Application of Trend Impact Analysis for predicting future fruit consumption

Knowledge of those aspects that motivate consumers towards more fruit consumption is necessary in order to implement policies to stimulate fruit consumption. To predict future fruit consumption based on such knowledge from experts, and based on historic consumption data, the method of Trend Impact Analysis (TIA) was applied to four countries. From the historic data, a trend or baseline has been estimated. TIA combines this information with expert knowledge to forecast future consumption. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to handle uncertainty in the TIA model thus developed. Despite the disadvantages of TIA, the method is suitable to explain a trend by means of impact factors, and offers an opportunity to deal with uncertain prognoses by experts. TIA is a relatively unknown method and requires more research and experience to judge if it is widely applicable, and if it provides a good alternative to more traditional forecasting methods

Consumer Knowledge and Meat Consumption in the US

We investigate the roles of consumer knowledge and sociodemographic factors in the consumption of meat products at home and away from home, using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and its companion Diet and Health Knowledge Survey conducted by the US Department of Agriculture. The sample used contains individuals not consuming some of the products. In addition, diet knowledge is potentially endogenous because it is likely to be affected by unobserved factors which also affect meat consumption. It is well known that traditional estimation procedures not accounting for censored dependent variables or simultaneity produce biased estimates. These econometric issues are addressed by developing a simultaneous -equations system, estimated with the maximum simulated likelihood procedure. Results suggest endogeneity of knowledge and support the system approach to the estimation of demand functions for meats. Health knowledge decreases consumption of beef and pork at home and away from home; it increases consumption of poultry at and away from home but does not affect fish consumption in either occasion. Our findings on the effects of sociodemographic factors are in general consistent with a priori expectations: men eat more meat and fish than women, meat and fish consumption generally declines with age among adults, and regional and racial/ethnic differences in meat and fish consumption are observed. The simultaneous-equations model can be extended to one with multiple endogenous variables and can be a useful tool in other analyses of consumer demand with micro survey data, which have become available in many developing countries.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

From ethical consumerism to political consumption

This article reviews some of the recent literature in geography and related disciplines on ethical consumerism and political consumption. Many geographers began their engagement with questions of ethics, politics, consumption and consumerism inspired by critical theory, commodity chain analysis and a sense that geographical knowledge might have a central role to play in progressive social change. Since these early engagements, it has been established that consumption practices are rarely the practices of rational, autonomous, self-identified consumers, and so-called ethical consumption practices are rarely detached from organisations and their political activity. Over time, therefore, some researchers have gradually shifted their focus from consumer identities and knowledge to consumption practices, social networks, material infrastructures and organisations of various kinds. This shift in focus has implications – both for the field of political consumption and for how the discipline of geography relates to this field

Does Consumer Knowledge Affect Meat Consumption in the US?

We investigate the roles of consumer knowledge and sociodemographic factors in the consumption of meat products at home and away from home. Results indicate that health knowledge decreases consumption of beef and pork and increases consumption of poultry at home and away from home but does not affect fish consumption.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Consumer Knowledge, Food Label Use and Grain Consumption

Responding to mounting evidence of the association between whole-grain consumption and a reduced risk of heart problems and other diseases as well as body weight maintenance, the U.S. Government has strongly encouraged its citizens to increase consumption of whole grains. However, compared against the 2005 Federal dietary recommendations, in 1994-96 only 6 percent of Americans met the current recommended whole-grain consumption. To narrow this huge gap between actual and recommended consumption of whole grains, an effective nutrition education campaign is needed. A demand system with two censored consumption equations and two endogenous knowledge and attitude variables is estimated to investigate the factors that affect the consumption of whole and refined grains. The results can be used to help develop an effective education campaign in promoting consumption of whole grains in Americans' diets.Consumer/Household Economics,

The study of consumption patterns and expectations of organic catering consumers in Taiwan

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Organic catering is increasingly provided in public and private food services. In Taiwan, most organic catering is vegetarian and affiliated with organic food stores. These offer diners organic meals to make themselves competitive to attract target markets, and provide related information to improve consumers’ knowledge of organic foods and hopefully increase their consumption. Organic catering consumers’ knowledge of organic foods, attitudes toward consumption, and consumption behavior are all related. Consumption is affected by gender, marital status, age, religion, education, occupation, personal health, family health and expenditure allowance. Regular organic catering customers emphasize “balanced nutrition” and “certification or reliability of organic sources”. The obstacles to consumption for non-regular organic catering consumers are “too expensive” and “difficult to find”. Most organic catering consumers prefer the service styles “health-themed restaurant” and “located inside the organic food stores”

How do affective health-related and cognitive determinants influence fish consumption? A consumer survey in five European countries

This paper focuses on exploring whether and to what extent affective health-related and cognitive determinants have an impact on fish consumption behaviour. Cross-sectional data were collected through the SEAFOODplus pan-European consumer survey (n=4,786) with samples representative for age and region in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Poland. Consumers’ belief that eating fish is healthy and their interest in healthy eating positively influence fish consumption behaviour. Subjective knowledge is found to be a more important predictor of fish consumption than objective knowledge. Age and education contribute significantly to explaining fish consumption behaviour. However, the age and education effects on fish consumption frequency are indirect and mediated by the affective health-related and cognitive factors, such as health involvement and interest in healthy eating and knowledge related to fish. The proposed model contributes to a better understanding of health-related and cognitive factors influencing fish consumption behaviour.consumer, fish, determinants, model, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Auntie knows best? public broadcasters and current affairs knowledge

Public service broadcasters (PSBs) are a central part of national news media landscapes. In many countries, PSBs are the first choice of citizens when it comes to news providers. And in perhaps more countries still, PSBs are thought of as specialists in provision of hard news. We test this proposition here using survey data from a large crossnational survey involving indicators of current affairs knowledge and media consumption. Specifically, we examine whether exposure to public versus commercial news influences the knowledge citizens possess about current affairs, both domestically and internationally. We also test, using propensity score analysis, whether there is variation across PSBs in this regard. Results indicate that compared to commercial news, watching PSB has a net positive influence on knowledge of hard news, though not all PSBs are equally effective in contributing to knowledge acquisition. This knowledge gap between PSB and commercial news media consumption appears to be mitigated by factors such as de jure independence,proportion of public financing, and audience share

Habits in Consumption, Transactions Learning And Economic Growth.

This paper presents a model of endogenous growth in the presence of habit formation in consumption. We argue that in addition to the traditional disutility effects of habitual consumption, the past history of consumption represents a past record of transactions as well. As a result, the knowledge acquired in the process of past consumption leads to efficiency gains in allocating time to other activities. In particular, the investment technology in broad household capital can be seen as benefiting from the habitual consumption knowledge, while being subject to the costly new consumption pathways learning. These learning-by-consuming effects imply a faster speed of convergence to the steady state growth rate in consumption and a higher steady state ratio of capital to habits. Alternatively our model allows for the case where new consumption is associated with the accumulation of broad capital, as is consistent with the case where consumption goods can also be used in production. In this case convergence to steady state growth rate is slower.

Organic production and consumption in Norway - new knowledge through research and dissemination

The Norwegian government has since 2006 had a goal of 15 % organic food production and consumption, initially by 2015 and later adjusted to 2020. The goal has primarily been justified by consumer demands, and to some extent by environmental benefits. Organic farming is said to be a “spear point” in the development of a more environmental friendly and sustainable agriculture in Norway, but the government’s policy lacks thorough political support and the goal is far from achieved. In 2012, certified land and land area under conversion to organic farming comprised 5.6 % of the agricultural area (Debio 2013). The turnover of organic products was more than 1.1 billion NOK in 2012; an increase of 11 % from 2011 (NAA 2012). In 2009, organic food represented 1.3 % of total food turnover in Norway (Willer and Kilcher 2011). The share of grassland in organic managed land comprised 77 % in 2012 (Debio 2013). Strong efforts are needed to reach the official goal in 2020 and to diversify the organic production. The Action Plan for Organic Farming (MAF 2009) points out actions to reach the governmental goal, including research and dissemination of knowledge