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1 – 10 of over 15000Toby Bartle, Barbara Mullan, Elizaveta Novoradovskaya, Vanessa Allom and Penelope Hasking
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of choice on the development and maintenance of a fruit consumption behaviour and if behaviour change was underpinned by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of choice on the development and maintenance of a fruit consumption behaviour and if behaviour change was underpinned by habit strength.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2×2×3 mixed model experimental design was used. The independent variables were pictorial cue and fruit consumption manipulated on two levels: choice and no choice, across three-time points: baseline, post-intervention (after two weeks) and follow-up (one week later). Participants (n=166) completed demographics, the self-report habit index and fruit intake at all three-time points.
Findings
All participants showed significant increases in fruit consumption and habit strength at post-intervention and follow-up. However, participants provided neither choice of cue nor fruit showed a significant decrease in consumption at follow-up.
Practical implications
Fruit consumption can be significantly increased with a relatively simple intervention; choice seems to have an effect on behaviour maintenance, providing no choice negatively effects behaviour maintenance post-intervention. This may inform future interventions designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
Originality/value
The intervention that the authors designed and implemented in the current study is the first of its kind, where choice was manipulated in two different ways and behaviour was changed with a simple environmental cue intervention.
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Jennifer F. Taylor, Sharon E. Beatty and Katherine J. Roberto
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the prolonged consumption journey and how they are sustained by service providers’ use of habit-boosting strategies. Existing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the prolonged consumption journey and how they are sustained by service providers’ use of habit-boosting strategies. Existing research is critically evaluated, and a research agenda is provided to inspire and guide future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates habit and transformative consumer intervention theories with customer journey literature to explain the role of habit in sustaining prolonged consumption journeys. Habit-boosting strategies are introduced as mechanisms for service providers to facilitate their customers’ prolonged consumption journeys.
Findings
This paper argues that habit strength is a limited operant resource that often lacks resource integration efficiency and hinders customers’ abilities to sustain prolonged consumption journeys. Four distinct habit-boosting strategies are identified that provide the potential for service providers to facilitate their customers’ prolonged consumption journeys.
Originality/value
This study presents a typology of habit-boosting strategies and a research agenda that discusses a range of practically relevant and theoretically insightful contributions.
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Tianchang Zhai, Wenjin Long and Wei Si
The purpose of this study is to explain the rapid growth of urban residents' sugar consumption in China from the perspective of habit formation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explain the rapid growth of urban residents' sugar consumption in China from the perspective of habit formation.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the provincial panel data of Chinese urban households from 1995 to 2012, this study uses the two-step System Generalized Moment Method (GMM) to test the habit formation effect on residents' sugar expenditure in urban China. We also use system GMM and the recursive estimated method to explore the changes of the habit formation coefficients in different years.
Findings
We find a significant habit formation effect on overall residents' sugar expenditure and different types of sugary foods expenditure. The habit formation effect on total residents' sugar expenditure and different types of sugary foods is decreasing over the years. The patterns of the changes of the habit formation effect on different types of sugar foods are slightly different.
Research limitations/implications
Due to data limitations, we are not able to do household-level analysis and to examine the heterogeneity of the habit formation effect.
Originality/value
This is the first study that examines changes in the habit formation effect on residents' sugar expenditure in urban China. Our findings provide a reasonable explanation for the rapid growth of residents' sugar consumption in urban China. The result helps to formulate targeted policies for future interventions to control the growth of sugar consumption.
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Steven M. Suranovic and Robert S. Goldfarb
This paper presents a behavioral economics model with bounded rationality to describe an individual's food consumption choices that lead to weight gain and dieting. Using a…
Abstract
This paper presents a behavioral economics model with bounded rationality to describe an individual's food consumption choices that lead to weight gain and dieting. Using a physiological relationship determining calories needed to maintain weight, we simulate the food consumption choices of a representative female over a 30-year period. Results show an individual will periodically choose to diet, but that diet will reduce weight only temporarily. Recurrence of weight gain leads to cyclical dieting, which reduces the trend rate of weight increase. Dieting frequency is shown to depend on decision period length, dieting costs, and habit persistence.
This paper simplifies and extends the literature on habit‐forming consumption. When addictive and nonaddictive goods are consumed, complements may become substitutes and normal…
Abstract
This paper simplifies and extends the literature on habit‐forming consumption. When addictive and nonaddictive goods are consumed, complements may become substitutes and normal nonaddictive goods may become inferior. Alternatively, when all goods are equally addictive, consumers favor goods with stable prices. Implications for product promotion and public policy are discussed.
Marko Korhonen, Mikko Puhakka and Matti Viren
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of aggregate suicides in 15 OECD countries during 1960-2010 using an economic model where changes in the welfare of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of aggregate suicides in 15 OECD countries during 1960-2010 using an economic model where changes in the welfare of consumers play the critical role for determining the number of suicides.
Design/methodology/approach
The hardship index based on economic theory is developed. In estimating the model, the authors apply the Pesaran et al. (2001) approach that allows the simultaneous estimation of the long-run and short-run parameters. To make sure that the authors’ findings are not specific to their method, the authors also use the generalized method of moments estimation in the panel set-up.
Findings
The authors found a relatively strong positive relationship between macroeconomic conditions, especially changes in aggregate consumption, and suicides. The relationship appears to be robust also in terms of the various control variables cited in the literature. The hardship index which is based on the habit persistence model of consumption predicts and explains the long-term behavior of suicides in most of the countries. Thus, the hardship index is a better economic explanatory variable than the unemployment rate or other proxies describing economic conditions.
Originality/value
Marrying the economic theory and econometric methods produces a reasonable empirical model to explain the connection between aggregate economic conditions and suicides.
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Karim Marini Thomé, Giselle Cappellesso and Guilherme Mata Pinho
This article aims to explore the influence of values concerning food consumption and the effect of physical activity habit moderation on these.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore the influence of values concerning food consumption and the effect of physical activity habit moderation on these.
Design/methodology/approach
The consumption value theory was used as a base, and a survey with 292 participants was analysed by means of factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings are presented at three levels. The first is the clustering of food consumption habits in different dimensions: healthy, unhealthy and hybrid. The second is the relationship between values and food consumption. In detail: (1) emotional value is the only significant measurement for the consumption of the three food dimensions; (2) social value is a significant measurement for healthy food consumption; (3) conditional value is significant for the consumption of hybrid and unhealthy foods; (4) epistemic value has significance in the consumption of hybrid foods; (5) functional value is denied for all dimensions. The third concerns the relationship between value perceptions and food consumption moderated by physical activity in: (1) social value of healthy foods; (2) functional value of hybrid foods; and (3) emotional and epistemic values of unhealthy foods.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature on consumption values and raises new insights into value and habits regarding food consumption, such as physical activity involved in the consumption context.
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I build an equilibrium model trying to reconcile investor preferences with several features of the cat bond market. The driving force behind the model is a habit process, in that…
Abstract
I build an equilibrium model trying to reconcile investor preferences with several features of the cat bond market. The driving force behind the model is a habit process, in that catastrophes are rare economic shocks that could bring investors closer to their subsistence level. The calibration requires shocks with an impact between −1% and −3% to explain a reasonable level of cat bond spreads. Such investor preferences are not only able to generate realistic cat bond returns and price comovement among different perils, but may also able to explain why cat bonds offer higher rewards compared to equally rated corporate bonds.
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Zhang Yanyan, Chuen-Khee Pek and Tat-Huei Cham
This study aims to look into consumers' green consumption intention by incorporating social media exposure, environmental concern and habit into theory of planned behavior (TPB…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to look into consumers' green consumption intention by incorporating social media exposure, environmental concern and habit into theory of planned behavior (TPB) in the context of China advocating green consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the data collected from online survey, this study use partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analysis the measurement model and structure model.
Findings
The results show attitude, social media exposure, environmental concern and subjective norms are important determinants of consumers' intention to purchase green products.
Originality/value
This study explores the new associations between the major constructs of the TPB model in green consumption. This study also expanded the TPB model by adding three extra factors, namely social media exposure, habit and environmental concern. In addition, this study attempts to bridge the gap between attitude and intention from a new perspective by using social media exposure as a moderating variable.
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Carlo Giannetto, Angelina De Pascale, Giuseppe Di Vita and Maurizio Lanfranchi
Apples have always been considered a healthy product able to provide curative properties to consumers. In Italy, there is a long tradition of apple consumption and production both…
Abstract
Purpose
Apples have always been considered a healthy product able to provide curative properties to consumers. In Italy, there is a long tradition of apple consumption and production both as a fresh product and as processed food. However, as with many other products, the consumption of fruits and vegetables and, more specifically apples, has been drastically affected by the first lockdown in 2020. In this project, the authors investigate whether the change in consumption habits had long-lasting consequences beyond 2020 and what are the main eating motivations, food-related behavior and socio-demographic affecting the consumption of fruits and vegetables after the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors ran two online surveys with 1,000 Italian consumers across a year (from October 2021 to December 2022). In the study, participants answered questions about their consumption habits and their eating motives. Out of 1,000 consumers, the authors included in the final analysis only the participants who answered both surveys, leaving a final sample of 651 consumers.
Findings
The results show that participants have allocated more budget to fruit and vegetables after the lockdown than before it. Moreover, consumers reported an average increase in the consumption of apples. However, the increase was more pronounced for people aged between 30 and 50 years old and identified as female. After showing the difference across time, a cluster analysis identified three main segments that differ in their eating motives, place of purchase and area of residence.
Practical implications
Overall, the results contribute to a better understanding of how the global pandemic is still affecting people's daily life. Moreover, the findings can be used to guide the marketing and communication strategies of companies in the food sector.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates changes in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and, more specifically, apples, in Italy more than one year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the study proposes a classification of consumers based on their habits in a time frame during which the COVID-19 wave was at its bottom which is not currently present in the literature.
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