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This study aims to examine the impact of college students’ health and wellness orientations on the perceived importance of health benefits for an innovative new brand of standing desk, which is hypothesized to positively affect students’ attitudes and intentions. Research in this domain for the college student market is sparse.

An online survey was conducted among business students at a large Midwestern US University, with class credit offered for completion. Of the 325 students given the opportunity to participate, 210 completed the survey.

Health motivation is positively related to calorie reduction importance, whereas wellness orientation is positively related to back health and cognitive enhancement. Calorie reduction and potential cognitive benefits significantly affect attitudes toward standing desks, which positively impact intentions to use, pay a school usage fee and buy the product.

Different health orientation factors are associated with specific health benefits, providing greater insight into consumer attitudinal motivations for health-related products. Future research can further evaluate the generalizability of the results.

Marketers can tailor more effective communications based on underlying consumer motivations for health-related product benefits, resulting in better marketing outcomes.

Obesity is a growing societal issue, which could be ameliorated by improved daily behaviors, including the use of standing desks to assist in countering sedentarism.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, neither academic research has yet examined standing desk purchase decision factors for the college student market, nor the effects of different health orientations on perceived health benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to model Chinese consumers' purchase intentions for imported soy‐based dietary supplements (DS) based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the health belief model (HBM). The central hypotheses for this study are that purchase intentions of Chinese DS consumers are a result of attitudes toward using DS, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Health value and perceived susceptibility to illness, as well as product knowledge and marketer distrust, are integrated into the model.

Data were collected from 251 consumers in Shanghai, China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

The TPB model is effective in predicting Chinese consumers' imported soy‐based DS purchase intentions. Attitudes toward using soy‐based DS, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control have significant influences on purchase intention. Perceived behavioral control also plays an important role in the formation of attitudes. Subjective norm significantly influences perceived behavioral control. Chinese consumers' marketer distrust plays a significant role in forming their attitudes and purchase intentions. On the other hand, product knowledge has no moderating influences on the relationships between health value and attitudes and perceived susceptibility to illness and attitudes. Neither health value nor susceptibility to illness has any influence on attitudes.

The findings of this study regarding the impact of marketer distrust on attitude and purchase behavior have important implications for western marketers exporting to China and the Chinese government. The western marketers of soy‐based DS should consider taking specific actions to decrease consumer distrust of marketers promoting soy‐based DS products. In regards to production of goods for the domestic market in China, relevant Chinese state agencies, such as the State Food and Drug Administration, would be well‐advised to continue to step up their efforts in product inspections and regulation of pharmaceutical ingredients and also to strengthen legislation such as the Consumer Rights Protection Law.

Considering the growing popularity of DS in China, the current research is the first academic attempt to identify factors that affect purchase of imported soy‐based DS among Chinese consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there was a need for a psychometric measure to assess attitudes specifically towards offenders with mental health problems. The “Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill” scale (CAMI; Taylor and Dear, 1981) was adapted to create a new psychometric measure; the “Police and Community Attitudes towards Offenders with Mental Illness” scale (PACAMI-O).

A sample of police and community participants (n=178) completed this scale through the online surveying system, Psychdata. The new psychometric measure utilised the same 40 items featured in the CAMI; although, the wording was adapted.

The internal reliability for the combined sample was high (α=0.929), which implied very good internal reliability. An exploratory factor analysis identified four new factors: Self-Preservation, Societal Reservation, Mental Health Awareness and Treatment Ideology. A t-test revealed there was a significant difference between the scores of the police and community sample, with the effect size depicting a large magnitude between the means (t(176)=p=0.019, η2=0.16).

The PACAMI-O scale appears adequate for measuring attitudes towards its targeted sample and has shown utility with; a professional group (police officers and custody sergeants) who potentially face such offenders (primarily in the context of using Section 136 of the Mental Health Act). It therefore has practical implications in assessing attitudes with other groups within forensic mental health.

Assessing attitudes towards offenders with mental health problems would enable a better understanding of the formation of negative attitudes and stigmatisation and therefore, ways of tackling treatment, rehabilitation and also community reintegration.

Campaigns to improve public attitudes to people with mental health problems have yet to show significant impact, according to national surveys. But how reliable are these surveys? Michael Smith reviews recent research in the UK and in Scotland and argues that their findings are complicated by methodological bias and doubts about the public's ability to acknowledge prejudice honestly.

The purpose of this paper is to test eight hypotheses to understand the relationship between information (Cervical Cancer Prevention (CCP) advertisements via endorser types and advertising appeals), motivation (attitude and effectiveness towards advertisements, audiences’ reported self-health consciousness, motivation to learn more information) and behaviour intentions (accept and intent to receive CCP vaccination) using the information-motivation-behavioural skills (IMB) model.

An experimental study was conducted using a sample of 668 young people aged 18-25 in Hong Kong. Participants were asked to respond to questions relating to self-health consciousness, motivation to learn more information, attitudes and effectiveness towards the assigned print advertisements randomly drawn from a set of eight (4 × 2 full-factorial) experimental designs and behavioural intentions.

Results revealed that celebrity endorsers had the most effective CCP ad appeal among young consumers regardless of advertising appeal in Hong Kong. The findings suggested that highly self-health conscious young people are motivated to learn more information about CCP and have a more positive attitude and effectiveness towards the CCP advertisement. Furthermore, effective advertisement predicts higher motivation and behavioural intention, whereas higher “self-health consciousness” and “motivation to learn more information” predicts more positive advertisement attitude.

By investigating young consumers’ attitude and effectiveness towards CCP advertisements, this paper aimed to expand the knowledge of previous studies and contribute to advertising theory by focusing on CCP aspects in Hong Kong context.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how identities drive customer values, attitudes toward organic foods and satisfaction, all of which influence world or mouth (WOM).

Questionnaire surveys were administered to the purchasers of organic foods. In total, 512 completed responses were obtained for data analysis.

Strongly defined social identity and role identity are significant antecedents of consumers’ health consciousness and socially responsible consumer behavior (SRCB). This finding explains why organic shoppers value their health and the environment (i.e. self- and others-oriented values). Additionally, health consciousness and SRCB significantly influence attitudes toward organic foods. The study reveals that attitudes toward organic foods positively influence organic shoppers’ satisfaction, and their satisfaction increases positive WOM. Finally, the moderating effects of involvement and mass media are examined. When organic shoppers are strongly involved with organic foods, their health consciousness has a more positive effect on their attitudes toward organic foods. However, organic shoppers’ involvement did not moderate the effect of SRCB on attitudes toward organic foods. Likewise, the mass media did not moderate the effect of health consciousness and SRCB on attitudes toward organic foods.

This study incorporates critical factors such as the antecedents of the customer values to develop a comprehensive model for understanding of organic shoppers’ consumption of organic foods.

A rich literature has documented gender-based differences in health care utilization and outcomes. The role of risk attitude in explaining the variations is limited at best. This study examines gender differences in health utilities and risk attitudes.

Data on 13 health states were collected from 629 students via questionnaires at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2005. From each respondent, we assessed utilities for a subset of health states, using Time Trade-Off and Standard Gamble. A risk attitude coefficient was calculated for each respondent as a function of their utilities for all outcomes assessed. The risk coefficient derived from a closed-form utility model for men was compared to that of women using the t-statistic.

There was a statistically significant difference in the risk attitudes of men and women. Men had a concave utility function, representing risk aversion, while women had a near linear utility function, suggesting that women are risk neutral.

Differences in risk attitude may be an important contributor to gender-based disparities in health services utilization. More research is needed to assess its full impact on decision-making in health care.

Stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems is a global issue, imposing a considerable public health burden in terms of social isolation, limited life chances, delayed help‐seeking behaviour and stress. While numerous initiatives have been undertaken to address these issues, an evidence base for what works is still emerging. This paper explores the impact of 15 population‐level awareness workshops delivered over a five‐month period to 137 participants. These were employees drawn from workplaces identified as being important in the day‐to‐day lives of people with mental health problems. Evaluation approaches maximised specificity, sensitivity and anonymity and they assessed participant knowledge, attitude and behaviour. The workshops significantly improved participant knowledge. Attitude change was more complex with an overall significant improvement in attitudes, particularly in relation to unpredictability and recovery, but not dangerousness, which had more positive baseline attitudes. Social distance, a proxy for behavioural intent, had significant improvements in relation to ‘moderate’ social contact only. Qualitative feedback indicated that complex, unanticipated and positive messages had been absorbed by participants and influenced beliefs and behavioural intent. Service user narratives focusing on recovery were identified as the most valuable component of the intervention.

Instead of using general food choice motives, this study adopts more specific attitudes – i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes – to predict the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. The main objective of the paper is to test the hypothesis whether health consciousness and environmental attitudes influence the consumer's attitude toward organic foods through an individual's healthy lifestyle.

Data were collected in Taiwan by means of a national self‐administered consumer questionnaire survey in this study. A series of regression models are used to detect how the mediating role of the healthy lifestyle construct plays in the relationships between the determinant factors (i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes) and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods.

The results are consistent with previous studies, which assert that concern for one's health and for the environment are the two most commonly stated motives for purchasing organic foods, with the former exceeding the latter in importance. In addition, the healthy lifestyle indeed exerts effective mediating effects on the positive relationships between health consciousness and environmental attitudes and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle should be advocated to render the consumer's attitude toward organic foods more positive.

Based on the findings, the selection of advertising messages, social interaction and so forth should revolve around the issues of health consciousness, environmental attitudes, and healthy lifestyle in the future.

This study is one of the first to examine the mediating effect of a healthy lifestyle that bears on organic foods. The empirical findings from this study are expected to benefit the continued development of the organic sector in Taiwan's food industry.

Computers and computer‐assisted instruction are being used with increasing frequency in the area of health science student education, yet students’ attitudes towards the use of e‐learning technology and computer‐assisted instruction have received limited attention to date. The purpose of this study was to investigate the significant predictors of health science students’ attitudes towards e‐learning and computer‐assisted instruction. All students enrolled in health science programmes (n=2885) at a large multi‐campus Australian university in 2006‐2007, were asked to complete a questionnaire. This included the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES), the Computer Attitude Survey (CAS), and the Attitude Toward Computer‐Assisted Instruction Semantic Differential Scale (ATCAISDS). A multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the significant predictors of health science students’ attitudes to e‐learning. The Attitude Toward Computers in General (CASg) and the Attitude Toward Computers in Education (CASe) subscales from the CAS were the dependent (criterion) variables for the regression analysis. A total of 822 usable questionnaires were returned, accounting for a 29.5 per cent response rate. Three significant predictors of CASg and five significant predictors of CASe were found. Respondents’ age and OLES Equity were found to be predictors on both CAS scales. Health science educators need to take the age of students and the extent to which students perceive that they are treated equally by a teacher/tutor/instructor (equity) into consideration when looking at determinants of students’ attitudes towards e‐learning and technology.