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This paper aims to examine the paradoxes of buy local campaigns. These are popular strategies for marketing products in domestic markets aimed at supporting the local economy. Their scope can be national, regional, community or sectoral (such as agriculture, tourism, clothing or textiles).

This paper examines the paradoxes associated with these campaigns, using two cases and a mixed methods study of buy local campaigns in the Ghanaian and South African textiles and clothing industries.

The study found that both economic and cultural streams of the two campaigns have different outcomes and that the dominance of one aspect does not directly influence the other.

The use of buy local campaigns by countries as an intervention for reclaiming domestic market spaces can produce contradictory outcomes concurrently in the same campaign.

The author concludes with a brief discussion, which spells out the anatomy of buy local campaigns and the usefulness of the different aspects of these campaigns.

Using food brands as a case in point, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a local vs global brand positioning strategy and buying impulsivity, as well as the mediating role of construal level. The findings add a psychological argument to the array of reasons for firms to opt for a local instead of a global brand positioning strategy: local food brands promote higher levels of buying impulsivity than global brands by lowering consumers’ level of construal.

Five experiments use student and nonstudent samples, different construal level indices and generic and brand-specific buying impulsivity measures to test the hypotheses.

Local food brands promote higher levels of buying impulsivity than global brands by lowering consumers’ level of construal. Because local brands are proximal to consumers’ lifestyles, values, preferences and behaviors, they decrease the psychological distance between the brand and the consumer, compared with global brands. The smaller psychological distance lowers consumers’ construal level and renders the immediate, concrete, appetitive attributes of the product more salient, thus making consumers more prone to impulsively buy a local brand than a global one.

For the choice between a global or local brand positioning strategy, this paper argues in favor of the latter. Local (food) branding is a concrete brand positioning mechanism that can influence and benefit from consumers’ buying impulsivity.

The research reveals heretofore unknown but important implications of local vs global brand positioning strategies for consumers’ construal level and buying impulsivity.

The goal of this paper is to examine the link between consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and the attitudes of two consumer groups to a buy local campaign in a transitioning economy, Slovakia.

Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 211 non‐students at shopping malls in Banská Bystrica (non‐student group) and from 209 students at the University of Matej Bela, Banská Bystrica (student group) in Slovakia. Ethnocentrism was measured using the consumer ethnocentric tendencies scale (CETSCALE) while attitudinal statements were used to measure the attitudes toward locally made products and a buy local campaign. The attitudinal data were factor analysed and the correlations between the CETSCALE and the attitudinal statements were examined. Summative scales based on the factor analysis results were also developed.

A significant finding of this paper is the role of the government and industry in encouraging Slovakians to buy local. The nonstudent consumers to be less ethnocentric than the student group are found. The attitudinal statements of both groups toward Slovakian products are generally similar.

This research was designed to contribute to the discussion of CE by linking it to attitudes to a buy local campaign in a transitioning country.

In this chapter, six cases are presented, four from Poland and two from Hungary. The Polish cases are Partec Rockwool, PLM, Bulten Tools, and Vattenfall, while Svedala and Getinge belong to Hungary.

The cases have been described in different phases following the conceptual framework, developed in chapter six. All cases we present in three phases except Svedala where there are two phases. In the later case, neither the alliance nor the partners could be traced. Among the cases, level of performance varied. Getinge is the only case where the partners continued with the same alliance and the ownership structure remained unchanged. In Partec, the foreign partner acquired the local shares to establish a wholly owned subsidiary, and in Bulten Tool, the foreign partner became the major owner to have control over the company. Partec Rockwool and Vattenfall had been sold to other companies after amicable settlement between the partners.

Changing consumption patterns have led to a number of transformations throughout the food cycle, and understanding how and why people purchase local food is important. This paper aims to examine the characteristics of the people leading this phenomenon: those that prefer to buy locally produced food.

In order to explore the characteristics of local food purchasers, a single item question, “I try to buy a lot of locally produced food”, was included in the food section of a New Zealand consumer lifestyles survey for which 3,556 responses were collected. The full survey included 600 questions across the full attitude, interest and opinion schedule.

For people who express a strong intention to purchase local food, this behaviour is linked to the types of food they eat (e.g. unprocessed foods), where they buy it (e.g. at speciality stores), and how they cook it (e.g. follow recipes). A range of personality and other personal characteristics differ between local and non‐local food buyers, with the former segment being more liberal, interested in quality, and frugal.

Consumers who express an interest in purchasing local food are a demanding segment of the population whose interest in food makes them critical judges of produce. Local food must thus be fresh and value for money. Growing this sector requires making local food more accessible through mainstream retail outlets.

While something is known about why people buy local food, less is known about other aspects of local food consumers, the range of attitudes they hold towards food or their food‐related behaviours.

Aims to review, update, and extend the understanding of country‐of‐origin (COO) effects in China. This involves examining the nature and extent of the COO effect amongst urban Chinese consumers and the impact of COO on actual purchase behaviour.

A questionnaire is used to collect COO information from a sample of 432 Shanghai consumers and a consumer panel is used to track the purchase behaviour of the same consumers over 6 months.

First, Chinese consumers generally say they prefer to buy local Chinese grocery brands. Second, Chinese consumers believe it is important to buy local brands for a range of Chinese‐style and Western‐style product categories. Third, however, the stated preference for Chinese brands was generally not reflected in actual purchase behaviour.

The results support the growing view that Chinese consumers are not necessarily attracted to foreign brands. However, the disparity between stated preferences and behaviour suggests that there are other factors that may moderate the COO effect, such as imperfect knowledge of which brands are local or foreign.

To capitalize on the stated preference for local brands, and to address consumers’ imperfect knowledge of which brands are local or foreign, managers may benefit by promoting the Chinese origin of their brands and by positioning their brands as being local.

In contrast to the experimental designs used in previous studies, actual purchase data is measured here in a real‐life setting. The study provides a strong empirical update on the COO effect in China.

Contemporary academic research generally discusses positive spillovers that consumption and purchase of local foods/produce may have for consumers, farmers and local economies from which these products come. In a hospitality industry context, local produce can enhance culinary experiences as well as benefit regions and businesses that promote it. However, to what extent are hospitality businesses aware and receptive to the range of local products available? Furthermore, are small hospitality enterprises (SHEs), particularly those near rural areas, actively involved in utilising local products on their menus? And if so, to what extent is this demand driven or an attempt to seek out a unique selling proposition on the part of SHEs? The present paper seeks to answer these questions from the hospitality operators' perspective.

A total of 21 SHEs located in the southern United States were interviewed via telephone and face‐to‐face.

Despite their close geographical proximity to farms that grow fresh produce and a near‐by farmers' market open in the summer, SHEs' involvement with local foods in this study is very fragmented. In fact, more respondents are not involved in purchasing local products than those who are, while others are only marginally involved. Furthermore, convenience of direct deliveries by out‐of‐state food distributors and unawareness of existing fresh local produce availability are reasons expressed for not engaging in efforts to buy locally.

The narrow geographical area chosen and low number of participating businesses in this study may not allow for making generalizations with regards to the findings.

The dysfunctional nature of the current relationship identified between SHEs and local food producers may be conducive to very unfavourable long‐term impacts for both parties, including lost sales opportunities by not providing fresher, higher quality produce that appeals to increasingly discerning customers.

The present study offers new insights into the relationship between SHEs and local food producers, an area that has been largely neglected in contemporary research.

This research aims to develop a behaviorally based definition of “locavores”, i.e. a segment of a population that purchases locally grown produce. It describes the locavore segment on a set of attributes representative of those typically used for market segmentation and contrasts the locavore segment with a non‐locavore segment to estimate the impact value of local production over organic production. This paper operationalizes the concept in terms of reported buying behavior for fresh produce. A questionnaire administered to adult primary household food shoppers and residents of a US state included attribute, trial and usage (AT&U) questions focusing on a specific target product, i.e. apples. The paper profiles the segment in terms of marketing relevant criteria and discusses implications of the segment for the marketing of fresh produce.

A quantitative online survey of 1,218 Pennsylvania residents was conducted. The survey included a conjoint experiment where respondents rated their preference for various apples consisting of different levels of key apple characteristics, including physical apple attributes (sweetness, blemishes, size, crispness), credence attributes (conventional versus organic production method, local origin versus product of USA versus imported) and purchase price when buying apples. The data were used to quantify how much consumers are willing to give up in terms of product appearance, price, value of locally produced or other variables. Traditional attribute, trial and usage data were also collected.

The key finding was that the attribute “local” was significantly more impactful in changing preference for apples than “organic”. It was also found that there were three segments of apple consumers: those that most valued the quality of the apple, a second that was most interested in price, and a third most interested in the health and/or life style attributes such as local and organic attributes. Large differences were found between locavores and non‐locavores on marketing relevant criteria, such as price sensitivity, outlet preferences, and media characteristics.

The major limitation was the use of only Pennsylvania residents in the study and produce other than apples might have been used as well. Additionally it would have been more effective if the actual apples could have been available to taste and inspect. A valuable finding is that there is a local segment that values and is willing to pay for a locally produced product. However, that is the smallest segment and must be carefully targeted as most consumers are interested in either taste or price.

USA food retailers that use local supply can tell their customers “that purchasing from local farmers helps the economy in the communities we serve. Local produce can be delivered to your store very quickly and faster shipping means even fresher produce for you. Items can be picked and packed at a more mature stage. This can really bring out the taste of the product. Eating locally grown food also means less fossil fuel burned in preparation and transport – and less energy needed to refrigerate during transportation”. Farmers may wish to promote their local crops and not spend the additional money on organic farming.

The article appears to be the first research paper to tease apart the impact of local from organic via a conjoint analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a number of marketing issues, such as consumer buyer behaviour and distribution channels, in relation to buying halal meat (HM) from local shops versus supermarkets in the UK.

A consumer survey (300 participants) and observation of three local halal shops and a Morrisons supermarket were successfully undertaken in London, Brighton and Edinburgh.

The majority of UK Muslims do not trust big supermarkets when buying HM. They will only trust a Muslim selling halal products in their local shops. Most respondents did not know that supermarkets in their local area sold HM.

In order to increase the sales of HM ranges, supermarkets need to improve their marketing efforts, for example by advertising in Islamic newspapers, mosques and other relevant sources. Supermarkets need to stock other complementary halal products to get a mass response from this market segment, as well as enhancing/improving their services, for example, there should be sales people who are able to advise customers on particular halal products.

The study reveals that the majority of UK Muslims are at odds with most UK shoppers and increasingly prefer to shop at small shops, rather than big supermarkets. The paper helps to emphasise the major issues that frame the current state of marketing HM in the UK; contributes to a better understanding of such an important customer sector; and raises the necessary commitment to restructuring HM business activities in the UK and Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the average Irish consumer (AIC) of preferences that drive food choice and purchasing of packaged foods.

A number of Irish consumer studies have been carried out and most notably by An Bord Bia. Purchasing and Eating in the Republic of Ireland (PERIscope) investigates Irish consumer food preferences from 2009-2013, based on data obtained from +1,000 people in Ireland. Frequency analysis of these data sets was used to generate majority findings and preference attributes from which to propose a profile of the AIC. Component and cluster analysis was applied to investigate potential relationships between preference attributes and the significance of these relationships.

The AIC is a female to whom price is a priority in food choice and prefers foods that are quick and easy to prepare. The AIC checks foods labels, looks for the low-fat option, but has difficulty understanding nutrition claims and labels. The AIC buys local produce at least monthly, believes local food has less artificial/preservative ingredients and checks for the country of origin on food products. The AIC is conscious of environmental issues and prefers to buy from companies that are environmentally friendly. The AIC buys food in smaller packs as it means less waste, is possibly more convenient and lower priced.

It is the aim of this publication to provide a profile of the AIC to assist food companies in understanding and targeting the consumers of their products when developing packaged food products.