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Corruption is a major social problem, and scholars have devoted considerable attention to this phenomenon. However, less attention has been paid to how corruption spreads among organizations and what factors can make its spread more likely. This study aims to fill the gap by modelling corruption as an interorganizational contagion.

The authors used social contagion theory to model corruption as an interorganizational contagion, influenced by the susceptibility of organizations and the strength of contagion sources. The study analysed 736 medium and large Italian municipalities over a five-year period, with 3,146 observations (excluding missing data). The authors conducted a longitudinal analysis using panel logistic regression techniques and performed robustness and endogeneity checks through a dynamic panel data model.

The authors found that municipalities with a higher percentage of corrupt neighbouring municipalities were more likely to experience corruption. The probability of experiencing corruption was also significantly higher for municipalities with weaker organizational resistance to corruption contagion.

Previous studies have not clearly explained the organizational mechanisms behind the spread of corruption at the interorganizational level. The study suggests that corruption contagion at the municipal level occurs via reduced uncertainty in decision-makers and is influenced by the prevalence of corruption locally. The spread can be driven by conscious or unconscious mechanisms. This study challenges the idea that corruption contagion is immediate and inevitable. Organizational resistance to corruption can affect the risk of contagion, highlighting the importance of anti-corruption controls and ethical systems in preventing it.

This paper aims to explore the risk and benefit perceptions influencing beer patrons’ purchase and consumption decisions in India. It delves into the drivers behind consumers’ consumption patterns and attitudes towards beer, which subsequently impact their behavioural intentions, including word-of-mouth recommendations and repurchase intentions.

The study uses a structured questionnaire to collect data from 306 beer patrons in Delhi and the National Capital Region. Through exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, the research examines the risk (5) and benefit (3) factors associated with beer consumption using a factor model consisting of 29 constructs. A conceptual framework illustrates the interrelationships between variables, which are subsequently validated empirically.

The findings reveal that patrons’ attitudes towards beer are influenced by their perceptions of risk and benefit. Specifically, health and socio-psychological risks are identified as the most significant and negatively impacting factors on patrons’ attitudes. Factorial analysis demonstrates that patrons’ attitudes towards beer are positively influenced by their perception of benefits such as value for money, sensory appeal and convenience. Furthermore, the study highlights that an increase in benefit perception or a decrease in risk perception leads to a favourable shift in patrons’ attitudes towards beer.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study will be the first to investigate how beer consumers’ consumption patterns and purchase decisions are impacted by assessing consumer risk and benefit perceptions. This study will also aid stakeholders in tailoring their beer offerings better to meet the desires and requirements of their customers.

This paper investigates the factors and how they lead to meat choice decisions based on preferred slaughter practices. The literature has established the role of psychological factors and morality perception in meat choice decisions. However, it explores how consumers' behavioural intention is impacted towards alternative meat when consumer guilt is activated in different cultural settings.

This study included in-depth interviews with consumers from India's emerging market due to its multicultural dimension and diverse religious beliefs about meat consumption. The authors conducted 17 interviews to explore antecedents towards non-halal meat choices.

Utilizing the Theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this paper explores research gaps related to meat consumption preferences based on preferred slaughter practices in an emerging market context. The findings uncover and add to understanding meat preferences in varied cultural contexts that affect consumer choices. The authors advance the current understanding of TPB from the perspective of behavioural intention toward non-halal meat.

The study's findings have significant implications for all the organizations/outlets dealing with non-vegetarian food products, whether packaged or fresh and for meat sellers.

The study is unique in identifying the meat choice preferences based on slaughter practice through the extended prism of TPB. The market chosen for this study is one of the biggest consumer markets and its growing continuously.

With the worldwide open government data (OGD) movement and frequent public health emergencies in recent years, academic research on OGD for public health emergencies has been growing. However, it is not fully understood how to promote OGD on public health emergencies. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the factors that influence OGD on public health emergencies.

The technology–organization–environment framework is applied to explore factors that influence OGD during COVID-19. It is argued that the effects of four key factors – technical capacity, organizational readiness, social attention and top-down pressure – are contingent on the severity of the pandemic. A unique data set was created by combining multiple data sources which include archival government data, a survey of 1,034 Chinese respondents during the COVID-19 outbreak and official COVID-19 reports.

The data analysis indicates that the four factors positively affect OGD, and pandemic severity strengthens the effects of technical capacity, organizational readiness and social attention on OGD.

This study provides theoretical insights regarding how to improve OGD during public health emergencies, which can guide government efforts in sharing data with the public when dealing with outbreak in the future.

The present study addresses acceptance of in vitro meat (IVM) among a predominantly student sample in Germany. It is investigated to which extent food technology neophobia, the currently followed diet and information treatments impact acceptance of IVM measured via the construct willingness to buy (WTB).

A quantitative online-survey was conducted in August 2020 using a between-subject design with three different information treatments and one control group. Moreover, the Food Technology Neophobia (FTN) scale was employed, For the statistical analysis, the χ² and Kruskal–Wallis test were used. Additionally, a binary logit model was specified and estimated in order to investigate the determinants of willingness to buy IVM accounting for the effects of gender, age, vegetarianism/veganism, FTN, prior knowledge, information treatments and potential interaction effects.

Participants following a vegan or vegetarian diet exhibit a lower likelihood of IVM acceptance in comparison to participants following an omnivore diet. However, a considerable share of vegan and vegetarian participants expressed a positive WTB. Moreover, an increasing FTN score (i.e. an increase in food technology neophobia) goes along with a reduced likelihood of acceptance, while all three information treatments increase acceptance in comparison to the control group. The largest effect on acceptance could be found for the environmental benefit treatment.

The findings show that especially among a young and highly educated sample the stressing of environmental benefits of IVM has a substantial impact on acceptance. This might be taken up in information and marketing campaigns once the product becomes available on the European market.

So far the empirical evidence on German consumers' acceptance of IVM is scarce. The present study addressed this research gap by focusing on a young sample with a high percentage of vegetarians and vegans and analyzing the role of food technology neophobia and different information treatments in a between-subject design.

Future foods such as plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA) are a means to achieving a more sustainable food system. However, there is a gap in what is known about PBMA from the consumer side, considering it is a relatively new food. Therefore, the paper aims to examine whether trust and perception could explain the intention to consume PBMA among Chinese adults.

The paper elicited the level of trust and perceptions related to PBMA. Then logistic regressions and mediation analysis were estimated to determine the associations between consumption intentions towards PBMA and a range of trust and perception variables.

The results indicate that most respondents trust food safety regulators and the labelling and composition standards. A comparison of the perception of meat and PBMA revealed that the majority of respondents perceive meat as tastier than PBMA while PBMA as being better for the environment. Regarding the effect of trust and perception on consumption intention, respondents that perceive PBMA as being better for the environment and having lower food safety risks are more likely to eat PBMA. Also, consumption intentions for PBMA are higher among respondents who trust safety regulators and independent promoters.

The finding on both the intention to try and the potential for sustained consumption is a prerequisite to predicting future demand. These findings are also crucial to guiding market orientation.

This paper focuses on drivers/barriers of consumer consumption intention – a shift from studies which examine product attributes and sensory or marketing determinants of consumption decisions.

This study aims to examine the most influential drivers, both product-specific and consumer-specific, affecting Asian consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for organic olive oil.

To individuate the most influential drivers of WTP for organic products and to assess their effect, in terms of configurational paths and consumer profiles, this study sequentially employs explorative factor analysis approach and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method. The survey is carried out in different areas of Asia (e.g. Pakistan, Vietnam and China).

The results suggest that Asian consumers' WTP for organic products is described by consumer-specific drivers (gender, occupation and household size) as well as product-specific drivers (product authenticity and sustainability, consumer ethnocentrism and food fraud risk perception).

The findings of the study permit the identification of different drivers that move consumers' WTP for organic olive oil. The study contributes to setting the ground for companies to propose and implement efficacious marketing strategies for organic olive oil in importing countries, such as Asia.

This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the intention to use information technology in audit (ITIA) in Iraq.

The study uses a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey of 186 respondents. The study population includes respondents who are board members, senior executives, internal auditors and information technology (IT) assistants in various Iraqi organizations from different sectors. Structural equation modeling has been used to estimate the results.

The findings exhibit that most auditors in Iraq use basic IT software. However, among several specialized and advanced IT audit software packages, only generalized audit software is used by about 20%. The results also indicate that social factors significantly and positively impact auditors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of ITIA use. Moreover, the results reveal that companies and auditors who use or audit complex accounting systems perceive higher benefits and intent to adopt ITIA. However, the results report that organizational support, professional support, competency and IT education have an insignificant effect on ITIA adoption.

The originality of the present research lies in several aspects. First, the research study focuses specifically on Iraq, which is an emerging and less developed country influenced by social and economic. This research context provides a unique perspective and contributes to the understanding of ITIA adoption in less developed countries. The study investigates how external factors, including social and external pressure and the support of government professional bodies, affect the adoption of ITIA. Further, it assesses the influence of firms’ specific factors such as management support, level of competency and complexity of accounting information systems. Second, the study uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey from various Iraqi organizations and sectors. The specific sample composition adds originality by capturing insights from different levels of organizational hierarchy and diverse professional backgrounds. Third, the findings shed light on the current IT usage in auditing practices in Iraq, highlighting that most auditors use basic IT software and the limited adoption of specialized IT audit software packages. Finally, the study’s originality is also reflected in its contribution to expanding knowledge on the perceived benefits and challenges associated with ITIA adoption in less developed countries. By emphasizing the need for broader awareness of emerging technology-enabled auditing software and considering the unique characteristics of less developed countries, the research provides valuable insights and implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.

This study aims to investigate the influence of sociodemographic characteristics, perceived risks, health and nutritional motives and taste preference on at-home fish consumption.

Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of people responsible for food purchasing in households, using the CAWI (computer-aided web interviewing) method. The eligible study sample comprised 977 participants in Croatia and 967 in Italy, who reported fishery products consumption in the previous 12 months. A questionnaire was used to examine sociodemographic characteristics, fish consumption frequency and factors affecting fish consumption. Determinants of white and fatty fish consumption were estimated with ordered probit models, along with marginal effects for each factor in the models.

Common positive determinants of white and fatty fish consumption in Croatia and Italy were health and nutritional motives (p < 0.001, p = 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.010), taste preference (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.001, p = 0.001) and maritime nature of the living region. The common negative determinant of white and fatty fish consumption in Croatia and Italy was financial risk (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.005). The country-specific positive determinant in Croatia was the number of household members (p < 0.001), while negative determinants for white and fatty fish were functional risk (p = 0.004, p = 0.013), number of children (p = 0.030, p = 0.001) and female gender (for fatty fish) (p = 0.028). In Italy, older age negatively affected (p < 0.001) fish consumption, while number of children (p = 0.009) and household income positively affected white fish consumption.

An adequate probabilistic model of national representative samples ensures credibility of results. Policy and marketing activities are proposed that can encourage higher fish consumption.

The purpose of this conceptual paper was to introduce the risk–benefit approach to bakery products in relation to their acrylamide content. Acrylamide is a compound which gives rise to risks of cancer, and several mitigating procedures have been in place for various products and processes. This paper concentrated on bakery products and took a risk–benefit approach in relation to acrylamide.

Papers published in peer-reviewed journals were reviewed. A combination of keywords such as acrylamide, bakery products and risk/benefit were used to find sources. Additional sources, such as governmental and non-governmental organisations documents, were also used when relevant. After looking at the main characteristics of acrylamide, the potential benefit of bread was also looked at. The paper summarises known information on acrylamide and looks at the risk and benefit of bakery products in relation to this compound.

The risk analysis approach can be extended to include benefits so that a balanced conclusion can be reached whether a product is an acceptable part of the diet or not. Exposure to acrylamide was a function of the product type and preparation/process. Bakery products were a source of many nutrients, and the risk regarding acrylamide may be controlled by careful product and process design.

There was contradictory information regarding how unsafe acrylamide is. In this paper, the risk–benefit approach has been qualitatively used to weigh both the risks and benefits of the bakery product category.