Exploring disparities and similarities in European food consumption patterns

This paper investigates the heterogeneity of food consumption patterns in Europe. The analysis relies on a wide set of indicators, namely the structure of calorie, protein and fat consumption as well as the consumption of main foodstuffs. Clusters based on estimated income elasticity of calorie and protein demand are also reported. Income elasticities of animal products tend to exceed those corresponding to the total calorie demand. The same pattern holds true for the elasticity of demand for proteins. Main dimensions of consumption are identified based on factor analysis and used subsequently for the purpose of clustering countries. The hard core clusters are those that remain stable regardless of the algorithm used in classification or the indicators as a proxy of food consumption patterns. A limited number of hard core clusters of countries emerged. The paper concludes with a discussion of clusters with homogeneous patterns of consumption.food consumption patterns, Europe, factor analysis, cluster analysis, hard-core clusters

Determinants of Food Choice in a Transitional Economy: Insights from the Theory of Reasoned Action

This paper draws upon a consumer survey carried out in Bucharest (Romania) to explore determinants of food choice in a transition economy. An adapted version of the Theory of Reasoned Action was developed. This included attitude toward intention, habit and preference as independent variables. The structural equations modelling carried out in 'Analysis of MOment Structures' AMOS showed a significant positive influence of all variables. Similar to other studies conducted in European Union (EU) countries (Saba, Di Natale, 1998) habit outweighed the other variables. The study emphasises the heterogeneity of consumer beliefs about food. Furthermore it was suggested that there is scope for noneconomic variables in explaining food choices and consumer behaviour in these emerging economies, though the influence of these variables may be still limited relative the economic factors. Further research on special groups is required to quantify the influence of non-economic factors and compare the results estimated in Romania with other countries which are candidates to EU accession.Theory of Reasoned Action, food choice, transition economy, Consumer/Household Economics,

Exploring Supermarket Loyalty Card Analysis to Identify Who Buys Fairtrade

The aim of this paper is to show how supermarket loyalty card data from a panel of over 1.7 million shoppers can be analysed to provide behavioural segmentation insights to profile the fairtrade shopper in order to enhance making targeted marketing decisions. The paper demonstrates the huge marketing potential that loyalty card based shopper segmentation can bring to objectively describe who buys fairtrade products, compared to profiling shoppers with claimed/reported behaviour dataset. A pairedsamples t-test is used to test the degree of appeal of fairtrade tea, coffee, chocolate, drinking chocolates, banana and sugar categories in Tesco to life-stage and lifestyle shopper segments in terms of their retail sales values over 104 weeks. The results show that analysing loyalty cards based on actual behaviour provides a more detailed picture of how specific fairtrade food product categories appeal to the various life-stage and lifestyle shopper segments

Direct and Indirect Brand Comparisons, Message Framing and Gender Effects in Advertising

With increased competition between brands in many product categories, companies may often use brand comparisons. The purpose of this research was to survey UK consumers (where comparisons are legal and frequently used) to examine the impacts of direct and indirect comparative advertising, message framing, and gender for their individual and joint impact on consumer response to advertising for analgesic painkillers. Research shows that the type of brand comparison, how comparisons are framed (prevention vs promotion) and the gender of the target market has significant effects on consumer response to messages (measured through claim believability, brand beliefs, attitude certainty and perceived ad fairness). Differences in the impact of advertising are noticeable according to what particular response is measured. Managerial implications in terms of advertising competitive strategies are highlighted

Patriot Games? Determinants of Responses to Chinese and Foreign Sponsors of the Beijing Olympics

The paper assesses the generalizability of Speed and Thompson’s (2000) model of the determinants of sponsorship response to an important and growing market for sponsorship (China). It extends the model by considering differences in effects for foreign and domestically owned sponsors and the role of patriotism. The findings confirm that personal liking for the sponsored event, status of the event, attitude to the sponsor, perceived sincerity of the sponsor and perceived fit between the sponsor and the event are significant factors underpinning positive responses. In contrast to Speed and Thompson (2000), ubiquity of the sponsor is not significant for China. Whether the sponsor is of domestic or foreign origin is identified as an important moderator of sponsorship effects but there is no consistent evidence that foreign sponsors suffer from relatively poorer outcomes in emerging markets compared to domestically owned rivals

Antecedents of Product Placement Effectiveness Across Cultures

Purpose -- The research contributes to the marketing literature by developing and testing a conceptual model to examine the effects of product placement across a country low in assertiveness and performance orientation (the United Kingdom) and a country high in assertiveness and performance orientation (Hong Kong). Design/methodology/approach -- A content analysis of brand appearances in high grossing films within the UK and HK was conducted followed by a 2x2 between-subjects experiment (n=572). Findings -- The results indicate participants exposed to prominent placements have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention towards the placed brand. Likewise, respondents exposed to a less well-known placed brand tend to have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention towards the placed brand. There is evidence of interaction effects with cultural dimensions such as assertiveness and performance orientation within the UK and HK. Practical implications -- The results suggest that product placements can be optimized through tailored campaigns targeted at markets with known cultural characteristics. With advances in digital technology such practices are becoming more frequent and more feasible. Originality/value -- This is one of the first studies to explore the effect of culture on perceptions of product placement and the first study to empirically examine the role of prominence and brand awareness, and their interactions with GLOBE values on the effectiveness of product placement

Consumer Adoption of Pro-poor Service Innovations in Subsistence Marketplaces

Despite some extant research on innovation adoption in subsistence marketplace contexts, little is known about subsistence consumers and how they evaluate so-called pro-poor innovations. This research identified six existing, empirically tested, and well-cited innovation adoption models and collected data on them within a subsistence context. Extending existing research, data was collected across two separate and distinct pro-poor services targeted at the subsistence segment, and structural models were compared based on mediating relationships. This research contributes to the subsistence marketplace literature by providing guidance about how antecedents within these models affect subsistence consumers’ evaluations of pro-poor service innovations in this increasingly important context. The research provides novel practical and theoretical insights through the development of new, testable hypotheses in the area and explores the effect of service type and geographic area (urban versus rural)

The Role of Market Knowledge Type on Product Innovation Performance

While it is understood that market knowledge can positively impact product innovation performance (PIP), a better understanding on the nuanced roles of different aspects of market knowledge is needed. More specifically, we aim to gain an understanding of how different types of market knowledge, such as tacit knowledge, are developed and utilised, especially in high uncertainty environments. This research was conducted with a sample of in-depth interviews with industry experts in new product development in the UK grocery sector (N=8) followed up by a survey of 193 companies from the UK grocery sector. The study proposes two measures of market information-gathering activities (MIGA) and market knowledge volume informed by input from experts in the UK grocery sector. Results show that MIGA have a positive effect on market knowledge volume and specificity. Market knowledge volume and specificity consequently have a direct effect on PIP. Finally, market knowledge tacitness is positively moderated by market uncertainty. That is, market knowledge tacitness is most impactful in high uncertainty environments, but offers limited benefit in low uncertainty environments. This study provides evidence of how market knowledge-gathering activities and types can positively impact new product performance, especially in high uncertainty environments

Accelerated physical emulation of Bayesian inference in spiking neural networks

The massively parallel nature of biological information processing plays an important role for its superiority to human-engineered computing devices. In particular, it may hold the key to overcoming the von Neumann bottleneck that limits contemporary computer architectures. Physical-model neuromorphic devices seek to replicate not only this inherent parallelism, but also aspects of its microscopic dynamics in analog circuits emulating neurons and synapses. However, these machines require network models that are not only adept at solving particular tasks, but that can also cope with the inherent imperfections of analog substrates. We present a spiking network model that performs Bayesian inference through sampling on the BrainScaleS neuromorphic platform, where we use it for generative and discriminative computations on visual data. By illustrating its functionality on this platform, we implicitly demonstrate its robustness to various substrate-specific distortive effects, as well as its accelerated capability for computation. These results showcase the advantages of brain-inspired physical computation and provide important building blocks for large-scale neuromorphic applications.Comment: This preprint has been published 2019 November 14. Please cite as: Kungl A. F. et al. (2019) Accelerated Physical Emulation of Bayesian Inference in Spiking Neural Networks. Front. Neurosci. 13:1201. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.0120