Market forces and competition are not necessarily detrimental to sustainability

Paul T.M. Ingenbleek and Machiel J. Reinders study the case of coffee roasters and supermarkets in the Netherland

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”: How ethical beliefs influence consumer perceptions of “blue” aquaculture products?

Respecting ethical beliefs of consumers is an important precondition for food manufacturers in their attempt to improve their positioning in the European food market. Based on a cross-cultural survey of 2511 European participants, this research demonstrates how ethical beliefs affect consumer perceptions of “blue” (i.e. environmentally friendly) aquaculture products. The study further emphasises that the positive effect of ethical beliefs on purchase intention operates via an indirect route mediated by consumers’ trust in a product category. Consumer involvement has limited moderation effect on the above relationships. To expand its “blue” business, a key policy recommendation to aquaculture product manufacturers and policy makers is to urge stable and reliable standards of control in environmentally responsible aquaculture production so that consumers can rely on the information source and increase their trust in aquaculture products.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

A cross-cultural perspective on impact of health and nutrition claims, country-of-origin and eco-label on consumer choice of new aquaculture products

Over the last decade, an increasing number of new value-added aquaculture products made their way onto the European market, as a response to growing demand for healthier diet, and more sustainable and locally produced protein sources. The importance of these drivers of consumer choice for aquaculture products' acceptance paves the way for a relevant reorientation of the European aquaculture industry towards a more consumer-centred approach. This research uses discrete choice experiments to examine the effect of health and nutrition claims, country-of-origin (COO), and eco-labels on consumer choice of new aquaculture products in a cross-cultural context. Three products with different preserving methods have been chosen for the study: fresh (chilled), canned, and smoked product. Results indicate that COO label “produced in own country” together with ASC eco-label function better than the health and nutrition claims as driver of choice. Results further point to the existence of different segments of “nutrition conscious”, “ethnocentric”, “price conscious”, and “eco-conscious” consumers.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Farmed or wild fish? Segmenting European consumers based on their beliefs

Wild fish cannot meet the global demand of fish, making aquaculture the most suitable alternative to support increase in fish consumption. However, farmed fish have a less positive image among consumers than their respective wild-caught equivalents. Food product images can be affected by consumers' beliefs, which are useful to infer the quality of the food product and the consumers' food choices. This paper investigates European consumers' beliefs regarding farmed versus wild fish. The goal is to understand not only what hinders farmed fish consumption but also provide guidelines for producers and governments to improve the image of farmed fish. An online questionnaire reaching 2511 consumers in five European Union (EU) countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) assessed 19 beliefs. The results showed that European consumers believed that wild fish had a higher quality, but that farmed fish were superior in terms of control, price, and availability. Even though most consumers were in favour of wild fish, they reported higher consumption of farmed fish, suggesting that positive perceptions of products do not necessarily drive higher consumption. European consumers also believed that farmed fish were less fresh and contained higher concentrations of antibiotics than wild fish. These inferential beliefs that view aquaculture negatively should be addressed in future marketing campaigns to transform them into informational beliefs. Promotional and marketing campaigns should reinforce the positive attributes of farmed fish, including their lower levels of chemical hazards (e.g. heavy metals and marine pollutants) and biological hazards (e.g. parasites). Based on the assessed beliefs, consumers were categorised into five clusters of individuals: pro-wild fish, slightly pro-wild fish, balanced view, open to aquaculture, and pro-aquaculture. The identification of these consumer segments and their profiles should help producers and marketers focus their efforts to enhance the image of the aquaculture.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The roles of identity and brand equity in organic consumption behavior : Private label brands versus national brands

Organic brands have become increasingly important as an offering by which retailers can differentiate themselves. The current study examines the role of two key drivers (i.e., brand equity and social identification) in the consumption of organic private label brands (PLBs) and the extent to which this role differs compared to organic national brands (NBs). Using a longitudinal panel study among consumers in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US, we tested both mediating and moderating effects of brand equity, brand identification, and organic consumer identification on organic brand consumption and on organic consumption behavior in general. The results show that for both PLBs and NBs, brand equity positively influences organic brand consumption and organic consumption behavior. For PLBs, brand identification is related to organic brand consumption as well as organic consumption behavior. In contrast, for NBs, organic consumer identification influences organic brand consumption and organic consumption behavior, which suggests a difference in identity salience for both types of brands. In addition, we found that the relationship between brand equity and organic brand consumption is partially mediated by brand identification, which implies that consumers are more likely to identify with brands that have higher brand equity. Marketing implications are discussed.</p

Consumer innovativeness and its correlates: A propositional inventory for future research

This article summarizes the results of a systematic review of the literature on consumer innovativeness and its correlates and provides a propositional inventory for future research. The authors identified seventy-nine relevant empirical articles from international journals through a search of multiple databases using specific search terms, a manual search of marketing and consumer behavior journals and a cross-reference search. The results show that innovativeness consists of different levels of conceptualization and operational processes. Based on these different conceptualizations, the authors offer propositions for further empirical exploration on consumer innovativeness.Consumer innovativeness Propositional inventory Systematic literature review Innate innovativeness Domain-specific innovativeness Innovative behavior

Referent product information from a credible source : How front line employees can stimulate acceptance of incrementally new food products

Generating consumer acceptance for incrementally new food products remains a challenge. Drawing on analogical learning theory, we explore the combined effect of providing information about the new product's closest referent (‘the product is like…’) and the instrumental value of store's frontline employees (FLEs) as credible source of this information on a new food product's acceptance. Using the context of aquaculture, two consecutive experimental studies with a joint data collection have been conducted among UK consumers. Study 1 focuses on the adoption of fillets of an unfamiliar fish species with the FLE communicating newness, or newness including closest referent information. Results confirm that information provided by the FLE has a positive effect on consumer attitude and willingness to buy the new product, but a similar rather than stronger effect is found for the condition including closest referent information. Using a subsample of the data of Study 1, Study 2 explores the underlying learning mechanisms involved. The findings show that the influence of the FLE's information on the consumer's attitude towards the new product is positively mediated by the consumer's attitude towards FLE's advice. Additionally, the positive indirect effect of the FLE's information regarding closest referent on willingness to buy is conditional on the consumer's (dis)liking of the referent product and his/her need to taste the new product first. These findings confirm that offering information on closest referent by FLEs is powerful and can be a useful variable in consumer segmentation