New Consumers' Behaviour Trends in the food world: A Marketing Perspective

Food has been part of human culture since the origin of the species. The human being has evolved alongside his ability to provide food for himself in ancient times, and today food and restaurant industry follows societal changes. Globalisation has spread food cultures worldwide, technological innovations have changed how we produce and consume our food, and ethical concerns have been raised towards the health of the food we eat and the sustainability of the sector. Marketing research has followed these changes closely (Earle, 1997; Santeramo et al., 2018) since humans daily deal with food consumption choices. One of the most relevant stimuli towards change has undoubtedly been represented by the challenges caused by climate change, which has pushed western society to question their modus operandi in food production and restaurant industries. The need for more environmentally sustainable food production processes has pushed the debate around novel foods, both inside and outside academia. The discussion has flourished in recent years following two significant streams: (i) the impact of food production in terms of environment and animal welfare, and (ii) the novel consumers' needs, specifically in terms of health and ethical concerns (Tuorila and Hartmann, 2020). Environmental sustainability, animal welfare (Ankamah-Yeboah et al., 2019), and pursuing a balance between demand for innovation and naturalness (Coppola et al., 2014) are what the market demands nowadays. Even if new food technologies and novel foods increase food quality, availability, safety, and sustainability (Davis et al., 2020), consumers may not accept them easily. This reaction may be driven by price, attachment to traditions, disgust, unnaturalness, unpleasant sensory expectations (Tuorila & Hartmann, 2020) or a short trust in the production process (Cox and Evans, 2008). On the other hand, technological innovations in the food and restaurant industry are widely accepted and widely used among westerners, like food delivery (Wen et al., 2022) and online reviews (DeNicolò et al., 2023) platforms. These are examples of how innovations represent another significant stimulus for changes in the food and restaurant industry. These have shaped the way consumers get informed on what and where to eat (Kwon et al., 2021) on a global scale, arriving up to the point in which, paradoxically, the excess of information provided by online reviews does not allow consumers to take an informed decision (Ganzaroli et al., 2017, 2020). Globalised trends in food cultures and the widespread use of online platforms are just two examples of how humankind, nowadays, is as interconnected as ever. However, is that so? Are we as equal in our eating habits as these findings suggest? This will be the starting point of the following dissertation, which aims to explore, from a marketing perspective, these new trends in the food world. From the similarities that customers display when deciding to dine out to how online reviews of restaurant relates to customers' perception of service quality, passing through consumers' dysfunctional traits in accepting a novel and more sustainable food, this dissertation will offer a discussion on these themes exploiting meta-analysis and quantitative methodologies.Food has been part of human culture since the origin of the species. The human being has evolved alongside his ability to provide food for himself in ancient times, and today food and restaurant industry follows societal changes. Globalisation has spread food cultures worldwide, technological innovations have changed how we produce and consume our food, and ethical concerns have been raised towards the health of the food we eat and the sustainability of the sector. Marketing research has followed these changes closely (Earle, 1997; Santeramo et al., 2018) since humans daily deal with food consumption choices. One of the most relevant stimuli towards change has undoubtedly been represented by the challenges caused by climate change, which has pushed western society to question their modus operandi in food production and restaurant industries. The need for more environmentally sustainable food production processes has pushed the debate around novel foods, both inside and outside academia. The discussion has flourished in recent years following two significant streams: (i) the impact of food production in terms of environment and animal welfare, and (ii) the novel consumers' needs, specifically in terms of health and ethical concerns (Tuorila and Hartmann, 2020). Environmental sustainability, animal welfare (Ankamah-Yeboah et al., 2019), and pursuing a balance between demand for innovation and naturalness (Coppola et al., 2014) are what the market demands nowadays. Even if new food technologies and novel foods increase food quality, availability, safety, and sustainability (Davis et al., 2020), consumers may not accept them easily. This reaction may be driven by price, attachment to traditions, disgust, unnaturalness, unpleasant sensory expectations (Tuorila & Hartmann, 2020) or a short trust in the production process (Cox and Evans, 2008). On the other hand, technological innovations in the food and restaurant industry are widely accepted and widely used among westerners, like food delivery (Wen et al., 2022) and online reviews (DeNicolò et al., 2023) platforms. These are examples of how innovations represent another significant stimulus for changes in the food and restaurant industry. These have shaped the way consumers get informed on what and where to eat (Kwon et al., 2021) on a global scale, arriving up to the point in which, paradoxically, the excess of information provided by online reviews does not allow consumers to take an informed decision (Ganzaroli et al., 2017, 2020). Globalised trends in food cultures and the widespread use of online platforms are just two examples of how humankind, nowadays, is as interconnected as ever. However, is that so? Are we as equal in our eating habits as these findings suggest? This will be the starting point of the following dissertation, which aims to explore, from a marketing perspective, these new trends in the food world. From the similarities that customers display when deciding to dine out to how online reviews of restaurant relates to customers' perception of service quality, passing through consumers' dysfunctional traits in accepting a novel and more sustainable food, this dissertation will offer a discussion on these themes exploiting meta-analysis and quantitative methodologies

Pyrolysis of Peat: an Experimental Investigation

The objective is to explore the operating conditions (temperature and residence time) in the pyrolysis of peat so as to obtain solid products (char) suitable for industrial utilisation. Results show that the yield of char diminishes when the temperature increases or when a higher reactor residence time is adopted. However, the study also highlighted that an increase in the operative temperature can determine an unacceptable energy expenditureope

Playing the Devil’s Advocate in Facilitated System Dynamics Modelling Processes: The Case of the UK Retrofit System

One of the most important emitters of CO2 is the building stock, in particular the residential one. Although technical potential to increase buildings’ energy efficiency is available, a gap between actual and potential implementation persists and policymakers worldwide continuously try to explore new tools to support the retrofit uptake. Within this context, the UK committed itself to ambitious carbon emission reductions by 2050 and there the housing stock is believed responsible for about 29% of total emissions. The main instruments used by British policymakers were energy obligations schemes and despite these policies performed relatively well, they were not able to substantially support the deep retrofit uptake necessary to reach 2050 targets. In late 2012, a new market-based policy, called the Green Deal, was launched with the goal to substitute all the previous mechanisms and support the uptake of millions of retrofit measures, but it was a huge failure. The causes were partially identified in the lack of knowledge available on the dynamics involved. Moreover, British policymakers began to explore two new financial policies, stamp duty rebate and green mortgages, which systemic impact was never assessed. Hence, the objectives of the present dissertation were to uncover these dynamics related to British homeowners retrofit uptake, to evaluate the impacts of the two new policies, and, since the study was conducted a participatory system dynamics approach, to test if an adaptation of the traditional Devil’s Advocate script, in which the facilitators left their neutral role and act as the missing stakeholders, would be a successful way to tackle homogeneity in participatory workshops. This last was formulated since the research context posed this methodological challenge. The study was conducted in a joint project between University College London and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in which only policymakers could attend the workshops because of the confidentiality and time constraints, creating a situation of homogeneity that could had undermined outcomes’ quality. In the literature there were not techniques available to overtake the problem, therefore the new setting was developed and used. Although playing the Devil’s Advocate appeared to be challenging to facilitators, it proved to be successful and increased the heterogeneity in the room. The research resulted in a quantified model that depicted the dynamics related to British homeowner retrofit uptake. The study highlighted affordability as a necessary condition but not enough to raise retrofit: popularity and non-financial attractiveness are two factors that deeply drive measures uptake. The two tested policies showed low direct impacts on the system since they target a small segment of population. Nonetheless, indirect effects related to additional financial benefits may increase policies’ impact, although these effects are strongly dependent on the time markets need to perceived policy changes. No silver bullets are available in policymakers’ toolbox and a combination of policy instruments is necessary. Specifically, financial policies need to be integrated with interventions aimed to increase popularity and non-financial attractiveness of retrofit measures

A inserção/adaptação das crianças no berçário.

Trabalho de Conclusão do Curso de Especialização em Educação Infantil - primeira Edição – Polo Chapecó, para a obtenção do Grau de Especialista em Educação Infantil.Este artigo apresenta algumas reflexões sobre a inserção/adaptação das crianças no berçário, trazendo as contribuições de diversos autores que abordam o tema e as considerações observadas na instituição de Educação Infantil em que se encontravam crianças em período de adaptação. Destaca, também, o papel que o professor exerce neste processo, bem como os fatores que podem auxiliar e/ou dificultar a inserção/adaptação. Ao ingressarem pela primeira vez em um Centro de Educação Infantil, as crianças passam por um momento marcante em suas vidas. Nesse sentido, é fundamental que esse ingresso seja pensado e planejado, tanto pelas famílias quanto pelo Centro de Educação Infantil e professores. Todos precisam estar engajados, articulados, no intuito de tornar esse processo o mais tranquilo possível

N-{(2S)-3-Hy­droxy-4-[(5-methyl-1,3,4-thia­diazol-2-yl)sulfan­yl]-1-phenyl-2-but­yl}-4-methyl­benzene­sulfonamide

The thia­diazoyl and sulfonyl-benzene rings in the title compound, C20H23N3O3S3, are aligned to the same side of the mol­ecule, forming a twisted ‘U’ shape [dihedral angle = 77.6 (5)°]. The benzyl-benzene ring is orientated in the opposite direction from the mol­ecule but projects approximately along the same axis as the other rings [dihedral angle between benzene rings = 28.2 (5)°] so that, overall, the mol­ecule has a flattened shape. The hy­droxy and amine groups are almost syn which enables the formation of inter­molecular hy­droxy-OH⋯N(thia­diazo­yl) and amine-H⋯O(sulfon­yl) hydrogen bonds leading to a supra­molecular chain aligned along the a axis

Enzyme Kinetics of Recombinant Human Arylsulfatase B (rhASB)

This project seeks to explain the enzyme kinetics of recombinant human Arylsulfate sulfatase B (rhASB) by using an in vitro bioassay and direct hydrolysis substrate assay to approach the problem of substrate limitation in establishing a representative kcat for rhASB. The project also explores the makeup of a possible ASB complex within the cell. Previous published studies have sought to establish a turnover rate for rhASB, but have run into the problem of substrate limitation. Using a direct monosaccharide hydrolysis assay in conjunction with the same natural substrate bioassay, this project will attempt to provide insight to the kcat, the turnover number, or number of reactions an enzyme can process, Km, the substrate concentration at half enzyme saturation, and Vmax , the maximum rate of the enzymatic reaction, for rhASB. ASB deficient cells accumulate Chondroitin Sulfate and Dermatan Sulfate (CS/DS) products, the natural substrate of ASB. Incubating these cells and digesting the lysate with a CS/DS-specific lyase allows quantitation of CS/DS through fluorescent labeling and by capillary electrophoresis. In addition to a direct hydrolysis assay analyzed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), this gives two potential methods of examining the kinetics of rhASB with both a monosaccharide substrate and the natural intracellular substrat

3-(2H-1,3-Benzodioxol-5-ylmeth­yl)-2-(2-meth­oxy­phen­yl)-1,3-thia­zolidin-4-one

The title mol­ecule, C18H17NO4S, features a 1,3-thia­zolidine ring that is twisted about the S—C(methyl­ene) bond. With reference to this ring, the 1,3-benzodioxole and benzene rings lie to either side and form dihedral angles of 69.72 (16) and 83.60 (14)°, respectively, with the central ring. Significant twisting in the mol­ecule is confirmed by the dihedral angle of 79.91 (13)° formed between the outer rings. Linear supra­molecular chains along the a-axis direction mediated by C—H⋯O inter­actions feature in the crystal packing