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Consumers increasingly prefer lattes using alternative milk from plant-based sources. This study aims to find the factors affecting consumer intention to purchase lattes using alternative milk from plant-based sources and to compare the links between the factors and purchase intentions depending on two labels, "vegan" and "plant-based." An online, scenario-based experiment was conducted with a between-subjects design (plant-based: n=268, vegan: n=265), followed by a survey. In both groups, the results show that the perceived benefits positively affect purchase intention, but the perceived barrier (i.e., vegetarian stigma) did not. Perceived benefits and preference were higher when showing a "plant-based latte" label focusing on the presence of plant-based ingredients than when showing a "vegan latte" label focusing on the absence of animal-based ingredients. For the label "vegan latte," even if consumers are non-vegan, the higher their food curiosity, food snobbery, and food variety-seeking tendency, the higher their purchase intention. It suggests to marketers and menu developers what needs to be highlighted and which consumers to target to boost sales of latte using alternative milk. The findings emphasize the potential for labels to promote the purchase intention of alternative lattes, offering a strategy for changing consumer behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between consumers' taste preferences—specifically sweetness and saltiness—and dietary diversity. This study utilizes consumer panel data collected by the Rural Development Administration of South Korea, in combination with a food nutrient database. The study applies long‐term purchase data to derive indices of dietary diversity and taste preferences. The objective is to examine the impact of sweetness and saltiness preferences, as a consumer attitude, on dietary diversity as a consumption behavior. The findings suggest that consumer preference for sweet and salty tastes significantly contributes to dietary diversity, while preference for sweetness has a negative impact and preference for saltiness has a positive impact on dietary diversity. Practical Applications: The utilization of long‐term consumer panel data for the calculation of household‐level dietary diversity, as an alternative to short‐term memory recall surveys, offers a more comprehensive and data‐driven approach to the measurement of dietary diversity. Furthermore, an integration of nutrient content with purchased items to quantify consumers' sweet and salty taste preferences and a measurement of preference based on nutrient intake can be employed as a more objective approach to assessing taste preferences. The results indicate that consumption behavior, specifically dietary diversity, is significantly influenced by sweet and salty taste preferences. Consumers who prefer sweetness are expected to exhibit lower dietary diversity, contributing to the association between sweetness preference and poorer health outcomes. In particular, as sweetness preference is a learned behavior, it is necessary to recognize that frequent exposure to sweetness fosters its preference and that this, in turn, negatively impacts dietary diversity. Therefore, individuals aiming for a higher level of dietary diversity should actively reduce their exposure to sweetness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For successful new product development, it is crucial to devise product attributes and marketing strategies appropriate for the expected consumption contexts. However, the impacts of product attributes and marketing factors on sales across the various consumption contexts are scarcely examined. Thus, this study aims to compare the product attributes and marketing factors affecting the sales of new frozen cooked rice (meal) and frozen dumpling (snack) products, which have different consumption contexts. This study used Nielsen point‐of‐sale data on new frozen cooked rice and dumpling products in Korea for weeks 1–48 in 2020. The results reveal distinct key factors influencing sales for each product category. The key factors driving the sales of frozen cooked rice are formulation, recipe type, package type, weight diversity, and distribution channel diversity. The key factors driving the sales of frozen dumplings are the main ingredient, dumpling shape, sauce flavor, claim, weight diversity, bundling promotion, and distribution channel diversity. These findings contribute to new product development by increasing the understanding of product attributes and marketing factors in different consumption contexts. Practical Applications: This manuscript contributes to the field of food consumer studies by comparing the impact of product attributes and marketing factors on frozen food sales in different consumption contexts, such as meals and snacks. The information obtained from this study provides useful insights for researchers in the sensory and gastronomic fields, as well as for food experts and practitioners. The results of this study can be of interest to the gastronomy sector, as we highlighted sensory factors such as main ingredients, sauce flavors, recipe types, and formulations as product attributes that influence consumers' food purchases. These findings can aid researchers and new product developers in the food industry in developing innovative foods that can potentially be incorporated into the sensory experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fresh produce has rich sensory attributes, and consumers generally prefer examining physically these sensory attributes prior to purchase. The nature of e-commerce, however, limits consumers’ ability to examine products’ sensory attributes while buying online. Customers receive very limited intrinsic cues of fresh produce (such as color) when buying online and thus use only extrinsic cues to assess the quality of fresh produce. This study investigates the effects of extrinsic cues on online shopping for fresh produce, with a particular focus on the effect of geographical indication (GI), which often assumes the role of brand names among producers of fresh groceries. We used data from an online South Korean marketplace for fresh produce to conduct a linear regression analysis. The results show that products linked to GIs sold more and were ordered more frequently; other control variables had somewhat significant effects. The volume of online product reviews was found to have a significant positive effect on the amount of orders and sales, but the product rating itself did not have an effect. The price had a negative effect on the amount of orders, while the number of certifications (e.g. “organic agriculture”) had a significant positive effect on the number of orders.

Despite recent dramatic growth in seafood consumption worldwide, knowledge about seafood demand is limited relative to other protein sources. We model demand across three major protein categories (i.e., terrestrial meat, seafood, and plant-based protein) in South Korea to fill the research gap. This study models a quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS) by utilizing household panel data. The study takes this one step further by modeling demand within four seafood categories (i.e., fish, cephalopods, shellfish, and crustaceans). Sociodemographic variables, including health-related factors, are incorporated into the demand models. Results indicate that seafood is in a complementary relationship with terrestrial meat while it is a substitute for plant-based protein. All four seafood categories are a substitute for each other. The results reveal that people who take their health seriously tend to consume more seafood, particularly fish. The results have economic and marketing implications for which strategies could be adopted to influence seafood consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]