Editorial

Citation

Griffith, C.J. (2016), "Editorial", British Food Journal, Vol. 118 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-12-2015-0489

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: British Food Journal, Volume 118, Issue 3.

Consumer behaviour in a changing world: food, culture and society

The international trade in food is measured in hundreds of billions of pounds/euros/dollars or whatever currency you choose to use. The food industry is therefore of major economic importance to most countries both in “simple cash” terms (their food imports/exports and trade balance) as well as the employment it provides. The success of the food industry, in part, relies on its ability to be innovative – for example the UK food industry launches, at considerable development cost, approximately 8,500 new food products each year. However, many of these will not be on supermarket shelves a year later and this represents a major economic loss.

To maximise investment, not just product development, but also product maintenance, manufacturers need to be mindful of consumer purchasing attitudes, aspirations, intentions and trends. At times they may even need to assist in shaping these, e.g. in response to government initiatives on healthy eating. The British Food Journal published 15 papers on consumer cognitions, attitudes and related behaviours in a special issue (3) in 2015. However it has been said that a week in politics is a long time – whether this is true or not, a year in the food industry certainly is. One thing we can be sure of in life is change and this includes food consumption patterns and consumer behaviour.

We know that populations are becoming more overweight and in some cases obese and this is very much linked to life style, diet and in turn will impact on food demand. How much consumers are prepared to change their habits on these issues remains to be seen, especially with increasing interest and developments in health education and food labelling. A “time poor society” with busy working lives, less free time and interest in snacking and convenience foods are other food linked life style changes taking place. At the same time consumers want a high quality “as natural” as possible and ideally authentic food.

December 2015 has seen even greater international involvement and agreement on climate change and this will also impact on agriculture (this may contribute up to 25 per cent of greenhouse gases) and the foods that are produced and sold. It is against this backdrop of changing consumer behaviour and changes in society that this special issue has been produced.

This issue, a year after the previous consumer special issue, consists of 16 papers, mostly published under the guest editorship of Professor Fabio Verneau, University of Naples. The papers, some combining many elements of the changes mentioned above, consider the determination of consumer preferences and intentions, factors influencing purchase behaviour, life style factors, loyalty and trust in the food industry as well as papers that consider more product/production-related topics as well as more general issues of consumer behaviour.

This special issue on consumer behaviour in a changing world will be of interest to most academics and business that have an interest/involvement in food production, distribution and retailing.

Christopher J. Griffith