Cash—Walk the line: Examining the impact of payment method on consumers' beer choices

Previous research has revealed that consumers spend less (more) money when paying through cash (credit card). This effect has been attributed to the pain of paying, which is higher (lower) in the case of cash (credit card) payments. We tested the pain-of-paying phenomenon at a bar and collected objective data on almost 1000 beer transactions, including information about the size of the beer consumed (small vs. large), the price paid per beer, the style of the beer, and consumers' payment method (cash vs. credit card). Consumers paying with cash (vs. credit card) spent less money per beer and were less inclined to choose large (vs. small) beers, with the payment method effect on money spent mediated by the size of the purchased beer. Moreover, those paying with cash (vs. credit card) were more inclined to choose dark beers, whereas their probability of purchasing India Pale Ales (IPAs) was directionally lower.Practical ApplicationsGiven our findings that payment method seems to influence alcohol consumption, these results should have important implications for bar and restaurant managers as well as for interventions aimed at mitigating consumer overspending on alcoholic beverages. Specifically, our findings align with research suggesting that card payments promote less healthy and more impulsive choices than cash payments. Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with numerous psychophysiological problems, whereas developing social ties, which is common among craft beer enthusiasts, reduces stress levels and improves mental health. Therefore, a reasonable compromise seems to be that policymakers recommend cash payments for alcoholic beverages to maximize social network development while minimizing the risk of excessive alcohol consumption. The result that consumers who paid with cash (vs. credit card) were more prone to purchase dark beers but slightly less likely to buy IPAs warrants further investigation.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Populated Places and Conspicuous Consumption: High Population Density Cues Predict Consumers’ Luxury-Linked Brand Attitudes

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Viral Viruses and Modified Mobility: Cyberspace Disease Salience Predicts Human Movement Patterns

Humans have a motivational system that influences cognition and behavior to minimize the risk of contact with pathogens. This research examines the relationship between cyberspace disease salience and mobility behavior at the macro and micro levels. Across two studies, we predict and find that people adjust their mobility behavior to minimize the risk of close physical contact with strangers when cyberspace disease salience is high (vs. low). In Study 1, we analyze hourly sales data from five grocery stores and find that when cyberspace disease salience is high (vs. low), consumers spend 28% more money on each shopping trip and grocery stores sell 10% more items per hour despite 10% fewer shoppers per hour. Further, in Study 2, we test the generalizability of these results by analyzing the Google Community Mobility Reports. Here we find that high (vs. low) cyberspace disease salience is associated with an overall decrease in mobility in contexts where the risk of close contact with strangers is high—but not low. We discuss these findings in the context of sustainable consumer (mobility) behavior

The importance of relative customer-based label equity when signaling sustainability and health with certifications and tags

As a result of the increased crowding of the retail landscape with health and sustainability signals and hundreds of different certifications and claims, there is a growing need to determine the critical success factors and guidelines for professional practice. The current paper investigates how different combinations of signals impact consumers’ choice and willingness to pay (WTP). We identify and test two major certifications from a branding perspective. The results show that consumers will have a preference and higher WTP for fish filets with signals (certificates/tags or health/sustainability) that hold higher customer-based label equity (familiarity, understanding, trust) when shown in a choice-based situation. The results show the importance of a clear reference point, label equity (familiarity, understanding, trust), and customer values when using third-party certifications and/or simple taglines

Delicate dining with a date and burger binging with buddies: impression management across social settings and consumers’ preferences for masculine or feminine foods

Consumers often use their food choices as an impression management strategy to signal desirable aspects about themselves to others, especially in public places like restaurants and cafeterias, where the presence of others can promote certain consumption choices and preference patterns. In mating contexts, people prefer gender-typical traits and characteristics in a potential partner. Food options can also be classified according to their gender typicality, with certain alternatives perceived as feminine (e.g., salad, seafood) and with other options perceived as more masculine (e.g., steak, burger). Drawing on impression management theories from the drinking and dining domain and literature on sex differences in human mate preferences, we present a high-powered experiment investigating whether consumers’ preferences for masculine or feminine foods depend on the social setting in which the food consumption takes place: dining with an attractive date (mating) or meeting and eating with friends (non-mating). Participants (N = 162, 46.9% females, 53.1% males; age M = 41.8  years, SD = 14.5) were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions (mating vs. non-mating) and were asked to indicate their food preferences for 15 dishes that differed markedly in perceived femininity/masculinity. Consistent with our theorizing, females (males) generally had a stronger preference for foods perceived as more feminine (masculine), thereby supporting the gender-typicality thesis at the aggregate level. Furthermore, females in the mating condition—but not females in the non-mating condition—reported significantly stronger preferences for more feminine food alternatives. However, in direct contrast to our theorizing, males preferred more masculine meals in the non-mating condition (i.e., when dining with friends), whereas this gender-typical tendency did not emerge in the mating condition (i.e., when dining with an attractive date). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and present a set of fruitful avenues for future research

Utilizing consumer-based label equity to signal consumer products free from endocrine-disrupting chemicals

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in consumer products present a global health concern. Yet, the understanding of consumer perceptions of EDC-related product labels is limited. This study investigated consumer reactions to such labels using data from 602 Scandinavian consumers. The results indicate a positive association between label performance (willingness to buy, pay in a local currency, pay extra, and recommend a product with the label) and a modified version of the consumer-based food label equity scale proposed by Coderre et al. (2022). Findings also suggest a positive relationship between awareness of EDCs and label performance of products with EDC-related labels. Our recommendations involve educating consumers, utilizing labels more effectively, and avoid warning labels for risks that are not well known and/or have a relatively low consumer-based label equity (CBLE)

Big business returns on B Corp? Growing with green & lean as any label is a good label

This current research contributes to the concept of consumer-based food label equity (CBFLE) by testing the predictive validity of a scale developed by Coderre et al. (2022) in the sustainability and health domains of seafood products. In Study 1 (N = 301; between-within subjects), we found that scores on all subscales, except the (Dis)honesty subscale, were significantly related to willingness to buy fish fillets without a label in comparison with the B Corp sustainability label and a fictitious label. There were no differences between labels. In Study 2 (N = 200; within-subjects), we found similar results for fillets with a health-related label: the American Heart Association Heart-Check. However, scores on the awareness subscale were not significantly associated with willingness to buy fish fillets. Overall, our results suggest that the CBFLE and the scale predict WTB in the context of sustainability and health signaling

Anticipated food scarcity and food preferences

In the recent decade, marketing literature has acknowledged the advantages of applying an evolutionary lens to understand consumer behavior in different domains. Food choice context is one such domain, having implications for societal well-being, especially for public health and addressing environmental issues. In this thesis, I investigate how mechanisms that have emerged as adaptations to food scarcity—frequent throughout human history—affect modern consumers’ food preferences, potentially leading to maladaptive outcomes. In Paper I, we highlight that selection pressures adjusted humans to forage in ancestral, hostile environments when they were wandering between periods of food scarcity and food sufficiency. Consequently, consumers often fail to choose foods appropriate to their current needs in contemporary retail contexts. Rather than attempting to override these hardwired and evolutionarily outdated food preferences, we recommend policymakers leverage them in such a way that facilitates healthier food choices. A series of studies reported in Paper II show that exposing people to climate change-induced food scarcity distant in time and space shifts their current food preferences. Specifically, people exposed to such video content exhibit a stronger preference toward energy-dense (vs. low-calorie) foods than their peers exposed to a control video. In Paper III, we aimed to account for potential confounds stemming from the control video used in studies reported in Paper II. Additionally, we strived to conceptually replicate these earlier findings by exposing participants to subtle cues to food scarcity—a winter forest walk. Although not all studies yielded significant results at conventional levels, this empirical package—when taken together—corroborated the earlier findings. Despite that studies described in Papers II–III provided a shred of empirical evidence showing a potency of food scarcity cues in increasing preferences toward energy-dense (vs. low-calorie) products, it was still unclear what drove such a shift in food liking. Thus, in Paper IV, we have developed and psychometrically validated the Anticipated Food Scarcity Scale (AFSS), measuring the degree to which people perceive food resources as becoming less available in the future. Aside from being a candidate mechanism partially explaining findings reported in Papers II–III, anticipated food scarcity (AFS) is also related to some aspects of prosociality. Studies presented in this thesis suggest that when environmental cues to food scarcity are present, people show a stronger preference toward energy-dense (vs. low-calorie) foods than their peers unexposed to such cues. Policymakers should consider these results when designing climate change and other similar campaigns, as such communication often depicts food scarcity. Additional research may explore the possibility that exposure to food scarcity cues affects food choices. Considering that we found AFS correlated with certain prosocial attitudes, it is a new psychological construct that warrants future investigation through multidisciplinary research.The research associated with the Four Academic Papers reported in this Thesis was funded by the Icelandic Research Fund (Doctoral Student Grant toMichał Folwarczny number 206880-051).Accepte