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Price promotions are a common tool used by retailers to increase sales. This study aims to investigate the effect of consumer's numerical skills and other demographic characteristics on their ability to determine the best deal when conducting a grocery shop (referred to as deal competency).

A consumer survey (n = 308) was conducted online, collecting information about respondent's demographics and grocery shopping behaviours, numerical literacy using the subjective numeracy scale (SNS), and deal competency (a novel measure). Multiple regression analysis and Pearson's correlations were conducted using SPSSv26.

Overall, the mean SNS score for the total sample was 31.47 (SD = 8.27), and the mean sample deal competency score was 13.5 (SD = 2.3). Spearman's correlation analysis identified a moderate significant positive relationship between numerical skills and deal competency, r_s(303) = 0.360, p < 0.001. Regression analysis found significant positive relationships between numerical skills and being male, and with mathematical achievement; and between deal competency and age, mathematical achievement and educational achievement. Regarding buying behaviour, correlation analyses identified only one significant relationship between numerical skills (SNS score) and deal competency and variables relating to buying behaviour, namely a negative relationship between deal competency and amount spent on promotional food items in top up grocery shops.

This study contributes to the gap in literature regarding consumer ability to work out the best deal on promotions, presents a novel scale for describing consumer deal competency, and considers the comparative usefulness of using objective and subjective scales in similar studies.

A number of food poverty definitions have been identified by academics and various government organisations globally; however, there exists no government-endorsed definition of food poverty in the United Kingdom (UK), and there remains a gap regarding how relevant current food poverty definitions are in the Northern Ireland (NI)/UK contexts.

Interviews (n = 19) with a range of stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, politicians, community advice centre workers, consumer sub-group representatives, food bank and food redistribution organisation representatives) were conducted to examine (1) the usefulness of a food poverty definition, (2) what a food poverty definition should include and (3) the applicability of an existing definition (Radimer et al., 1992) in the NI/UK context. Data was thematically analysed using QSR NVivo (v.12).

Definition was considered important to increase awareness and understanding. Any consideration of revising the Radimer et al. (1992) definition, or of establishing a new standardised definition, should seek to reduce/remove ambiguity and subjectivity of terminology used (i.e. more clearly defining what the terms “adequate”, “sufficient”, “quality” and “socially acceptable ways” mean in this context).

This research emphasises the importance of appropriately conceptually defining social phenomena such as food poverty, as a first step to constructing and reviewing measurement approaches and ultimately assessing predictors and recommending solutions.

This research addresses the gap relating to stakeholders’ opinion on food poverty definition and contributes recommendations for modifying the Radimer et al. (1992) definition in the NI/UK and present-day contexts.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the proportionality of market brand (MB) foods versus supermarket own brand (OB) foods sold on promotion and to compare their healthiness.

An existing dataset containing nutritional information about a variety of foods on promotion (n = 6,776) from 48 stores across 8 retail chains in Northern Ireland (NI) was reanalysed. Product healthiness was measured using a score aligned to the Food Standards Agency's Front of Pack nutrient labelling system. MBs and OBs were considered as a whole and in their respective subsets–international/national and regional MBs, and premium, mid-market and value tiered OBs.

Results found a balance in favour of health (52.4% amber/green versus 47.6% red) across retailers' promotions in NI. Further, OB products were often found to be superior to MBs with regards to overall healthfulness, and regional brands were found to be less healthy than international/national brands.

Findings rationale further retail research to compare nutritionally OB and MB product types, and further consumer research regarding important attributes of OBs.

Retailers should communicate the comparative healthiness of their OBs in comparison to MB alternatives, in addition to communicating comparative price savings. There is opportunity for retailers to increase visibility of mid-market and value OB tiers, and for regional MBs to improve the nutritional profile of products in line with the consumer trend for health.

This study provides a contribution by using data on OBs and MBs on promotion, and by investigating the nutritional differences between different tiers of OB and MB products.

Data from the Northern Ireland (NI) Health Survey 2014/15 (n = 2,231) were statistically analysed to examine the prevalence of food insecurity according to both indicators. Pearson's X² test for association and logistic regressions were used to examine associations between food security status and predictor variables.

Household food insecurity has been identified as a significant societal issue in both developed and developing nations, but there exists no universal indicator to approximate its prevalence. In NI, two indicators (United States Household Food Security Survey Module [HFSSM] and the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions [EU-SILC] food deprivation questions) have been used. This study examines how both indicators differ in their classification of food insecurity prevalence in a population sample and also examines the relationship between various demographic and household factors and food security status.

According to the EU-SILC food deprivation questions, 8.3% (n = 185) were indicated to be food insecure, while according to the HFSSM, 6.5% (n = 146) were indicated to be food insecure. The HFSSM and EU-SILC regression models differed in the underlying variables they identified as significant predictors of food insecurity. Significant variables common to both modules were tenure, employment status, health status, anxiety/depression and receipt of benefits.

Findings can inform policy action with regards to targeting the key contributors and can inform policy decisions in NI and elsewhere with regards to choosing the most appropriate food insecurity indicator.

Data were collected from a range of stakeholders in Northern Ireland including consumer representatives, policy makers and public health representatives. Data collection occurred in two phases: firstly via in-depth interviews (n = 19), and secondly via roundtables (n = 4) with stakeholders (n = 36) using nominal group technique.

Food poverty has been identified as a significant societal and public health problem in the UK, evidenced in part by published statistics on the prevalence of food poverty, and the well-documented increase in the uptake of food bank provision. This paper presents various theoretical perspectives regarding the aetiology of (food) poverty, followed by stakeholders' opinions on the contributors to food poverty and consideration of how these align with various theoretical perspectives.

Various individual, structural and political factors were identified by stakeholders as contributors to food poverty, with income largely agreed to be the most significant contributor. Two themes of contributors were identified during analysis: micro-level and individual-level contributors and macro-level and economic-level contributors. Structural factors were most commonly cited as contributors to food poverty during both stakeholder interviews and stakeholder roundtables, followed by individual factors and political factors.

Understanding the contributors to food poverty can inform targeted policy action.

There is a lack of theoretical and conceptual literature regarding the causes of food poverty, and there has to date been limited research on the contributors to food poverty in Northern Ireland/the United Kingdom.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the self-reported food skills, cooking confidence and practices amongst a sample of parents on the Island of Ireland (IOI) and to highlight jurisdictional similarities and differences between Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI).

Parents (n=363) on the IOI completed a questionnaire exploring confidence levels of food skills, cooking techniques executed and the identification of barriers which might impact on meal preparation. Non-probability convenience sampling was utilised.

The majority of parents (75 per cent) learned their basic cooking skills from their mother with home economics classes being the second most popular source of learning. There were a number of statistically significant jurisdictional differences. For example, when preparing dinners, NI parents were less likely to enjoy cooking and more likely to use processed foods such as breaded frozen chicken and jars of sauces than ROI (x²=56.167, df=1, p<0.001). Similarly, parents in NI were less likely to involve family members in meal preparation (x²=17.939, df=1, p<0.001). Parents in the ROI reported higher confidence levels than NI parents when cooking from basic ingredients; following a simple recipe and preparing new foods. Over half (51 per cent) of parents identified barriers to cooking with fresh ingredients as: time, cost, busy family life and limited facilities.

Findings indicate that parents would benefit from exposure to practical food skills intervention focussed on quick, nutritious family meals while simultaneously developing parents’ culinary skills and cooking confidence in home cooked meal preparation.

There is a lack of information pertaining to food skills and cooking confidence amongst parents on the IOI.

The figure of the femme fatale is attached to a range of contested meanings around femininity, sexuality and violence. Despite its ambiguity and its origins in art, myth and fiction, the term has proven popular in giving a name to violent articulations of female power in non-fictional settings by journalists. In this chapter, I outline the figure of the femme fatale as an archetype of women's violence that appears throughout Western popular culture, and provide an overview of the term's definitions and cultural meanings. In doing so, I trace the figure's movement across different forms and genres of popular culture. I identify a number of themes in the existing scholarship around the figure: feminist criticism of the figure; the value that feminist film scholars have found in the figure as a symbol of power and sexual transgression; the relationship between the femme fatale, race and the colonial imagination; and the way the idea of the femme fatale has been used in reporting of real-life women's violence.