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The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework which deepens our understanding of identity negotiation and formation in a collectivistic Asian context. Drawing from a three-year, multi-method ethnographic research process, the authors explore how contemporary Asian consumers construct, negotiate and enact family identity through meal consumption. The authors particularly focus on the ways in which Asian consumers negotiate values, norms and practices associated with filial piety during new family formation. Building on the influential framework of layered family identity proposed by Epp and Price (2008), the authors seek to develop a framework which enables us to better understand how Asian consumers construct and enact their family identity through mundane consumption.

As most of the identity negotiation in the domestic sphere takes place within the mundanity of everyday life, such as during the routines, rituals and conventions of “ordinary” family meals, the authors adopted an interpretive, hermeneutic and longitudinal ethnographic research approach, which drew from a purposive sample of nine Sri Lankan couples.

The authors present the finding in three vivid narrative exemplars of new family identity negotiation and discuss three processes which informants negotiated the layered family identity. First, Asian families negotiate family identity by re-formulating aspects of their relational identity bundles. Second, re-negotiating facets of individual identity facilitates construction of family identity. Finally, re-configuring aspects of collective family identity, especially in relation to the extended family is important to family identity in this research context. The authors also propose filial piety as a fundamental construct of Asian family identity and highlight the importance of collective layer over individual and relational family identity layers.

The aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework which deepens our understanding of identity negotiation and formation in a collectivistic Asian context. Even though exploring Sinhalese, Sri Lankan culture sheds light on understanding identity and consumption in other similar Asian cultures, such as Indian, Chinese and Korean; this paper does not suggest generalisability of findings to similar research contexts. On the contrary, the findings aim to present an in-depth discussion of how identities are challenged, negotiated and re-formulated during new family formation around specific consumption behaviours associated with filial piety in a collectivistic extended family.

As this research explores tightly knit relationships in extended families and how these families negotiate values, norms and practices associated with filial piety, it enables us to understand the complex ways in which Asian families negotiate identity. The proposed framework could be useful to explore how changing social dynamics challenge the traditional sense of family in these collectivistic cultures and how they affect family happiness and well-being. Such insight is useful for public policymakers and social marketers when addressing family dissatisfaction–based social issues in Asia, such as increasing rates of suicide, divorce, child abuse, prostitution and sexually transmitted disease.

Little is known about the complex ways in which Asian family identities are negotiated in contrast to Western theoretical models on this topic. Particularly, we need to understand how fundamental aspects of Asian family identity, such as filial piety, are continuously re-negotiated, manifested and perpetuated during everyday life and how formulations of Asian family identity may be different from its predominantly Western conceptualisations. Therefore, the paper provides an adaptation to the current layered family identity model and proposes filial piety as a fundamental construct driving Asian family identity.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the eating habits of students in the field of management and engineering of food products compared to students from faculties not related to food science. Furthermore, another aim is to conduct gender-wise assessment to determine the type of eating habit, i.e., careful or binge eating.

The research involved 400 students from all years of study. The survey was conducted in 2017–2018 and the selection of the sample was intentional. The research used a questionnaire form. Additionally, χ² test was performed to assess the statistical independence of characteristics.

It is found that most students who pledge proper nutrition are women. The majority of respondents ate 3–4 meals in day and regular consumption of breakfast was declared among 42 percent of respondents. The consumption of sweet snacks between meals is reaffirmed by the half of the respondents. Students of the food sciences more often than others believed that they eat healthier and more regularly, although students of non-food directions most often declared intake of five or more meals a day.

An important limitation of the conducted study is a relatively small research sample. It consisted of university students from one of the largest academic centers in Poland. The results cannot be generalized to all students in this country. In the future, a similar survey should be conducted on a larger scale and cover all similar fields of management and engineering of food products in Poland. In addition, it would be worth expanding the research and examine graduates who found employment in the food industry.

The results of the conducted research are a good source of information on the differences in the way of feeding studying women and men. While such studies are not very revealing, the comparison between students in food and non-food fields can be considered a novelty. The described results can be used by the students themselves, but above all, by the authorities of universities conducting food science programs.

The students do not eat properly which can lead to nutritional deficiencies and can deteriorate mental and physical endurance damaging overall health.

The described research is important due to the observed deteriorating eating habits and growing overweight of young adults in developed countries like Poland. They show that education of food technologists, even at the academic level, does not always allow to avoid mistakes in their own nutrition.

The rising prevalence of obesity among Indian adolescents has underscored the need to develop effective strategies to reduce this epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to assess the patterns of snacking, meal consumption and fast food consumption among adolescents in private schools in Kolkata, India.

A cross-sectional, paper-based, self-administered dietary and lifestyle survey was completed by 1,026 year-nine students aged 14–16 years. Cross-tabulation analyses were performed to compare the frequencies of various dietary behaviours across gender.

The two most common episodes for snacking among respondents were while watching television (57.9 per cent) and while interacting with peers (54.1 per cent). In contrast, snacking throughout the day (8.7 per cent) and in the middle of the night (7.8 per cent) were minimally practiced by the adolescents. The most regularly consumed meal was lunch (94.6 per cent), whereas the most frequently missed meal was breakfast (14.0 per cent). Fast food was most frequently consumed as snacks (26.8 per cent) but least frequently consumed for lunch (9.2 per cent). Overall, boys exhibited more unhealthy dietary behaviours than girls.

These findings highlight the need to develop nutrition education programmes for nutritionally vulnerable adolescents which communicate the importance of regular meal consumption, reduced intake of fast food and less snacking on energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods.

This is the first cross-sectional survey to investigate patterns of snacking, meal consumption and fast food consumption amongst urban Indian adolescents.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how credit access affects the welfare of households and sheds light on how household characteristics influence the decision to take credit and the efficiency in credit use.

This study uses data from the fourth round of the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey conducted in 2009, and examines factors that determine the decision to take credit and the effect of such decision on household welfare. The household welfare variable is measured by the food security indicator and total food expenditure. The study employs endogenous Regime Switching model to account for endogeneity in access to credit and self-selection bias in the decision to participate in credit.

The result from the kernel distribution shows households with access to credit have more consumption expenditure than those without access to credit. The ordinary least square regression shows that access to credit increases total consumption by 12 percent without considering self-selection bias. Participation in non-farm activity increases the demand for credit by 17 percent. Land holding, household size, and participation in saving associations increase the probability of getting credit by 5, 11, and 20 percent, respectively. Access to credit appears to have a positive impact on food security in both actual and counterfactual cases for the current credit receivers.

This study provides a thorough analysis of the impacts of access to credit on household welfare in Ethiopia. The study contributes to the debate on the link between access to credit and household welfare and provides valuable input for policy makers.

The overall aim of this research is to increase understanding of consumers' barriers in relation to convenience food. While the motivation for consuming convenience food has been investigated frequently, few studies have investigated the barriers.

Three focus group studies, exploring consumers' ready‐to‐heat (RTH) meal dilemmas, were conducted in Norway.

The frequency of barriers and four narratives are presented, and the results indicate that consumers face bottom‐up dilemmas related to barriers like sensory perception, health, economy, and managing relationships; and/or top‐down value dilemmas related to traditions, quality of life and environmental barriers when considering convenience food consumption.

This research contributes to the current body of literature, which mainly focuses on drivers of convenience demand, by elaborating on barriers and dilemmas for convenience choice.

The findings imply how marketers should communicate with the convenience market. Marketing managers need to understand which barriers to break or what dilemmas to discuss when communicating with the RTH market.

By structuring focus group interviews according to the individual respondents (“who said what”) and by presenting the data as narratives, the paper shows a new way to analyze focus group interviews.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the individual effect of sumac (S), Turkish coffee (C) and yerba mate tea (Y) on the postprandial glycemic response to Lebanese mankoucheh, a common breakfast item in the Lebanese culture, and to determine the glycemic index (GI) of this food. S, C and Y are typical constituents of Lebanese meals. They may influence the postprandial glycemic response to carbohydrate-rich foods, but this has not been studied to date.

Twelve healthy normoglycemic adults consumed on separate days the following test meals: mankoucheh without S (M) with water (control meal); M prepared with single or double doses of S (S1 and S2) with water; M with 60 or 120 mL of unsweetened C; or M with 100 or 200 mL of unsweetened Y. Meals were prepared according to standardized recipes containing 50 g of available carbohydrates. Capillary blood glucose measures were taken at fast and six times after meal ingestion over a two hour period. The GI of mankoucheh was determined using a standard protocol.

The glycemic responses, evaluated at each time following meal ingestion, did not differ significantly among the seven meals, and neither did the incremental area under the glycemic response curves. The GI of mankoucheh was 61 ± 6, with no significant difference between M, M with S1 and M with S2.

This study contributes to better characterize the glycemic properties of S, C, Y and mankoucheh in conditions that closely resemble how these dietary items are used and consumed by some cultural groups.

This paper aims to explore the linked series of changes connecting unpaid and paid labour in the household economy and the market sector, which may be associated with the implementation of new technologies of production and the proliferation of new consumer products.

One historical and one contemporary example, mass production during the inter‐war period, and ready‐made meals today, are used as exemplary cases for probing changes in women's labour.

New technologies of home and work alter the relationships between work not only across the processes of production, distribution, exchange and consumption, but also across the boundaries between paid and unpaid labour and between market and non‐market work.

The conceptual schema of the “total social organisation of labour” is used to focus on dynamic interdependence and interaction across and between work undertaken in different socio‐economic modes.

Honey is a product that has been consumed for thousands of years owing to honey's nutritional value and unique properties. This survey aimed to assess factors affecting consumer behaviour for honey in countries of the Balkans and Western Europe, on a comparative basis.

The high importance of honey consumption along with findings from previous surveys on consumer behaviour are included in the introduction chapter. Based on these, and focussing on the fundamental consumer behaviour theories (stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and health belief model (HBM)), a questionnaire was designed and answered by 2,113 individuals from the Balkans and Western Europe, of which 2,088 were honey consumers. Principal component analysis (PCA) analysis was used to interpret the results.

According to the analysis, both Western Europeans and Balkans consume honey weekly, whilst only a few consume honey daily. A crucial difference between the two samples is that Western Europeans consider honey to be an expensive product, whilst Balkans considers honey's price acceptable. In general, men consume more honey than women, and households with children purchase honey more often and in more significant quantities. In conclusion, the main reason affecting European honey consumption is the health impact, which is related to therapeutic properties and high nutritional value of honey.

PCA results clarified the factors affecting honey consumption, whilst at the same time, consumer profiles of Balkan and Western European consumers were outlined and compared with each other, outlining a more detailed description of honey consumption in Europe.