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This study aims to examine consumer involvement with nutrition labels in the USA. Although food label information including nutrition, size and color are standardized and mandated by Food and Drug Administration, consumers perceive some food labels more confusing than others and many ignore the information by seeing them as unimportant. This study measures the importance of different nutrients and examines the differences between consumers that read nutrition labels and consumers that do not read nutrition labels.

In total, 300 consumers were surveyed using Qualtrics internet panel about the importance of nutrition information on food labels. Importance of food nutrients and food serving, size as they impact consumer involvement with food labels, was measured using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate perceived risk associated with nutrition labels, and food serving size information impacts consumer involvement with nutrition labels.

There are a variety of important public policy implications for government agencies and food manufacturers in educating the public about the use of nutrition information on food labels.

This study expands previous research by adding three more nutrients to the dietary scale from nutrition labels (sodium, cholesterol and carbohydrates) and focuses mainly on the nutrients that are considered to be negative for most people.

This study examines the importance of 25 barriers to market entry in industrial markets. A survey of 93 firms indicates that majority of business executives consider cost advantages and capital requirements to enter markets as the two most important barriers to entry followed by incumbents having a superior production process, capital intensity of the market, and customer loyalty. The least important barriers perceived by the executives in the study are government licensing requirements, followed by heavy advertising. In addition, the study investigates the underlying dimensions of barriers to entry in industrial market through a factor analysis. The results indicate that there are four major underlying dimensions of entry barriers in industrial markets.

Tabulates the numbers of internet users in various countries and assesses the size of the e‐commerce economy in the USA. Discusses the reasons why consumers use the internet, the issues of customer service and product delivery/return, what they buy online and how their concerns over privacy and security might be solved. Notes that business‐to‐business e‐commerce still accounts for most online transactions, predicts continued growth in this area and looks at the use of both intranets and extranets. Briefly considers various technical and other aspects of the internet’s future and sees it as impossible to ignore but warns that not all types of business can be successful online.

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework for defensive strategy by integrating market entry modes and the typology of firms suggested by Day and Nedungandi, and to attempt to propose how local incumbent firms utilize their mental models in order to react against market entry of new competition in global markets.

The theoretical perspective adopted in the study is how mental models used by incumbent firms influence their reaction to market entry of new competition in developing defensive strategies to defend their markets.

Mental models of incumbent firms, categorized as self‐centered, competitor‐centered, customer‐oriented, and market‐driven firms, impact their reaction and the development of defensive marketing strategies against market entrants using a variety of market entry modes in global markets.

The paper presents an extensive review of the defensive marketing and mental models literature and shows how the way in which incumbent firms react to market entry of new competition contributes to understanding of incumbent reaction to market entry of new competition in global markets. Research directions for future research and managerial implications are also provided.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of customer care experiences voiced online on consumer choice of brand or company when purchasing products and services by including the level of usage of these sites, and consumer opinions about whether or not their comments would make a difference to the actions of companies.

The theoretical framework of word of mouth is extended to an online environment, electronic word of mouth (e‐WOM), when using consumer opinions about customer care, and a model is suggested using structural equation modeling utilizing data from 320 consumers in the USA.

Consumer opinions about customer care in socially‐based web sites impact consumer opinions and consumer engagement and consequently consumer choice of brand or company when making purchases. The web sites, including government/consumer advocacy information sites, company web sites, and information found through search engines, are not considered important in influencing consumers.

The implications of the study are that companies need to pay attention to the voices of customers on socially‐based web sites and respond appropriately in order to keep customers brand‐loyal. Since this was an exploratory study, it was limited in the number of variables used for testing the hypotheses. The study could be improved by increasing the number of variables that explain online consumer opinions, online engagement and consumer choice of brand or company.

This is an exploratory study focusing on the customer care experience rather than product quality or value provided by companies as discussed by consumers on a variety of web sites. Therefore, it extends the previous works on product quality and value.

Most previous studies dealing with business site selection decisions have been theoretical and mainly concerned with cost factors. There are many variables other than cost, some of which are qualitative and intangible in nature. This study attempts to provide empirical evidence on the importance of cost and other location‐related variables. The 84 fastest‐growing businesses in New England and New York were surveyed utilizing 27 variables associated with location decisions. Most of the 27 variables are industry‐specific and their importance varies from industry to industry. Factor analysis, using principal component extraction method and varimax rotation showed that there are six underlying dimensions considered in business site selection decisions. Cities and towns can benefit from utilizing the findings of this type of research in attracting new businesses and preventing the existing businesses from leaving for other locations.

As an exploratory study, the purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying motivations for attending soccer games.

Attendees at two soccer games in Athens, Greece were surveyed about their frequency of attendance at soccer games and their attitudes toward soccer. In total, 252 people from five randomly selected sections of the stadiums participated in the survey.

The results indicate that there are three major motivations – emotional excitement, socialization, and soccer atmospherics – and two identity salience factors – ardent soccer fans and rational soccer fans – for attending soccer games. The most important factor for attendance is being an ardent soccer fan closely followed by the emotional excitement factor. Among the demographic factors considered, only gender significantly affects soccer game attendance.

In contrast to previous studies that are somewhat descriptive, this research explicitly introduces factors related to social identity theory and attempts to predict soccer game attendance on the basis of a scale of factors that focus on the major motivations for attendance of soccer games, identity salience reasons, and demographic factors. The inclusion of social identity theory as a factor in the attendance of soccer games is a major contribution of this study. Contrary to most of the earlier studies, this study showed that the socialization factor is not related to attendance at soccer games.

The aim of this study is to examine profiles of consumers in organic foods market segments and determine their attitudes toward organic food consumption. Consequently, we explore whether there are differences among these consumer segments in terms of their health orientation, socially responsible consumption, environmental responsibility and values and lifestyles.

A total of 316 consumers were surveyed at supermarkets and malls in one of the largest metropolitan areas of a European city.

The cluster analysis performed indicates that there are three segments based on consumer attitudes toward organic foods: favorable, neutral and unfavorable. The results show that the consumer segment with more favorable attitudes toward organic foods exhibits higher levels of health orientation and socially responsible consumption behavior when compared to other segments.

It important for marketers to understand organic foods market segments so that they can target them with the appropriate marketing mix. For this reason, we attempt to identify consumer segments based on their attitudes and behavior concerning organic foods. In doing so, we examine the profiles of consumers in each organic food market segment and their attitudes toward organic food consumption.

Organic food consumption is growing at a fast pace despite economic problems around the world. This study has identified three market segments (consumer profiles) with different attitudes and behavior towards organic foods.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a model and note the ranking of the trust factors of messages about organic food in social networks.

The research was divided into four phases. The first employed the literature review about Trust, Trust of products, Trust of organic foods and Trust in the social networks. This review was prepared as some hypothesis about the trust of messages about organic food in the social network. The second employed a focused interview to supplement the mentioned hypothesis to 31 factors that affect the trust of messages about organic food in social networks. In the third phase, 300 forms were used to collect information from Iranian consumers for exploratory factor analysis. Finally, neural networks were used to determine the ranking of the mentioned factors.

The results show 31 factors that affect the trust of messages about organic food in social networks. The results of this study showed that Iranian and international organic foods producers may be able to spread messages of trust about their products in social networks by attending to these 31 factors. This study also explored a model constructed using EFA that showed that six factors have a positive effect on the level of trust of messages about organic food in social networks.

This research effectively helps organic food producers to better understand the trust factors and ways to improve that trust in cyberspace marketing plans and to increase their sales.

For the first time, this research seeks a model for the factors affecting consumer trust in organic foods in social networks, and in the next step, it ranks these factors with artificial neural networks.