Consumer preferences and labelling: an empirical analysis of the beef sector in Italy

Within the framework of European food safety measures, Reg. 1760/2000 and 1825/2000 have introduced mandatory traceability and relevant labeling into the beef sector. The paper analyses whether information on meat labels can be considered a useful instrument for consumers, facilitating the verification of quality. The purpose of the paper is, first, to evaluate if meat information is used during food purchase. Second, focusing on specific meat information, we assess the interest of consumer for some mandatory and voluntary information cues and identify the determinants affecting the use of them. Data were collected by a survey conducted in the Lombardy, region of the northern Italy, and employed a telephone questionnaire. The sample is composed by 1,025 consumers. We estimate 4 models based on the literature and for all the equations we used a binary logit model. The analyses revealed that meat label is widely used by Italian consumers in the formulation of their purchasing preferences. The use of the meat label is also positively connected to consumer attention towards quality signaling such as certification, expiry date and so on. The origin is confirmed to be an important information for a large part of interviewed. Among the voluntary information the system of cattle breeding is related to a consumer who pays particular attention in general to quality indicators whereas the cattle feeding seems to interest young consumers with high level of education.traceability, meat, consumer preferences, logit, Demand and Price Analysis,

The determinants of the quality of Sales-Marketing Interface in a Multinational Customer Brand Focused Company: The Latin American Branches

Customer evolution and changes in consumers, determine the fact that the quality of the interface between marketing and sales may represent a true competitive advantage for the firm. Building on multidimensional theoretical and empirical models developed in Europe and on social network analysis, the organizational interface between the marketing and sales departments of a multinational high-growth company with operations in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is studied. Both, attitudinal and social network measures of information exchange are used to make operational the nature and quality of the interface and its impact on performance. Results show the existence of a positive relationship of formalization, joint planning, teamwork, trust and information transfer on interface quality, as well as a positive relationship between interface quality and business performance. We conclude that efficient design and organizational management of the exchange network are essential for the successful performance of consumer goods companies that seek to develop distinctive capabilities to adapt to markets that experience vertiginous change

What really happened to consumption inequality in the US?

This paper considers data quality issues for the analysis of consumption inequality exploiting two complementary datasets from the Consumer Expenditure Survey for the United States. The Interview sample follows survey households over four calendar quarters and consists of retrospectively collected information about monthly expenditures on durable and non-durable goods. The Diary sample interviews household for two consecutive weeks and includes detailed information about frequently purchased items (food, personal cares and household supplies). Most reliable information from each sample is exploited to derive a correction for the measurement error affecting observed measures of consumption inequality in the two surveys. We find that consumption inequality, as measured by the standard deviation of log non-durable consumption, has increased by roughly 5% points during the 1990s

The Relative Importance of Preferences for Country-of-Origin in China, France, Niger and the United States

Country-of-origin (COO) is an increasingly politicized credence attribute in the globalizing food system. While international policy development in this area is geographically far-reaching, the benefits of country-of-origin labels (COOL) to producers and consumers from countries in different locations and levels of economic development are not clear. Previous work investigates the importance of COO to consumers, but is typically limited in scope to consumers in one nation. In addition, little is known about the importance of COO information relative to other credence attributes, especially in non-meat food products. This study measures the benefits of COOL to an internationally diverse set of consumers (in developed and developing countries) and estimates their priority rank in policy development. The paper draws upon research in the management literature suggesting consumer information needs are not based on quality alone, but also relate to affective (emotional) and normative (social acceptance) needs. A conjoint experiment is conducted in China, France, Niger and the United States to elicit consumer preferences for COO information, organic production, and genetic modification. The results indicate COO information is not as important as genetically modified content information (France, the United States, and Niger) or organic production information (China). Findings reveal individuals with quality and food safety information needs place higher importance on genetically modified and organic food information than COO information.country-of-origin, genetic modification, organic, conjoint, onion, information, food policy, International Relations/Trade, Q13, Q18, Q17,

Economic Value Added versus Traditional Performance Metrics in the Czech Food-Processing Sector

The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between Economic Value Added, traditional performance measures (Return on Assets ‘ROA’ and Return on Equity ‘ROE’) and their ability to measure the creation of shareholder wealth in food-processing firms in the Czech Republic. To assess the relationship, a simple regression test was used and the following hypothesis were tested: • a strong positive linear relationship exists between EVA and the traditional performance measures of ROA and ROE and • the EVA measure reflects changes in shareholder wealth more consistently than the traditional performance measures ROA and ROE. The regression analysis results indicate in all cases a positive correspondence between EVA and financial performance metrics and show higher quality information content of EVA indicator as regards the ability to create shareholder wealth than the traditional performance measures.economic value added, traditional performance metrics, information content, food-processing sector, Consumer/Household Economics, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q10, Q11,

What Really Happened to Consumption Inequality in the US?

This paper considers data quality issues for the analysis of consumption inequality exploiting two complementary datasets from the Consumer Expenditure Survey for the United States. The Interview sample follows survey households over four calendar quarters and consists of retrospectively collected information about monthly expenditures on durable and non-durable goods. The Diary sample interviews household for two consecutive weeks and includes detailed information about frequently purchased items (food, personal cares and household supplies). Most reliable information from each sample is exploited to derive a correction for the measurement error affecting observed measures of consumption inequality in the two surveys. We find that consumption inequality, as measured by the standard deviation of log non-durable consumption, has increased by roughly 5% points during the 1990s.

Errors in survey reports of consumption expenditures

This paper considers data quality issues for the analysis of consumption inequality exploiting two complementary datasets from the Consumer Expenditure Survey for the United States. The Interview sample follows survey households over four calendar quarters and consists of retrospectively asked information about monthly expenditures on durable and non-durable goods. The Diary sample interviews household for two consecutive weeks and includes detailed information about frequently purchased items (food, personal cares and household supplies). Each survey has its own questionnaire and sample. Information from one sample is exploited as an instrument for the other sample to derive a correction for the measurement error affecting observed measures of consumption inequality. Implications of our ?ndings are used as a test for the permanent income hypothesis.Consumption Inequality; Measurement Error; Permanent Income Hypothesis

A content analysis of the consumer-facing online information about my health record: Implications for increasing knowledge and awareness to facilitate uptake and use

© The Author(s) 2017. Background: Low health literacy, low levels of positive belief and privacy and security concerns have been identified as a significant barrier to personal electronic health record uptake and use. An important tool for overcoming these barriers is the consumer-facing information which accompanies the system. My Health Record (MyHR) is the Australian national e-health record system, for which a large suite of online resources exists to facilitate consumer registration and use. This study uses a number of different measures of health resource quality to assess the MyHR online consumer-facing information and identify any gaps or areas for improvement. Objective: To analyse the quality and content of the online consumer-facing resources which support the uptake and use of MyHR. Method: Australian information resources aimed at healthcare consumers about the MyHR were included in this study. A comprehensive search using Internet search engines was conducted to locate all online consumer-facing resources about MyHR from both government and non-government sources. Readability (measured by Flesch–Kincaid grade level), year of publication/review, publishing organisation type, presentation style, linked websites, target audience, and themes were identified as important measures of health information quality, and these were recorded and reported on for each resource. Results: Eighty resources met the inclusion criteria. The mean Flesch–Kincaid grade level was 11.8. Most resources were created by Australian government sources (n = 55), and the most common target audience was the general public (n = 65). Registration (n = 51), privacy/security (n = 49), and benefits of use (n = 46) were the most common resource themes. Conclusion: The authors identified a number of gaps and areas for improvement in the provision of consumer-facing information about MyHR. Readability is too high for the general Australian population, and there are few translated resources, which means that the information provided does not cater to people with low literacy levels, communication disability, and/or difficulties in understanding written English. The target audiences for resources do not reflect priority groups that were identified during the MyHR development processes. There are also gaps in information provision about how consumers can use MyHR as a tool to meaningfully engage with health professionals and services to support their own person-centred care

Do Report Cards Tell Consumers Anything They Don't Already Know? The Case of Medicare HMOs

The use of government-mandated report cards to diminish uncertainty about the quality of products and services is widespread. However, report cards will have little effect if they simply confirm consumers' prior beliefs. Moreover, documented "responses" to report cards may reflect learning about quality that would have occurred in their absence ("market-based learning"). Using panel data on Medicare HMO market shares between 1994 and 2002, we examine the relationship between enrollment and quality before and after report cards were mailed to 40 million Medicare beneficiaries in 1999 and 2000. We find evidence that consumers learn from both public report cards and market-based sources, with the latter having a larger impact during our study period. Consumers are especially sensitive to both sources of information when the variance in HMO quality is greater. The effect of report cards is driven by beneficiaries' responses to consumer satisfaction scores; other reported quality measures such as the mammography rate did not affect enrollment decisions.

Investments In Consumer Relationships - A Critical Reassessment And Model Extension

This study is a critical reassessment and extension of De Wulf, Odekerken-Schröder, and Iacobucci’s (2001) framework investigating retail investments in consumer relationships. Their initial model relates four types of relationship marketing efforts to perceived relationship investment, in turn influencing relationship quality and ultimately behavioral loyalty. Based upon signaling theory, we extend this model by introducing product and service efforts as additional antecedents. Moreover, in contrast to the use of self-reported measures in the initial model, we apply customer database information in order to measure the construct of behavioral loyalty. Based upon 187 consumers reporting on their relationship with a Belgian apparel retailer, the SEM results provide guidelines for retailers how to increase the quality of their relationships with consumers by strengthening consumers’ perceptions of relationship investment.marketing ;