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The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge about dietary fats in some dairy products and other foods across consumers from France, (French‐speaking) Canada and the USA. A relation is explored between the types of information, knowledge levels and obesity predominance.

A nine‐question nutritional test was developed and administered to three samples of consumers, respectively in Grenoble (France), Quebec, Canada and Ithaca, New York. In France, Canada and the USA the number of participants was respectively 100, 107 and 120. Participants were recruited randomly outside groceries stores and the test was administered directly through one‐on‐one interviews.

Results indicate a significant gap in knowledge between consumers from the three countries studied. The level and quality of knowledge seems to be correlated with the nature of the informational background: a wider availability of information such as nutrition facts and public health recommendations on fat consumption seems to have a positive effect on the general level of knowledge. However, “technical” knowledge seems to be inversely correlated to the level of obesity.

This work is of an exploratory nature and the sample might not be representative of the countries' population. Further works that link food knowledge and food consumption patterns would be needed.

This study gives weight to the hypothesis that a “science” or nutrient approach to food might not result in appropriate food choices; consumers losing sight of the big picture. To confirm this hypothesis, further work would be needed.

This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first cross‐country study that attempts to link the type of knowledge on fat in food and predominance of obesity. This should encourage nutritionist to further investigate this link. It should also concern the dairy industry, given most often consumers' perception of dairy products' fat content is overestimated, especially for fluid milk in France.

This chapter deals with five key themes: the objectives for companies and the attitudes and buying behaviour of consumers as concerns sustainable development, the firm’s strategies for reducing energy costs and waste, the challenges of bringing all actors in the supply chain into line, the firm’s supply policy in response to consumer demand and the technical, organisational and communication challenges surrounding the environmental impact of products. It then considers at the role of governments and NGOs in companies’ approaches towards sustainable development strategies before finally outlining the future prospects for these strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to determine consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organic versus conventionally produced cotton apparel, and to explore the role of purchase behaviors, apparel attributes and consumer beliefs about organics in purchase decisions.

A 2nd priced auction was used to estimate WTP, along with a follow‐up survey to collect information on participants’ demographics, attitudes and behavior.

On average, participants were willing to pay a 25 percent premium for an organic cotton t‐shirt over the visibly similar t‐shirt made from conventionally produced cotton. Participants who pay for their own clothing or make purchase decisions alone were not willing to pay a premium. Previous history of purchasing organic foods, perceived product quality, fit and the participant's race were also significant predictors of WTP.

A more representative sample and the inclusion of other product categories are necessary to generalize the relationships found in this study.

This research helps to profile the organic cotton consumer. Findings suggest that retailers need to consider the income of target consumers when making decisions about carrying organic apparel products. Further, consumers with a history of purchasing organic products appear to carry that purchase behavior across product categories. When marketing organic apparel products, the perception of a higher quality product may yield a higher WTP.

The paper is one of the first to use an experimental auction in estimating WTP for apparel. Relevant consumer beliefs about organics, purchase behaviors and apparel product attributes are also explored.

The goal of this research was to try a new methodology to elicit consumers' willingness to pay for genetically modified (GM) food.

Even though experimental auctions have been used for several years, they do not provide qualitative information on consumers' reasoning behind their purchase behaviours. To provide further illumination in this regard, a thought‐listing technique and a questionnaire were added.

A majority of the consumers involved in this study were ready to pay for the GM food offered. The benefit provided by the GM product did not seem to be the major purchase criterion and sensory assessment appeared to be important. The use of different methodologies on the same sample of participants revealed that there was a gap between purchasing intentions and behaviours, and that a key to efficiently assessing public perception and purchase behaviours is the precision of the context.

The absence of discrimination between the different benefits offered, might come from the limited size of the samples or from the nature of the benefits offered. Future research should consider larger samples and more diversified products.

This study has concrete methodology applications. If one would like to conduct a market study, for instance, on a specific GM product, a general survey on biotechnology will not provide relevant answers.

The implementation of experimental auctions with psychometric tools, created an original and suitable protocol for accessing consumers' willingness to pay as well as their justifications.