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Article
Publication date: 28 October 2022

Haiyan Wang, Huijuan Li, Yinfei Zhao and Nannan Xi

Individuals, organizations, firms, and governments have been making strenuous effort to promote sustainable and green consumption. However, it is noticeable that a large amount of…

Abstract

Purpose

Individuals, organizations, firms, and governments have been making strenuous effort to promote sustainable and green consumption. However, it is noticeable that a large amount of unattractive produce is ruthlessly discarded and wasted around the globe, resulting in unsustainable consumption behavior, harming long-term business development, and breaking the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Therefore, to increase consumer literacy toward unaesthetic produce, this research investigates the pivotal role of “naturallabeling in increasing purchase intention toward visually unattractive fruits and vegetables.

Design/methodology/approach

By recruiting participants from one of the largest online crowdsourcing platforms (the Credamo), this research conducts three online experimental studies (with two pilot studies) to test three hypotheses based on the cue utilization theory and the lay belief theory.

Findings

The results show that unattractive produce with the “naturallabel could significantly increase consumers' purchase intention compared with those without specific labels. The results also reveal that consumers' lay beliefs that natural foods are perceived to be tastier and healthier mediate the positive effects of “naturallabeling (vs no specific labeling) on willingness to purchase.

Originality/value

This research explores competing lay beliefs about unattractive produce. It identifies the positive effects of lay beliefs “natural = tasty and healthy” through “naturallabeling appeal, thus attenuating the misapplication of lay beliefs “unattractive = tasteless and unhealthy” and broadening the application scope of consumer lay belief theory. The findings also contribute to the cue literature by manifesting the positive consequences of the “naturallabel playing as a cognitive cue in priming lay beliefs about naturalness. In addition, it also paves a positive way for business practitioners and marketers to develop the produce industry sustainably.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 35 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2014

Clinton Amos, Iryna Pentina, Timothy G. Hawkins and Natalie Davis

This study aims to investigate the appeal of “naturallabeling and builds on past research which suggests that people may have a naïve pastoral view of nature and natural

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the appeal of “naturallabeling and builds on past research which suggests that people may have a naïve pastoral view of nature and natural entities. “Naturallabeling is pervasive in supermarkets across the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employs a multi-method approach to examine consumer perceptions and beliefs about products labelednatural”. Qualitative responses are solicited to examine the images and feelings that come to mind when consumers see “naturallabeling on a food product. Two experiments are conducted to examine consumers’ evaluations of “naturallabeling on both food and supplement products.

Findings

The results of three studies suggest that “naturallabeling evokes positive feelings and sentimental imagery associated with a pastoral view of nature. These perceptions reinforce beliefs that food and supplement products labelednatural” possess positive instrumental benefits such as health advantages, lack of contamination and safety.

Social implications

Consumers are under pressure to make better choices regarding what they put into their bodies due to pervasive concern over the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. This study provides insight into why consumers perceive food and supplement products labelednatural” as better alternatives.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first studies to investigate the underlying perceptual forces accounting for the effectiveness of “natural” food and supplement labeling.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 23 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2019

Clinton Amos, James C. Hansen and Skyler King

This paper aims to investigate inferences consumers make about organic and all-natural labeled products in both food and non-food contexts using the health halo effect as a…

1143

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate inferences consumers make about organic and all-natural labeled products in both food and non-food contexts using the health halo effect as a theoretical foundation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses three experiments to test the effects of organic and all-natural labeling across three product types, food, personal hygiene and household cleaning, while controlling for environmental attitudes.

Findings

The results of the experiments in the context of food, personal hygiene and household cleaning products suggest that both organic and all-natural labeling produce halo effects. Distinct findings are presented across the three product types.

Research limitations/implications

Findings indicate that consumers may make unwarranted inferences about both organic and all-natural labeled products and demonstrates that the health halo effect is a potentially robust phenomenon, pervasive across a diverse array of products. This research used a crowdsourcing platform for sample recruitment. Future research should validate the results of these experiments with other sample types.

Practical implications

This research suggests that consumers may make similar unwarranted inferences for diverse products bearing organic and all-natural labels. These inferences are particularly intriguing given the differing regulatory requirements for the labels

Originality/value

Organic and all-natural labels are ubiquitous in both food and non-food products. However, research on either label primarily exists in a food context and has not directly compared the labels. Understanding the inferences consumers make based on the labels across product types is imperative for both marketing and public policy.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2022

Yan Cao and Li Miao

This study puts forth a consumer-oriented concept of clean labels and attempts to empirically investigate consumer perceptions of these labels.

1681

Abstract

Purpose

This study puts forth a consumer-oriented concept of clean labels and attempts to empirically investigate consumer perceptions of these labels.

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered survey (n = 346) was used as the research instrument for data collection in the current study.

Findings

Results from an online survey indicate that consumers perceived less processed, elimination of undesired ingredients and ethical concerns as salient attributes associated with clean labels. Consumer-perceived benefits of these attributes include healthiness, social responsibility, sensory appeal, reliable product and low calorie. Additionally, canonical correlation analysis yields two significant associations between clean label attributes and the corresponding benefits. Attributes of elimination of undesired ingredients and utilization of familiar elements drive the benefits of healthiness, low calorie and social responsibility. Attributes of being less processed and with simple ingredients are associated with the benefit of sensory appeal.

Originality/value

This study systematically investigates the discrete clean halo effect by empirically examining the associations between the clean label attributes and the dimensionalities of benefits as perceived by consumers.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 23 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Janina Fengel

The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution for automating the task of matching business process models and search for correspondences with regard to the model semantics…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution for automating the task of matching business process models and search for correspondences with regard to the model semantics, thus improving the efficiency of such works.

Design/methodology/approach

A method is proposed based on combining several semantic technologies. The research follows a design-science-oriented approach in that a method together with its supporting artifacts has been engineered. It application allows for reusing legacy models and automatedly determining semantic similarity.

Findings

The method has been applied and the first findings suggest the effectiveness of the approach. The results of applying the method show its feasibility and significance. The suggested heuristic computing of semantic correspondences between semantically heterogeneous business process models is flexible and can support domain users.

Research limitations/implications

Even though a solution can be offered that is directly usable, so far the full complexity of the natural language as given in model element labels is not yet completely resolvable. Here further research could contribute to the potential optimizations and refinement of automatic matching and linguistic procedures. However, an open research question could be solved.

Practical implications

The method presented is aimed at adding to the methods in the field of business process management and could extend the possibilities of automating support for business analysis.

Originality/value

The suggested combination of semantic technologies is innovative and addresses the aspect of semantic heterogeneity in a holistic, which is novel to the field.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 July 2018

Sidse Schoubye Andersen and Lotte Holm

This paper aims to present an analysis of the various dimensions of naturalness that shape the consumption practices of parents with young children.

1270

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present an analysis of the various dimensions of naturalness that shape the consumption practices of parents with young children.

Design/methodology/approach

The study builds on semi-structured interviews with 17 mothers and fathers focusing on parental decision-making in everyday consumption from pregnancy to the first years of the child’s life.

Findings

Naturalness is a tool allowing parents to navigate in a world of risks and part of an everyday consumption practice that constructs and maintains children as vulnerable and parents as responsible. Parents perceive naturalness as something with three dimensions: familiarity, purity and culture. These three dimensions lead to different parental practices around consumption.

Originality/value

The analysis contributes to the authors’ understanding of parenting, childhood, risk, safety and consumption by showing how and why parents of young children construct naturalness as a three-dimensional ideal in their consumption practices.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2023

Hajar Fatemi, Erica Kao, R. Sandra Schillo, Wanyu Li, Pan Du, Nie Jian-Yun and Laurette Dube

This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This research sheds light on how consumers think and talk about natural food within the context of food well-being and health.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a keyword-based approach to extract user generated content from Twitter and used both food as well-being and food as health frameworks for analysis of more than two million tweets.

Findings

The authors found that consumers mostly discuss food marketing and less frequently discuss food policy. Their results show that tweets regarding naturalness were significantly less frequent in food categories that feature naturalness to an extent, e.g. fruits and vegetables, compared to food categories dominated by technologies, processing and man-made innovation, such as proteins, seasonings and snacks.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides numerous implications and contributions to the literature on consumer behavior, marketing and public policy in the domain of natural food.

Practical implications

The authors’ exploratory findings can be used to guide food system stakeholders, farmers and food processors to obtain insights into consumers' mindset on food products, novel concepts, systems and diets through social media analytics.

Originality/value

The authors’ results contribute to the literature on the use of social media in food marketing on understanding consumers' attitudes and beliefs toward natural food, food as the well-being literature and food as the health literature, by examining the way consumers think about natural (versus man-made) food using user generated content of Twitter, which has not been previously used.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2008

Yi Lin, Wujia Zhu, Ningsheng Gong and Guoping Du

The paper aims to show the existence of the systemic yoyo structure in human thoughts so that the human way of thinking is proven to have the same structure as that of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to show the existence of the systemic yoyo structure in human thoughts so that the human way of thinking is proven to have the same structure as that of the material world.

Design/methodology/approach

Parallel comparison is used to reveal the underlying structure existing in human thoughts.

Findings

After highlighting all the relevant ideas and concepts, which are behind each and every crisis in the foundations of mathematics, it becomes clear that some difficulties in the authors' understanding of nature are originated from confusing actual infinities with potential infinities, and vice versa. By pointing out the similarities and differences between these two kinds of infinities, then some hidden contradictions existing in the system of modern mathematics are handily picked out. Then, theoretically, using the authors' yoyo model, it is predicted that the fourth crisis in the foundations of mathematics has appeared. And, a plan of resolution of this new crisis is provided.

Originality/value

This paper shows the first time in history that human thought, the material world, and each economic entity, share a common structure – the systemic yoyo structure. And it proves the arrival of the fourth crisis in mathematics by using systems modeling and listing several; contradictions hidden deeply in the foundations of mathematics.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 37 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1991

Nina Hughes

As their name implies, the prime function of these ingredients is to donate flavour which is detected by the senses of taste and smell. Taste itself is made up of the four primary…

Abstract

As their name implies, the prime function of these ingredients is to donate flavour which is detected by the senses of taste and smell. Taste itself is made up of the four primary tastes — sweet, sour, salt and bitter — which are detected by the taste buds situated in the mouth, mainly on the tongue, palate and cheeks. Smell is detected by extremely sensitive cells at the top of the nasal cavity. The current standard definition of flavour is as follows: ‘Flavour is the sensation elicited by a foodstuff when the taste and odour receptors are stimulated’.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 91 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

1 – 10 of over 28000