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Purpose – An observable shift in food consumption motives for some German consumer segments has created new market potentials for high-priced food items. The purpose of this paper is to empirically show whether and to what extent financial, functional, individual and social dimensions as well as sustainability and authenticity contribute to consumers’ perception of the luxury value of food. Design/methodology/approach – The effects of seven exploratory value dimensions on a perceived luxury value for foods were measured using a partial least squares structural equation analysis of a database generated by a survey done on 936 German consumers in summer 2014. Findings – Luxury food was found to serve as a suitable setting to investigate both old and new motives for luxury consumption. The analyses revealed that all factors contribute significantly to luxury value, with functional and individual luxury facets having the strongest effects. Practical and methodological implications can be derived from the results. Research limitations/implications – Limitations are due to the applied methodology. Practical implications – The definitional dimensions of a luxury food value correspond to those for a general luxury good. The significance of two new luxury values, sustainability and authenticity, was confirmed for luxury food. The functional and individual luxury values were found to be the most significant. This supports the previously postulated change in motives for luxury consumption and also mirrors the new emphasis on quality and self-identity in the German food sector. These findings can be utilised in practical food marketing. Originality/value – Although there are major similarities between food and luxury good consumption patterns, how luxury can be defined in the context of food had not been previously investigated empirically. This paper is the first to study the factors that contribute to the luxury value of food.

Recent trends in the German food sector have shifted and segmented consumer consumption motives toward indulgence, quality, and sustainability. Simultaneously, in Western countries there has been a change in luxury consumption motives, shifting emphasis to hedonism, self-actualization, and quality instead of prestige. These parallel developments give rise to the question of how food is related to luxury. This study investigates the perceived dimensions of luxury food and outlines a number of segmented consumer groups based on these dimensions. By means of principal component and cluster analyes, seven dimensions were revealed, which generated four consumer segments. Six of the perceived dimensions of luxury food correspond to those that are found within general luxury goods and services. Sustainability and authenticity form a further dimension, mirroring new luxury values. In the cluster analysis, two segments can be identified as target groups for classic premium foods, whereby one group is predo...

Die kritische Hinterfragung der bestehenden Rankingsysteme im deutschen und internationalen Reitsport kann Schwachstellen hinsichtlich ihrer Aussage zum Leistungsniveau von Sportpferden aufdecken. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, aus der derzeit verwendeten kumulativen Erfolgsdarstellung eine leistungsgerechtere und dennoch realisierbare Bewertungsmethodik zu entwickeln. Die Modellierung geschieht zum einen auf Basis eines Durchschnittsverfahrens, zum anderen unter Berucksichtigung von Zusatz- und Minuspunkten, wobei die Ergebnisse der neuen Rankingverfahren anhand einer Stichprobe von 50 Top-Springpferden mit den bestehenden Rankingmethoden verglichen werden. Daraus ergeben sich deutliche Veranderungen der Rangfolge. Durch die Umstellung kann die Validitat in Bezug auf die Leistungsbeurteilung der Pferde masgeblich verbessert werden. Uberdies erfahren die verschiedenen Anspruchsgruppen eine starkere Berucksichtigung ihrer Interessen. Daher empfiehlt es sich, die bestehenden Rankingsysteme entsprechend weiterzuentwickeln und eine differenziertere Punktevergabe eingehender zu analysieren.

Genomic approaches have generated large Arabidopsis open reading frame (ORF) collections. However, molecular tools are required to characterize this ORFeome functionally. A high-throughput microtiter plate-based protoplast transactivation (PTA) system has been established that can be used in a screening approach to define which transcription factor (TF) regulates a given promoter in planta. Using to this procedure, the transactivation properties of 96 TFs can be analyzed rapidly, making use of promoter:Luciferase (LUC)-reporters and luciferase imaging. Applying GATEWAY® technology, we have established a platform to assay more than 700 Arabidopsis TFs. As a proof-of-principle, the ethylene response factor (ERF) family has been studied to evaluate this system. Importantly, distinct subsets of related ERF factors were found to activate specifically the well described target promoters RD29A and PDF1.2 that are under control of DRE or GCC box cis-elements, respectively. Furthermore, several applications of the PTA system have been demonstrated, such as analysis of transcriptional repressors, salt-inducible gene expression or functional interaction of signaling molecules like kinases and TFs. This novel molecular tool will improve functional studies on transcriptional regulation in plants significantly.