Search results

1 – 10 of over 8000
Article
Publication date: 14 January 2022

Haibo Xue, Xin Zhao, Pokachev Nikolay and Jiayi Qin

Family dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve is the most important and most ritualized feast for families in China. It is the time for the entire family to reunite. Families gather…

Abstract

Purpose

Family dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve is the most important and most ritualized feast for families in China. It is the time for the entire family to reunite. Families gather together to reflect their past and talk about the future. Through the lens of consumer culture theories, this study explores how Chinese consumers construct family identity.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on constant comparative analysis of primary data including in-depth interviews and participant observation, and secondary data including historical archives, cultural tracing, documentary reports and essays, the authors deconstruct the consumption rituals of family dinner on Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve. The authors focus on four aspects, including participants, place, time and related activities, and analyze Chinese consumers' ritual experiences.

Findings

The authors’ findings show how young consumers construct and strengthen individual self-identity, relational identity and family identity in various ways through consumption and ritual practices during Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

Originality/value

The study of family dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve helps the authors understand contemporary consumer culture in three aspects. First, it helps the authors understand the relationship between consumption and culture. Second, the study shows the changes and continuities of consumption rituals. Third, the research highlights the experience of “home” among contemporary Chinese consumers.

Details

Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-7480

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

Hongyan Yu, Ann Veeck and Fang (Grace) Yu

This study aims to, with family structures in urban China becoming increasingly diverse, examine how and to what extent the characteristics of everyday family meals relate to the…

1647

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to, with family structures in urban China becoming increasingly diverse, examine how and to what extent the characteristics of everyday family meals relate to the establishment and strengthening of a collective sense of the Chinese family. Integrating ritual and family identity theories developed through studies conducted in the West, the research explores the relationship between family identity and the major dimensions that characterize ritualistic practices through an examination of family dinners in a non-Western context.

Design/methodology/approach

The mixed-method approach combines a qualitative phase (focus groups and interviews) with a large-scale survey of households (n = 1,319) in four Chinese cities.

Findings

The results find a positive relationship between family identity and commitment to family meals, as well as continuity promoted through family meals, at a 99 per cent confidence level.

Research limitations/implications

One important research limitation is that the sample was limited to four cities. In addition, it is difficult for quantitative measures to capture the richness of emotionally and symbolically laden constructs, such as communication, commitment, continuity and family identity.

Practical implications

The results provide insights into the meanings of family meals in China. With over one-third of household expenditures spent on food in Chinese cities, the formulation of brand positions and promotions can be informed through a greater understanding of the influence of family dynamics on food consumption.

Social implications

The findings indicate that, within China’s dynamic environment of changing family values, strengthening the ritualistic characteristics of everyday family activities, such as family meals, can lead to an increase in a collective sense of family.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates under what conditions, within this rapidly changing socioeconomic environment, the family dinner provides stability and a sense of unity for Chinese families. In China, a trend toward individualization is accompanied by a deep-seeded sense of obligation toward family that exerts an important influence on meal composition and patterns.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 32 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2018

So-young Kim and Minji Kang

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nutritional quality of dinnertime meals eaten out of home (OH) vs those eaten at home by male Korean workers.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nutritional quality of dinnertime meals eaten out of home (OH) vs those eaten at home by male Korean workers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study included 1,634 male Korean workers aged between 19 and 64 years among 15,508 individuals who participated in a 24-hour dietary recall through the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2014. The study participants were classified and analyzed according to the place where dinner had been prepared: out-of-home group (OHG) (n=659) and at-home group (AHG) (n=975).

Findings

Young male white-collar workers who are unmarried with a higher level of education and income were more likely to eat OH at dinner. The OHG consumed more energy, fat, and sodium, but less carbohydrate at dinner than the AHG. The contribution of dinner to daily energy and macronutrient intakes, except for carbohydrate, was higher in the OHG. Additionally, the study results suggested that the OHG was less likely to consume a traditional Korean meal at dinner. Overall, the nutritional quality of dinnertime meals eaten OH had greater potential to lead to negative effects on nutrition and health.

Originality/value

This study highlights OH eating among male Korean workers as an important arena in which strategies for healthier eating can be deployed when establishing worksite health promotion or related national nutrition policies.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 120 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

David Purnell

The purpose of this research study is to extend the concept of third places, as explained by Oldenburg (2000), as being places designed as meeting places and as being dynamic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research study is to extend the concept of third places, as explained by Oldenburg (2000), as being places designed as meeting places and as being dynamic rather than static.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary site for this paper is a neighborhood ritual of shared meals that has taken place every Wednesday for the past fourteen years. This was a 6 month study focusing on semi-structured interviews.

Findings

Characteristics of third places when compared to other arguments for the classification of third place supports the use of space instead of the purpose of a place as the main consideration for the classification of “third place”.

Research limitations/implications

Defining social events within homes as third spaces pushes the traditional third place theory forward. It offers a way for rituals to be explored more deeply through the experiences they offer.

Practical implications

This study asks the reader to pay attention to the periphery where interaction takes place and consider how we frame concepts of third places.

Social implications

Third places create an environment that allows individuals expressions of restraint (to keep the distance between yourself and others), relaxation (to be yourself), freedom (from judgment), reflexivity (when you look back at past events) and vulnerability (opening yourself up to the possibilities that come from interacting with others).

Originality/value

The distinction of third place is not so much in the categorization of the building but rather in the use for which the space serves. Extending these conversations into future research endeavors would be to continue and to extend the discussion/description of third places.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 November 2011

Susanna Molander

Purpose – To develop CCT's practice perspective to increase the understanding of the consumption context and thereby of the sociohistoric patterning of…

Abstract

Purpose – To develop CCT's practice perspective to increase the understanding of the consumption context and thereby of the sociohistoric patterning of consumption.

Design/methodology/approach – An ethnographic exploration of how the different practices involved in a consumption situation, like the everyday dinner among single mothers, contextualized consumption.

Findings – The chapter concludes that mothering, defined as a meta-practice, dominated the consumption situation and organized the other practices involved.

Originality/value – Introducing the concept of meta-practices having a major influence over our consumption and thus a type of practice consumption research should look for.

Details

Research in Consumer Behavior
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-116-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Jean J. Boddewyn

Most years, several AIB members are elected as AIB Fellows on account of their excellent international business scholarship, and/or past service as AIB President or Executive…

Abstract

Most years, several AIB members are elected as AIB Fellows on account of their excellent international business scholarship, and/or past service as AIB President or Executive Secretary. The Fellows are in charge of electing Eminent Scholars as well as the International Executive and International Educator (formerly, Dean) of the Year, who often provide the focus for Plenary Sessions at AIB Conferences. Their history since 1975 covers over half of the span of the AIB and reflects many issues that dominated that period in terms of research themes, progresses and problems, the internationalization of business education and the role of international business in society and around the globe. Like other organizations, the Fellows Group had their ups and downs, successes and failures – and some fun too!

Details

International Business Scholarship: AIB Fellows on the First 50 Years and Beyond
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1470-6

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2009

Carola Raab, Karl Mayer, Stowe Shoemaker and Steve Ng

This paper aims to demonstrate how activity‐based pricing can be applied in a restaurant setting by combining the use of price sensitivity measurement with activity‐based costing.

5576

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate how activity‐based pricing can be applied in a restaurant setting by combining the use of price sensitivity measurement with activity‐based costing.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected at a Hong Kong buffet restaurant, based on guests' price perceptions and the establishment's detailed cost structure. These data are analyzed by using price sensitivity measurement techniques and activity‐based costing methods, separately, and then combined to create an activity‐based pricing analysis of the restaurant's menu.

Findings

The use of activity‐based pricing techniques reveals that, although the guests are relatively price‐insensitive, drastic measures were needed to reduce costs for the restaurant to become profitable. Without the benefit of this study, the restaurant's management would not have been able to see clearly the nature of the challenges that they faced, since a single pricing study, or cost study, would have missed the combined cost and pricing effects that were captured by activity‐based pricing.

Research limitations/implications

Activity‐based pricing is shown to be a powerful technique that can be applied effectively in a restaurant. Utilizing this method allows a restaurant truly to understand both its operating cost structure and the price perceptions of it guests. Since this study involved only a single buffet restaurant, further research should be conducted to confirm that activity‐based pricing can also be applied in other restaurant and hospitality industry settings.

Practical implications

The findings from this study suggest that activity‐based pricing may be a viable way for restaurant managers to gain a better understanding of both their guests' price perceptions and the true cost structure of their restaurants. Use of activity‐based pricing allows restaurant managers to set price levels that cover all operating costs and profits, while still meeting guests' expectations of value.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind in the hospitality literature, since no prior research has applied activity‐based pricing in a hospitality research setting. This study represents an important new addition to the existing body of hospitality cost and pricing literature.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2024

Juliana Costa Liboredo, Cláudia Antônia Alcântara Amaral and Natália Caldeira Carvalho

This study aims to assess Brazilian adult consumers’ behavior, aged 18–70, when purchasing ready-to-eat food during the first months of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess Brazilian adult consumers’ behavior, aged 18–70, when purchasing ready-to-eat food during the first months of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants answered an online questionnaire about behaviors related to the purchase of ready-to-eat food from food services: changes in usage frequency during the pandemic, reasons for altering purchase habits, types of food and beverages bought before and during the pandemic and the frequency of on-site (consumption in food services) and off-site (delivery, take-away and drive-through) service utilization at lunch and dinner.

Findings

Out of 970 individuals who participated in the study, during the pandemic, 38% of participants reduced their food service usage, whereas 18% stopped using it. The main reasons given by participants who reduced and stopped food service usage were cooking at home (52% and 59%, respectively) and feeling afraid of contracting COVID-19 (26% and 22%, respectively). The reduction was more frequent among divorced/widowed/single individuals (p = 0.001) and in total social distancing, that is, all day long (p = 0.03). A significant reduction in on-site consumption frequency occurred for lunch and dinner (p < 0.001), whereas an increase in the off-site consumption frequency service for lunch (p = 0.016) and a reduction for dinner (p = 0.01) occurred compared to pre-COVID-19. However, 48% of participants used these services at least once a week in both periods. Most consumed foods and drinks before and during the pandemic were pasta/pizza (74% and 64%, respectively), snack/burgers (66% and 59%, respectively), soft drinks (41% and 37%, respectively) and alcoholic beverages (37% and 25%, respectively).

Originality/value

Knowledge about food choices away from home during the pandemic is scarce. High consumption of food away from home has been associated with a greater risk of developing chronic non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and others. Eating behavior is influenced by the cultural, social, economic and personal characteristics of each individual. Understanding the main changes related to the consumption of ready-to-eat food and what the affected consumers profile in a time of unprecedented crisis, it is important to provide scientific knowledge that allows one to anticipate the implications for the future of individuals’ health and food systems and, consequently, to develop public policy or awareness and promotion actions of public health that encourage adopting healthier and balanced eating habits.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 September 2015

Gregory J. Mills

The current paper examines the relationships between watching television for various times of day and reading achievement for a subsample of third grade language minority (LM…

Abstract

Purpose

The current paper examines the relationships between watching television for various times of day and reading achievement for a subsample of third grade language minority (LM) students compared to third grade students in general.

Methodology

The analysis uses ECLS-K 1998–99 data to first test for significant differences between the two samples, then further explores these relationships using separate OLS multiple regression models, while controlling for past reading achievements and socioeconomic variation.

Findings

Building on more nuanced versions of displacement theory, this paper finds a positive relationship between reading achievement and watching television after dinner on weekdays specifically for LM students. For the general sample, watching TV on weekends or weekdays at any time period has no relationship with reading achievement.

Originality/value

This research suggests the potential for TV or perhaps other media to act as a lingual- or cultural-learning facilitator for LM students, being positively tied to reading achievement. The paper’s unique focus on multimedia use and LM students makes it particularly applicable to educators and public policy officials tasked with confronting the reading skills gap for a growing LM student population.

Details

Technology and Youth: Growing Up in a Digital World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-265-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1995

Jean C. Darian and Judy Cohen

Investigates whether consumers′ time availability is an importantsegmentation variable in the convenience and fast‐food markets. Verytime‐poor, somewhat time‐poor, and not…

3883

Abstract

Investigates whether consumers′ time availability is an important segmentation variable in the convenience and fast‐food markets. Very time‐poor, somewhat time‐poor, and not time‐poor consumers are compared, and three types of food are examined: fast foods, frozen dinners, and ready‐to‐eat foods. For weekday dinners, similarities and differences between the three segments are investigated with respect to usage of each type of food, importance of benefits sought in a weekday dinner, and perceptions of each type of food. Managerial implications of differences between segments and of overall patterns are discussed.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 8000