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This paper aims to examine the role of volitive desire in self-control toward temptations. It extends prior research on the role of prudence in temptation resistance by empirically demonstrating that prudence bolsters self-control toward food temptations by lowering volitive desire motivation toward temptation enactment.

This study consists of a 2 (food type: temptation vs goal-congruent) × 2 (prudence level: low vs high) between-subjects quasi-experimental design. Hypothesis tests were conducted by using analysis of covariance and ordinary least squares regression-based moderated mediation analysis.

The results show that high-prudence participants experienced lower volitive desire toward eating the temptation food option than low-prudence participants. Consequently, high- (vs low-) prudence participants reported significantly weaker eating intentions toward the temptation food option. Moreover, volitive desire significantly mediated the effect of prudence level on intentions to eat the temptation food option.

The study contains methodological limitations. First, the study operationalizes volitive desire as “non-appetitive, instrumental reasons for eating or not eating the food,” yet in some contexts volitive desire can include appetitive reasons. Second, the procedure consisted of presenting participants with only a goal-consistent or temptation food option, rather than with both, which is more realistic. The study also focuses on a single goal context, healthy eating, to the exclusion of other contexts associated with consumer self-control. Additionally, the appetitive and volitive desire self-report measure method produced flawed ratings, requiring us to use the open-ended responses as this study’s dependent variable. Finally, this study does not directly test the extent of prudence-driven deliberation about temptation enactment consequences.

Social marketing campaigns can encourage low prudence consumers to strengthen this behavioral trait by performing beneficial, slightly to moderately challenging utilitarian tasks (e.g. making one’s bed each morning, flossing one’s teeth every evening, etc.) that involve exercising self-control on a regular basis. Social marketing ads can also appeal to the consequence-vigilance of high prudence consumers by increasing the salience of consequences of self-control failures in behaviors related to social issues such as pollution, drinking and driving, smoking and recreational drug use. An additional implication is that marketers of health goal-related products and services could segment the market based on trait prudence and target high-prudence consumers with ads that increase the salience of consequences associated with not using the company’s health product or service or the consequences of using the competition’s products or services.

Consumers can improve their well-being by exercising self-control consistently in low to moderately challenging tasks, which boosts their prudence. High-prudence consumers can intentionally focus on volitive motives when faced with temptations to ensure effective self-control.

This research examines the role of volitive desire as the process by which trait prudence affects intentions toward temptation options, which extends prior research on the role of prudence in self-control for temptations (Puri, 1996). This framework builds on the philosophy of action perspective on desire and shows that trait prudence can predict temptation enactment intentions through the mediating role of volitive desire. Thus, the findings illuminate the motivational mechanism by which prudence bolsters self-control in the face of temptation: volitive desire.

This study evaluates the impact of online menus and perceived convenience of online food ordering on consumer purchase intention and shows how a desire for food creates a relationship between an online menu and a customer's purchase intention. Suggestions for management are proposed to design an effective menu to improve business performance in the competitive market in Vietnam.

The paper follows a quantitative method. Quantitative research aims to analyze and critically evaluate the research question(s) to discover new factors.

Findings indicate a positive relationship between menu visual appeal (MV), menu informativeness (MI), desire for food (DF), the perceived convenience (PC) of ordering food online and intention to purchase (PI). The attractiveness of images and information is a significant factor affecting diners’ desire to eat, while the demand for food and the convenience of ordering food online are also factors affecting purchase intention.

The study confirms the importance of online menus to purchase intention. Economically, when supply and demand are reasonable, the market is stable and technology develops. In terms of social, hygiene, attractiveness and price factors, it is helpful to have an overview. Research is the premise for further studies with factors from menu to customer trust.

The study provides a solid foundation for further studies on restaurant menu elements as well as a new perspective on how restaurants improve their dishes.

This study aims to empirically investigate how the interaction effect of occasion-setting cues and consumers’ cognitive styles (e.g. field dependence levels) influences their food intake intention.

In this research, several scenario simulation studies were conducted to verify the hypotheses. A total of 646 participants were recruited for the experiments, and samples were obtained through well-established online research platforms.

In the occasion-setting cue advertisement condition, field-dependent (vs field-independent) consumers displayed increased cravings for food and purchase intention, with mental simulation playing a mediating role and cognitive load playing a moderating role.

The influence of others (e.g. servers and other consumers) was not taken into consideration in this study. Future research can extend this study by conducting field experiments.

The research conclusions can help various organisations reduce consumers’ food overconsumption intention and encourage healthier food choices by adjusting occasion-setting cues in marketing stimuli and identifying the target consumers’ cognitive styles.

Based on embodied cognition theory, this study reveals the influence and internal mechanism of the interaction effect between occasion-setting cues and individual cognitive style on eating desire.

To provide insights into holiday well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine two inevitable traveller activities related to destinations’ gastronomy: pre-trip food information sourcing and the daily meals consumed.

A survey was carried out among 243 Finnish travellers. The findings are based on univariate analysis (t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis).

Pre-trip behaviour to ensure holiday well-being is based on travellers’ interests in food, an emotional desire for a sense of safety and a functional desire for convenience, while they collect information from the internet and guidebooks about recommended food places and local food as well as food safety and price level. Travellers’ place the highest importance on dinner for their holiday well-being, especially foodies – those travellers with a keen interest in food. Breakfast is the second most important meal contributing to holiday well-being.

These findings inform destination marketing organisations about what food dimensions they should emphasise in destination gastronomy-related marketing communication for tour operators and hotel and local restaurants about the essence of dinner and breakfast for holiday well-being.

The study provides insights into the role of destinations’ gastronomy in holiday well-being, which deserves to be studied in the current era of experiences and food interest.

The purpose of this paper was to study responses to traditional food of a country, focusing on emotion-motivational responses by locals and foreigners.

Through an experimental design study, Portuguese and Foreign participants were exposed to both traditional and nontraditional food pictures of a country and asked to evaluate their emotional and motivational responses while physiological responses of electrodermal activity were being continuously recorded. Predisposition factors of body dissatisfaction, food neophobia and food involvement were also evaluated given their potential role in predicting the responses to the visualization of the food pictures.

This study found that local traditional food received a higher positive evaluation than nontraditional food with locals evaluating it even higher than foreigners. Higher feelings of arousal and desire as well as willingness to try in response to traditional food were also found as well as higher feelings of pleasure by locals. However, interestingly, and contrary to expectations derived from previous literature, emotion-motivational responses were not significantly different between locals and foreigners.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research addressed an identified research gap in the literature, being the first one evaluating the autonomic responses of consumers to traditional food by exploring how local and foreign consumers respond to traditional food versus nontraditional food using psychophysiological measures of emotion.

El objetivo principal de esta investigación fue estudiar las respuestas a la comida tradicional de un país, centrándose en las respuestas emoción-motivación de los locales y los extranjeros.

A través de un estudio de diseño experimental, los participantes portugueses y extranjeros fueron expuestos a imágenes de comida tradicional y no tradicional de un país y se les pidió que evaluaran sus respuestas emocionales y motivacionales mientras se registraban continuamente las respuestas fisiológicas de la actividad electrodérmica. También se evaluaron los factores de predisposición de la insatisfacción corporal, la neofobia a la comida y la implicación en la comida, dado su papel potencial en la predicción de las respuestas a la visualización de las imágenes de comida.

Encontramos que la comida tradicional local recibió una evaluación positiva más alta que la comida no tradicional, con los locales evaluándola incluso más alto que los extranjeros. También se encontraron mayores sentimientos de excitación y deseo, así como la voluntad de probar en respuesta a la comida tradicional, así como mayores sentimientos de placer por parte de los locales. Sin embargo, curiosamente, y en contra de las expectativas derivadas de la literatura anterior, las respuestas emocionales-motivacionales no fueron significativamente diferentes entre los locales y los extranjeros.

Esta investigación abordó una brecha de investigación identificada en la literatura, siendo la primera que evalúa las respuestas autonómicas de los consumidores a la comida tradicional al explorar cómo los consumidores locales y extranjeros responden a la comida tradicional frente a la no tradicional utilizando medidas psicofisiológicas de emoción.

本研究的主要目的是研究本地人和外国人对一个国家的传统食物的情感动机反应。

通过实验设计研究, 葡萄牙人和外国参与者会看到一个国家的传统和非传统食物图片, 并被要求评估他们的情绪和动机反应, 同时连续记录皮肤电活动的生理反应。考虑到其他变量在预测对食物图片可视化的反应方面的潜在作用, 还评估了身体不满、食物恐惧症和食物参与的易感因素的影响。

研究结果发现, 当地的传统食物比非传统食物得到了更高的积极评价, 且当地人对它的评价甚至比外国人更高。当地人对传统食物的表现出更高的唤醒, 欲望和尝试意愿, 以及更高的愉悦感。然而, 有趣的是, 与以往文献的预期相反, 当地人和外国人之间的情绪动机反应并没有呈现出明显差异。

这项研究填补了现有文献中的研究空白, 它是第一个通过使用心理生理学的情绪测量方法来探索本地和外国消费者对传统食物与非传统食物的反应, 从而评估消费者对传统食物自主反应的研究。

This study aims to assess the relationship between anxiety with body concern, academic variables and food desire in undergraduate Nutrition students.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 173 students from the undergraduate course of Nutrition in the Midwest region of Brazil. Socioeconomic, academic and behavioral data (Beck Anxiety Inventory, Body Shape Questionnaire and Food Desires Questionnaire) were collected.

One-third of the students had moderate or severe anxiety symptoms. There were no differences between socioeconomic characteristics in terms of the intensity of anxiety symptoms. Students with minimal symptoms of anxiety had a higher average grade in the course, when compared to those with mild or moderate symptoms and those with severe symptoms (p = 0.001). It was observed that 46.2% had some concerns about their bodies and 11% had severe body concerns. The average grade was associated with anxiety so that 1 point in the global grade is associated to 54% (p < 0,001) less chance of having moderate; severe anxiety. In conclusion, average grade was associated with anxiety in undergraduate Nutrition students.

Average grade was a protection factor for anxiety in undergraduate Nutrition students.

While it is essential to further research the growing diversity in western metropolitan cities, little is currently known about how the members of various ethnic communities acculturate to multicultural societies. The purpose of this paper is to explore immigrants’ cosmopolitanism and acculturation strategies through an analysis of the food consumption behaviour of ethnic consumers in multicultural London.

The study was set within the socio-cultural context of London. A number of qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, observation and photographs were used to assess consumers’ acculturation strategies in a multicultural environment and how that is influenced by consumer cosmopolitanism.

Ethnic consumers’ food consumption behaviour reflects their acculturation strategies, which can be classified into four groups: rebellion, rarefaction, resonance and refrainment. This classification demonstrates ethnic consumers’ multi-directional acculturation strategies, which are also determined by their level of cosmopolitanism.

The taxonomy presented in this paper advances current acculturation scholarship by suggesting a multi-directional model for acculturation strategies as opposed to the existing uni-directional and bi-directional perspectives and explicates the role of consumer cosmopolitanism in consumer acculturation. The paper did not engage host communities and there is hence a need for future research on how and to what extent host communities are acculturated to the multicultural environment.

The findings have direct implications for the choice of standardisation vs adaptation as a marketing strategy within multicultural cities. Whilst the rebellion group are more likely to respond to standardisation, increasing adaptation of goods and service can ideally target members of the resistance and resonance groups and more fusion products should be exclusively earmarked for the resonance group.

The paper makes original contribution by introducing a multi-directional perspective to acculturation by delineating four-group taxonomy (rebellion, rarefaction, resonance and refrainment). This paper also presents a dynamic model that captures how consumer cosmopolitanism impinges upon the process and outcome of multi-directional acculturation strategies.

This study aims to understand the extent to which packaging influences Brazilian parents' purchasing willingness based on children's food preferences for unhealthy food products.

Parents, with children up to 12 years old, answered questions about the positive influence of the packaging on the children, the preferences of the children in their willingness to buy and the propensity to give in to the desires of the children. Data analysis was performed with the statistical software SPSS and Stata used for structural equations modeling.

The results back the outlined hypotheses and point out that the characteristics of the packaging positively influence children's preferences as well as parents’ who are prone to give in to such influences. In some relationships, there was a minute moderating effect of social desirability and social class.

The research presents as a limitation the nature of the sample, parents, to the extent that the influences of the packages on the children were analyzed from their perspectives.

Findings from the research can be used to think about preventive public policies to protect children as highly vulnerable subjects. Another practical implication is that the same marketing strategies that are used for unhealthy foods can also be used for healthy foods, improving their linkage to the children once there are evidences that packaging can positively influence their preferences.

The originality of this study is to focus on children's food preferences for unhealthy products and in parents with children up to 12 years old, which is not often investigated by researchers.

This paper aims to explore the influence of four types of imagery stimuli (i.e. visual, olfactory, gustatory and auditory) on food craving intensity based on the Elaborated Intrusion theory and the central role of mental imagery in the food craving experience. The roles of overall perception of sensory imagery attributes and perceived availability in moderating this process were also tested. The aim is to extract the positive aspects of food cravings by increasing them and shifting them toward healthy foods.

In an online experiment, 314 participants were randomly primed with each imagery condition. After being exposed to either healthy or unhealthy food pictures, participants completed a questionnaire measuring their craving state, trait food craving, imaging ability, BMI, dietary restraint, hunger and mood. At the end, the impact of food craving intensity on marketing outcomes (i.e. willingness to pay, price sensitivity and food intake) were tested.

As predicted, visual imagery was found to be the strongest stimulus inducing food craving followed by olfactory, gustatory and auditory stimuli. Furthermore, the results indicate that perceived availability of food is the only important variable moderating this process. Additionally, the results show that hunger makes consumers more susceptible to food cravings than mood. Moreover, food craving intensity showed significant impact on the two marketing outcomes: willingness to pay and food intake.

First, the authors used a cheeseburger as unhealthy food and salad as healthy food, future studies can increase the generalizability of the findings by using other types of food. Second, physiological and psychological disorders should be considered and studied as influential factors on food cravings in future studies. Third, future studies should include some behavioral measures besides the analysis of state and trait craving. Fourth, although the main objective of this study was to compare the effect of different imagery stimuli on consumers’ food craving, there was no control (no-stimulus) condition.

Marketing strategists may benefit from the fact that encouraging consumers to visualize some specific type of food product along with informing them about its availability will elevate their craving for that food product. Hence, using this strategy in shopping environments could be beneficial. In the context of improving people’s diet, our results showed that encouraging people to visualize healthy foods (e.g. fruits and vegetables) might be more helpful than priming them with the benefits of eating healthy.

There has been a recent enthusiastic interest in identifying the role of food related mental imagery and stimuli in consumers’ decision making and their final consumption (Christian et al., 2016). Nevertheless, very few studies in marketing have paid attention to these underpinning stimuli driving food craving and the significant influence of this food craving phenomenon on marketing outcomes.