A study of food buying behavior among Chinese children

The paper reports a study on food buying behaviour among Chinese children aged between 10-13 years old. There are two important findings. Firstly, the growing influence of commercial environment. During the learning of consumer behaviour by Chinese children, the parental role of guidance remains prominent, and their recommendations have a decisive impact on children’s food choices. Secondly, the perceived importance of product attributes. Chinese children tend to pay more attention to nutrition, hygienic conditions and food safety, which shows that children seem to be mature early at this stage and start to behave in a more adult-like fashion when making purchase comparisons

Underperforming policy networks : the biopesticides network in the United Kingdom

Loosely integrated and incomplete policy networks have been neglected in the literature. They are important to consider in terms of understanding network underperformance. The effective delivery and formulation of policy requires networks that are not incomplete or underperforming. The biopesticides policy network in the United Kingdom is considered and its components identified with an emphasis on the lack of integration of retailers and environmental groups. The nature of the network constrains the actions of its agents and frustrates the achievement of policy goals. A study of this relatively immature policy network also allows for a focus on network formation. The state, via an external central government department, has been a key factor in the development of the network. Therefore, it is important to incorporate such factors more systematically into understandings of network formation. Feedback efforts from policy have increased interactions between productionist actors but the sphere of consumption remains insufficiently articulated

An Assessment of Sales Promotion Techniques in the Stimulation of Toothpaste Patronage in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

There are many players in the Nigerian oral care market such as Unilever, PZ Cussons, Procter and Gamble, Dabur, GlaxoSmithKline, to mention a few. The objective of this study was to identify the various promotional techniques employed by these toothpaste marketers and to determine their effect on consumers’ patronage. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire to 320 respondents representing households who use toothpaste in Ado-Ekiti. Logit regression model was used to determine the relationship between respondents’ demographic data and promotional tools. Four hypotheses were stated and tested using chi square (X2) analysis. It was found that consumers’ patronage of toothpaste is influenced by (1) jingles and advertisement in the media; (2) information on the toothpaste pack; (3) promos of people with white teeth; and (4) free samples and the gifts attached. Information on the toothpaste pack had the highest influence (X2cal=151.68) on patronage with a mean score of 3.00. This revealed that consumers are becoming knowledgeable and sophisticated in their toothpaste purchase decision. Free samples and gifts attached to the toothpaste had the least influence (X2cal=25.43) on patronage with a mean score of 2.46. There is an obvious need for marketers to assess the promotion technique that will be most appreciated by the different market segments. The study recommended that marketers should always provide correct information about their products as consumers can use several means to authenticate the correctness of such information; they should emphasize the benefits of using the product; and be creative in the combination of promotion mix that they present to the consumers in order to stimulate sales and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage especially in the toothpaste market where there are many players and competing brands. Keywords: Sales promotion, promotion techniques, patronage, toothpaste, stimulatio

Beyond harsh trade? The relevance of ‘soft’ competitiveness factors for Ugandan enterprises to endure in Global Value Chains

This article is based on an empirical study which examined the issues of organization and coordination of global production and trade for the case of trade between Uganda and Europe.Respective experiences of 34 exporters in Uganda and 19 importers in Europe were documented through in-depth interviews and consequently analyzed. The article discusses matters of cooperation between the exporters and importers and points to its significance for upgrading and enhancing competitiveness of the exporters studied. It further identifies firm level ‘soft competitiveness factors’ (SCFs) of Ugandan exporters and discusses their relevance for the firms’ performance in Global Value Chains. The findings reveal that deficiencies in SCFs can have damaging effects, and vice-versa. Possession of the SCFs can yield significant competitive advantage for exporters and help to strengthen the relationship with the importers. Findings of ill-treatment of exporters by their importers highlight a particular kind of challenge that is often overseen in the debate about exports of African firms: the challenge regarding business behaviours, practices, and ethics including the ability to engage in relations with foreign buyers and leverage resources, knowledge and generally cooperation from them, first, and the general issue of problematic business practices in the global economy, second. The article policy recommends Policy, practice and research should focus on economic, political, social, cultural and institutional factors that impact on local levels of SCFs; to improve and help exporting enterprises in Africa to survive and succeed in GVCs, within the context of the state of the moral economy in global capitalism

RETAIL FOOD STORE EMPLOYEE INFLUENCE ON CUSTOMER SHOPPING BEHAVIOR

Retail food store employees presumably improve the level of satisfaction customers realize during a shopping trip. A review of the literature revealed few significant contributions supporting or refuting this contention. A telephone survey of 505 households in Fort Collins, CO during the Fall of 1988 was conducted to generate information on retail food store employees helpfulness. The findings revealed little explicit impact of helpfulness. Statistical analysis determined a number of relationships between dollars spent in a store and the perceived level of employee helpfulness. Retail food stores were not selected, patronized nor avoided based exclusively nor extensively on perceptions of employee helpfulness. On the other hand, employees were considered necessary for an enjoyable shopping trip. Employees are neither change agents in retail food stores nor are they apparently significant stress inducers or inhibitors compared to the potential stress realized by an inconvenient location, high prices or a poor variety of products. It is recommended that employees be more closely associated with obvious service strategies, and that services be made more obvious and predominant in the promotion and advertising of the retail food store.Consumer/Household Economics, Labor and Human Capital,

The UK sports- and underwear market

Pierre Robert Group is a Norwegian company, which specialises in regular underwear, in addition to sports underwear. The company is currently represented in Sweden and Finland, as well as in their domestic market. Pierre Robert Group wishes to explore the possibilities for a future expansion into the UK sports- and/or underwear market. The purpose of this report is to explore the UK sports- and underwear market in order to ascertain the most appropriate strategy for Pierre Robert, if they were to enter the UK. Secondary data, mainly from Mintel and Key Note databases, was used to gain enough knowledge about the research objectives, while primary data was conducted to obtain unexplored information, through a survey, semi-structured interviews and observations. Relevant theory is applied throughout the report in compliance to Pierre Robert‟s situation. The competitive analysis shows that the UK underwear market is highly competitive, and fairly overcrowded. The underwear market has an enormous extent, which makes it difficult to break down in narrower segments. On the basis of this, the underwear market was regarded as to large for Pierre Robert to handle, and the UK underwear market was therefore excluded from further discussion. The sportswear market is predicted to grow in the forthcoming years, with a peak in 2015 at £4.89 bn. This market-increase has resulted in several non-sport retailers widening their clothing lines, and includes sportswear. The sportswear market has become more quality conscious, and the consumers tend to be willing to pay for it. Findings show that females in the age 21-44, within both mainstream sport and active leisure, would be an appropriate target group for Pierre Robert. This group is an opportunity for Pierre Robert, as it gives the company an ability to tailor its offerings, and provide wool underwear in addition to the sports underwear. Nike and Adidas are strong players in the sportswear market, so it is important for Pierre Robert gain a strong position. By entering an untraditional retailer, and build a strong brand,Pierre Robert may be able to enter the UK sportswear market with success. An agent will be the most suitable entry strategy as this can provide Pierre Robert with a great extent of market informatio

Competing and Learning in Global Value Chains - Firms’ Experiences in the Case of Uganda. A study of five export sub-sectors with reference to trade between Uganda and Europe

Executive Summary and Chapter 5: Presentation and discussion of main finding

The pursuit of bright smile : tooth whitening among Hong Kong young adults

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Industrial Revolutions and Consumption: A Common Model to the Various Periods of Industrialization

What was the role of consumption structure evolution in the industrialization phases of the Western world since the 18th century? To answer this question, we first ask the économical ad historical literature. We detify the main phases of consumption structure evolution and establish a plausible link between consumption structure evolutions and industrial revolutions. In particular, we show that an industrial revolution starts with a "smithian growth process",which is demand driven, and a "schumpeterian growth process" which is supply driven, one the new techniques adopted. We then model the role of consumption habits evolution in the schumpeterian growth process. Finally, we show that consumption habits evolutions can be endogenously explained if we introduce, in an original way, the concept of "commercial revolution", which appears to be mainly linked to schumpeterian growth processes.Industrial revolutions, history, consumption