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Many western consumers have become sensitive to the negative effects of their consumption levels in many product categories and those new attitudes are challenging their habitual consumption behaviors. How do dissonant attitudes influence the process toward behavioral change? How does external information reinforce those conflicting attitudes with new dissonant cognitions and foster intentions to modify behavior? This study aims to propose a conceptual model, based on cognitive dissonance theory, which introduces psychological discomfort as an important mediator toward behavioral change intentions.

Two studies are conducted. Using structural equation modeling under Amos, hypotheses are tested and validated in the field of meat consumption on a sample of 501 French consumers. A second study investigates the impact of the nature of the stimulus on consumers’ responses.

The results show that psychological discomfort is increased by the contact with dissonant external information and that consumers may at the same time minimize the effects of additional cognition by implementing informational strategies such as trivialization or decredibilization to defend their consumption behavior.

Future researchers could consider the various objections to meat consumption separately and further explore the dynamics between external information, consumer cognitions and consumer consumption behavior in diverse consumption contexts.

The authors advise meat marketers to reduce consumer psychological discomfort by promoting the hedonic perceived value and by presenting credible counterarguments to defend the benefits of their products.

The study may encourage advocates of lower meat consumption to provide credible information about the detrimental effects of meat consumption to influence behavioral change intentions.

As responsible consumption becomes a key trend in western societies, new attitudes, fostered by external critical information, are influencing consumption behavior in many product categories. This research contributes to a better understanding of the attitude–behavior gap in a context of emerging criticism toward highly consumed and traditional products.

For most frequently purchased packaged goods distributed in the super‐hypermarket channel, the store is where a manufacturer's brand can develop its image and its evaluation through an informal control on the purchase experience. Yet, for brands in this sector, better controlled in‐store purchase experiences can lead to enhance brand perceived value, relationship quality, and loyalty. To capture how these contacts take place, the authors develop the concept of in‐store manufacturer brand expression. This concept encompasses three dimensions, namely perceived quality of in‐store manufacturer brand presentation, in‐store manufacturer brand image expression, and perceived closeness of brand image with store image. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of these components on brand evaluations. An empirical application on brands of the food and intimate apparel categories shows the differential impacts of these components on perceived value, relationship quality (trust‐credibility, trust‐benevolence, affective commitment), and attitudinal loyalty.

The empirical application involves major brands positioned in frequently purchased packaged goods categories (ice cream, frozen meals and intimate apparel) and distributed in the super‐hypermarket channel over which they have no formal control. The conceptualization and measurement of perceived brand relationship orientation bears on a qualitative analysis of marketing experts and consumers. Refinement and validation of measures are applied to a convenience sample of 153 students and finally on a sample of 304 actual consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the model and hypotheses.

Perceived quality of in‐store brand presentation has a direct positive effect on brand value and trust‐credibility whereas in‐store brand image expression has direct positive impact on trust‐benevolence and affective commitment. At the same time, perceived closeness of brand manufacturer image with store image has a direct negative impact on trust‐credibility. In addition, the authors observed that these effects have significant indirect positive and negative consequences on attitudinal loyalty, throughout the causal links which exist between value, trust and affective commitment. Also, the authors' results support the relationship marketing model in the case of strong national brands positioned in the frequently purchased packaged goods sector.

The application is limited to only three product categories and to strong national brands which enjoy high levels of awareness and market share. Also, the model could be connected to behavioural loyalty metrics, in addition to attitudinal loyalty.

Conceptualization of perceived brand relationship orientation in the case of frequently purchased packaged goods categories is a new step in the understanding and management of consumer‐brand relationship and mass market channel policies.

This paper aims to contribute to the empirical validation of the relationship model as it applies to the case of major national brands positioned in the frequently purchased packaged goods markets, and propose the perceived brand relationship orientation concept as an additional antecedent of trust, affective commitment and attitudinal loyalty. Yet, for a relationship to exist, the parties need to be mutually considered as potential relational partners. This paper seeks to introduce the concept of perceived brand relationship orientation, which is considered, along with perceived quality, as a significant direct antecedent of relationship quality (trust and affective commitment) and, indirectly, attitudinal loyalty.

The empirical application involves major national brands positioned in frequently purchased packaged goods food categories (ice cream and frozen meals). The conceptualization and measurement of the perceived brand relationship orientation bears on a qualitative analysis of marketing experts and consumers. Refinement and validation of measures are applied to a convenience sample of 153 students and finally to a sample of 404 consumers, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Structural equation modeling is used to test the model and hypotheses.

First, the authors validate the relationship marketing model in the case of strong national brands positioned in the frequently purchased packaged goods sector. The authors show that perceived quality impacts relationship quality (trust and affective commitment), which in turn influences attitudinal loyalty. Second, in addition to the effects of perceived quality, the authors show that perceived brand relationship orientation has direct positive impacts on trust and affective commitment and, in turn, has an indirect impact on attitudinal loyalty. However, this effect is limited to the case where consumers have a high (versus low) level of attitude toward the brand.

The application is limited to only two product categories and to strong national brands that enjoy high levels of perceived quality and attitude. Also, the model could be connected to behavioral loyalty metrics, in addition to attitudinal loyalty. The moderating impacts of relational disposition toward the brand should also be tested in future research.

To develop consumers' attitudinal loyalty, brands must invest in programs converting efficiently perceived quality into trust and affective commitment as bases for differentiation and competitive advantage. Implications for brands' communication and distribution policies come along together with the necessity of enhancing the contacts and dialogue between the brand and the consumers. This confirms the potential outputs of brands' CRM strategies in the case of frequently purchased packaged good categories.

The conceptualization of BPRO in the case of frequently purchased packaged good categories is a new step in the consumer‐brand relationship understanding.

The paper aims to introduce the issue of supply chain management in the context of increasingly rare and costly resources and to define the notion of frugal supply chain, in particular, in reference to the development of circular economy. The challenges of frugal supply chain are detailed for a set of private and public stakeholders.

As a programmatic viewpoint, this paper aims at developing debates regarding the future of supply chains, building upon current technical and managerial innovations.

Frugal supply chains constitute a new business perspective. It transforms the way value creation process is considered, in reference to the models of circular economy, and the systems in which companies evolve. The circular economy represents many opportunities for new forms of growth in the context of rare resources, and it raises several challenges for a variety of stakeholders, more or less, involved in the management of closed loop supply chains.

Frugal strategies in a supply chain context may provide both a source of competitive advantage for companies and an enhancement of their commitment to society.

The practices described in the paper aim at stimulating a new view of logistics management, based on the principles of sustainable development. Frugal supply chains offer the possibility of reflecting on a more moderate, sensible and effective use of several commons by taking part in the conservation of rare resources for future generations.

This viewpoint introduces the concept of frugal supply chains, rarely approached in the literature, and it offers the opportunity to open debates on managerial and societal challenges linked to logistics strategies and, more broadly, to inter-organizational relations.