dried fruit could be added. In summary, dried fruits can be adopted as carriers of functional ingredients, especially when promoted as a source of anti-oxidants.

The goal of ISAFRUIT to increase fruit consumption has strong foundations in the new knowledge created by a multidisciplinary team of natural and social scientists addressing critical aspects of the multi-faceted fruit chain. Bridging the gap between disciplines proved to be a substantial challenge, as they have quite different languages, methods, and networks. In March 2008, ISAFRUIT launched an initiative to address this gap and named it the “Vasco da Gama process”, after the Portuguese explorer who, early in the 16th century, embarked in the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India and to bridge the gap between continents and cultures. ISAFRUIT’s process for bridging between research disciplines was to discover if the research conducted indeed contributed to increased fruit consumption in Europe. For this purpose, the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method was applied. This includes the construction of a House of Quality (HoQ), which is a conceptual and graphical tool that presents the positive and negative relationships between technical quality traits, as studied and influenced by pre- and post-harvest experiments, and consumer-demand terms. This paper explains the methodology in greater detail. The first experience with this process showed that, even if scientists from different disciplines were keen to be involved, there was a need for a sustained effort to drive such a process. The process is still underway, and specific results will be published later

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of paratuberculosis sero-status on milk yield, fat, protein, somatic cell count and calving interval in Irish dairy herds. Serum from all animals over 12 months of age (n = 2,602) in 34 dairy herds was tested for antibodies to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis using an ELISA. Herds were categorised by sero-status into positive, non-negative and negative, where a positive herd contained two or more positive cows, a non-negative herd contained only one positive cow and a negative herd contained no positive cows. Data at animal, parity and herd-level were analysed by multiple regression using general linear models. Positive herds (mean herd size = 129 cows) and non-negative herds (81 cows) were larger than negative herds (72 cows) (P < 0.01). Negative herds had the highest economic breeding index (EBI), while positive herds had the highest estimated breeding value (EBV) for milk yield. There was no significant effect of paratuberculosis sero-status at animal, parity or herd-level on milk yield, milk fat or protein production, somatic cell count score (SCCS) or calving interval. Negative herds tended to have a lower SCCS than positive and nonnegative herds (P = 0.087). This study only examined the effects of paratuberculosis sero-status but did not examine the clinical effects of Johne's disease at the farm or dairy industry levels.

This paper presents an analysis of a Salmonella control program for Dutch dairy herds. Salmonella control strategies were evaluated using a computer-based model consisting of an epidemiological module and an economics module. The epidemiological module is a state transition model of the infectivity of a herd, with the unit of analysis being the individual farm. The probability of a herd going from one state in the model to another state was derived from biological characteristics of Salmonella infections in dairy herds, and the presence or absence of risk factors. The economics module was based on partial budgeting. Control measures were modeled as influencing the risk factors. Amongst the measures considered were the prohibition of transporting potentially infectious animals and manure to farms, the culling of chronically infected animals, and herd management measures such as separate housing of groups of animal that differ in age. Alternative strategies, both compulsory and obligatory, were defined and evaluated concerning the reduction of prevalence of infected herds, the cost of a strategy, and cost-effectiveness. Results of the model suggested that a compulsory control strategy which included culling chronically infected animals and prohibiting the transport of potentially infected animals reduces the prevalence of Salmonella positive herds considerably, and was most cost-effective. Adding hygienic measures and a ban on the transport of animal manure further reduces prevalence, but only slightly, and with substantially more costs.