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Consumers are increasingly interested in the origin of their food, especially in the case of meat products where food safety issues are relevant. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the trend of regional food consumption and the influencing factors for consumer preferences of regional meat products. For the first time cognitive, normative and affective attributes, as well as point of purchase and socio-demographic characteristics, were put together in a conceptual framework to investigate which factors are influencing consumer preferences for regional meat products.

A representative sample of German consumers was surveyed in 2014. After measuring the determinants of perceived quality of regional meat products, an attribute-level factor analysis were used to test inter-dependence between the variables. All five factors, accounting for 77 percent of the sample, were examined by a binary logistic regression model.

Logit regression analysis found that three factors, including normative and affective attributes, significantly affect and influence consumer preferences for regional meat products, whereas cognitive attributes have no significant influence on consumer preferences.

The findings have interesting implications for retailers with respect to meat marketing activities, as well as for researchers with respect to further research on regional meat products. Though, it comes out that it is promising to concentrate on normative and affective attributes regarding product presentation and meat marketing of regional meat products.

This research has three research objectives. First, this research will demonstrate that the link between consumers' attitude towards a region and their intention to purchase products from that region is not direct but indirect. Second, this research will establish that perceived value of regional products and consumers' preference for these products are mediating variables of the relationship between consumers' attitude towards a region and their intention to purchase regional products. Lastly, this research will highlight cognitive (through perceived value) and affective (through preference) routes or paths, from consumers' attitude towards a region to their purchase intention of products from that region.

As previous works in the authors’ field of research, the authors conducted a field study, combined with a questionnaire survey. 398 consumers responded to the authors’ questionnaire in a hypermarket (belonging to the retailer Système U) in Vendée (a region in France). The authors measured their attitude towards this region, their preference for regional food products and their purchase intention of these products as well as the perceived value of regional food products.

The perceived value of regional products and consumers' preference for these products are full mediating variables of the relationship between consumers' attitude towards a region and their intention to purchase products from that region.

This research supplements prior works. It shows that the link between consumers' attitude towards a region and their intention to purchase regional products is indirect. Consumers' purchase intention of regional products is not directly attributable to their attitude towards the region of origin of these products. Regional products and their features have to be reintegrated into this equation.

This study identifies several routes or paths to explain consumers' purchase intention of regional products. A cognitive route or path, from consumers' attitude towards a region to their purchase intention of products from that region, mediates by perceived value. An affective route or path, from consumers' attitude towards a region to their purchase intention of products from that region, mediates by preference. A hybrid path that combines cognitive and affective paths, as this research established a link between perceived value and preference.

This research foregrounds regional products and their features, too often neglected in favour of consumers and their characteristics.

Rooted in the social identity theory (SIT), the study analysed the effect of consumer ethnocentrism as well as other factors on the purchase of labelled regional agricultural products together with the readiness to purchase the labelled regional products at a premium price in Germany.

The determinants of the consumption of labelled regional agricultural products and the readiness to pay a premium price for the same in Southwestern Germany were analysed via both probit and ordered probit regressions, respectively.

Consumer ethnocentrism influences the purchase of labelled regional agricultural products as well as the readiness to purchase at a premium price. Also, consumer socioeconomic and product characteristics and knowledge and perceived benefits of regional products had a divergent influence on the purchase and readiness to purchase labelled regional agricultural products at a premium price.

In terms of limitation, even though the sample size was proper, it could be improved in other studies to validate the findings. Also, the study was limited to a limited number of counties in Southwestern Germany; hence future studies could explore a more extensive geographical space within the region.

The results can serve as a good source of information for improving the marketing of regional agricultural products. This study recommends that regional producers and marketers brand regional products with the region's name to capitalise on consumers' ethnocentric tendencies in the region. Further, regional products have to be sold in places where consumers with a certain degree of ethnocentrism are present. Results provided by this study are commonly applicable for all products, regardless of the type and regional origin, so that product-specific studies are no longer necessary, which reduces redundancy and marketing research costs, which are difficult to bear for small producers.

Germany has benefited immensely from the boom of regional marketing in Europe. Likewise, in Southwestern Germany, there is a growing interest in the production and marketing of regional products. As a result, several studies have investigated the factors influencing the purchasing of regional products in Germany. Nevertheless, literature and studies on the effect of ethnocentrism on the purchasing of regional agricultural products in Southwestern Germany are scanty.

Investigates consumer perceptions of “regional foods” in England. Results show understandings of regional foods to be a complex dynamic of interrelated concepts. Regional foods are defined by place and human‐related factors. An implicit factor in attitudes towards regional food is the “perceived authenticity” of the various product attributes by the consumer. Regional foods are characterized as “regional products” (high‐value, speciality or hand‐crafted products) and “regional recipes” (dishes readily associated with home preparation and cooking). Proposes that findings have implications for marketing, in particular product differentiation and communication. Implications are discussed for food producers and retailers, and recommendations are made for future research.

The digital direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach has seen widespread adoption across many industries, but its application to regional food products has been slower. This study aims to identify and rank the most significant challenges to the widespread use of digital D2C for regional food products.

A multi-criteria decision-making method called a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was used to determine the order in which these obstacles were evaluated. Thirty-five barriers were identified and categorized into six categories named technological, operational, sociocultural, financial, market and institutional and regulatory barriers.

Market barriers ranked as the top barrier, and the technological barrier ranked the least significant amongst the main barrier categories for the adoption of digital D2C model for the regional food products. Lack of consumer awareness ranked number one globally, and lack of government subsidies ranked the least amongst the thirty-five identified barriers. Operational barriers came out to be second most significant barrier followed by institutional and regulatory barrier, sociocultural barrier, financial barrier and technological barrier.

The findings of this research were derived through a numerical examination of data gathered from the Indian setting. It follows that the technological, sociocultural, financial, market, operational and institutional constraints, among others, outlined here are all unique to India. Because of the unique nature of the Indian setting, the results of this study can only be used there and not elsewhere. It is possible that future research will broaden the aims of this one and refine its methodology. Digital D2C adoption for regional food products may be prioritized and ranked using quantitative and qualitative data sources like ANP and TOPSIS. It is possible that similar studies may be conducted in nations which have a different set of operational, technological, sociocultural market and financial and regulatory barriers. Conceptual framework can be formed by integrating TAM and TPB to understand the buying behavior of regional food products via digital D2C.

This research is the first to identify challenges to the widespread use of the digital D2C model for regional food products. Policymakers and other interested parties can use this information to better understand the difficulties of expanding the distribution of regional food products beyond their immediate regions.

This paper seeks to describe the perceptions and motives for acquiring traditional and regional products by Polish consumers. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the state of regional and traditional food production in Poland and identify the prospects of its development.

Both secondary and primary data were used. The sample size included 1,067 respondents selected based on their place of residence and sex. The five-point Likert scale was used to measure the participant attitudes following the construction and validation procedure. Cronbach’s α test was used to evaluate the reliability of the measuring scale, estimated at 0.85, indicating the accuracy of the scales used. Statistica 13 – including t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis – was a software program used to carry out statistical analysis. Prior to the analysis, multivariate normality was examined by testing each variable for normal distribution.

The research showed the existence of a statistical relationship between the sex of respondents and the suggested traditional food consumption patterns such as organoleptic qualities, high quality, and finally, curiosity and trying new foods. Sex did not statistically influence the responses for the remaining factors.

The increased interest in traditional and regional food products is a manifestation of new food-related tendencies and is implied by the desire to exhibit behaviors and values resulting from cultural heritage. Polish consumers are becoming wealthier, better educated, more aware of both tangible and intangible product attributes, and they are having more opportunities to expose their social preferences when shopping. The importance of food attributes such as traditional and regional food certificates, source of origin or the image of the producer (e.g. respecting ethical behavior) is growing. This research is significant not only because of its theoretical input, but its applied value as well.

This study's main objective is to analyse the role of the consumer's ethnocentrism as a potential segmentation basis and to detect product origin-sensitive groups. The relationship between the consumer's regional ethnocentrism, local and regional identity and corresponding valuation and purchase of food products from a region is also examined.

The responses of 358 consumers residing in two Spanish regions are analysed by means of a mediation analysis and a cluster analysis.

The results suggest the convenience of considering ethnocentric consumer tendencies, also at the regional level, when studying attitudes, valuation, information search and effective purchase of foods of diverse categories and origins.

The main contributions of this work derive from the assessment of consumer ethnocentrism at a subnational level (which is much less present in the literature) and the evidence of its usefulness for segmenting the market and detecting groups of origin-sensitive consumers, which can be useful to companies that produce and market food products in different regions.

I am honored to receive the Booz Allen Hamilton/strategy+business Eminent Scholar Award in International Management. I am even more honored to follow in the footsteps of such distinguished previous recipients of the AOM-IMD (Academy of Management-International Division) Distinguished Scholar Award as: John Child, Christopher Bartlett, Sumantra Ghoshal, John Dunning, and Yves Doz. Like them, I shall reflect here on my past contributions to scholarship, and then use this work as a building block for the major part of this paper, which is on the need for new and relevant theory in the field of international management.

Using a managerial cognition lens, we investigate the organizational design issues facing multinational corporation (MNC) managers. We apply concepts hitherto untested in the international management (IM) literature to a longitudinal study of reconfiguration efforts within a large, Asian MNC. We focus on how organizational design outcomes can be affected through mental interventions that provoke changes in senior executives’ mental representations of what the MNC is and can be to achieve a strategic redirection and redesign. We draw on extensive interview and other qualitative data. Our study contributes to the literatures on MNC design and to our understanding of the important, but largely neglected, micro-foundational role of cognition in IM. This field research on executive judgment and decision-making in real time offers unique insights into the dynamics of MNC design.

Regional imagery is increasingly being recognised as having a commercial value for the products of under‐developed areas. It provides a subjective source of quality differentiation. Results of a consumer survey in Ireland indicate that region of origin is an important consideration for two out of three consumers when deciding to buy quality products and that products from rural areas are generally perceived to be of high quality. However, the links between region and quality products are under‐developed as indicated by the fact that Ireland is seen as a single region and the low level of awareness for selected regional labels. The development of territorial linkages must be based on geographical sub‐divisions of relevance to consumers and must be carefully managed to avoid unnecessary competition and duplication of effort. Discusses the use of regional imagery, reviews the meaning of quality, and presents the results of a survey of Irish consumers focusing on their perceptions and behaviour in relation to regional quality products. It also draws some conclusions and makes recommendations of relevance to policy makers and local development agencies in particular.