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Sustainability challenges are omnipresent. This study aims to identify consumer segments based on food consumption practices from purchasing to disposal. A priori work identified quality attributes, food responsibility, dietary choices and food organisation and management within the home as key influences. Each represents an opportunity for consumers to employ more sustainable food behaviours. A priori work identified several indicators for each of these influences. This study explored the suitability of these indicators for measuring the identified key influences.

The authors used an online survey of 324 Irish food consumers in January 2021 to address online food interests, purchasing preferences and purchase behaviour linked to food sustainability.

The authors identify four consumer segments – food dabblers, food appreciators, pro-sus and pressured – which present a holistic view of the sustainable behaviours practiced by food consumers. The findings provide insight into the range of sustainability-related food behaviours actioned by consumers – from interest in meat-free products, organics and local produce to having an organised stock at home and minimising waste. The findings shed light on how consumers integrate elements of sustainability into their food lifestyles.

This study captures sustainability-related food behaviours from the point of purchase through to consumption and disposal and identifies four new consumer segments based on interests, preferences and behaviours.

Using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation literature as an organising framework, the purpose of this paper is to explore the initial steps in a continuous improvement (CI) journey taken by an Irish university in order to identify the motivations, highlight key challenges and considers the capabilities required to initiate and sustain a CI programme.

This study focusses on one case organisation. A participative approach is adopted to learn from the initial steps taken in the establishment of a CI programme. Given this approach, the researchers had access to all documents and related archives associated with this initiative. Hence an iterative learning approach is adopted with the analysis of data from the first 12-month plan informing the next planning and implementation phase.

This paper provides a reflective account of why and how a university went about commencing a CI programme. The motivation to establish the CI programme not only reflects the current fiscal environment but also one characterised by a need to respond to a number of increasingly demanding stakeholders. The insights gained highlight the importance of alignment with strategy, role of specialists and use of a structured method informed by a LSS approach. Of particular note is the role of expertise, both internal and external, and within this context the interplay between a formal top-down approach and the coming together enthusiast staff, some of whom had CI experience from previous employment. A number of practical implications were identified as a result of the study including the key role of the project sponsor; the criticality of an understanding of the fundamental LSS concepts and tools and techniques by management; and the key role played by improvement specialists.

While in recent times a strong case for the application of LSS in HEIs has been made, there is a paucity of case studies based on the reflective practice in the field. This paper is novel in that it aims to address this and contribute to an emerging body of CI literature in the HEI area.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of actors who contribute to trust in the food system in four high income countries which have diverse food incident histories: Australia, New Zealand (NZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and the Island of Ireland (IOI), focussing on their communication with the public, and their approach to food system interrelationships.

Data were collected in two separate studies: the first in Australia, NZ and the UK (Study 1); and the second on the IOI (Study 2). In-depth interviews were conducted with media, food industry and food regulatory actors across the four regions (n=105, Study 1; n=50, Study 2). Analysis focussed on identifying similarities and differences in the perspectives of actors from the four regions regarding the key themes of communication with the public, and relationships between media, industry and regulators.

While there were many similarities in the way food system actors from the four regions discussed (re)building trust in the context of a food incident, their perceptions differed in a number of critical ways regarding food system actor use of social media, and the attitudes and approaches towards relationships between food system actors.

This paper outlines opportunities for the regions studied to learn from each other when looking for practical strategies to maximise consumer trust in the food system, particularly relating to the use of social media and attitudes towards role definition in industry–regulator relationships.

This is an exploratory study leveraging a domain-specific innovativeness (DSI) perspective to understand adoption of QR code delivered mobile marketing. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of “innovativeness” and “risk aversion” on QR code adoption and usage in the low-involvement context to address tensions between risk and innovation literatures.

Participants were assigned to “laggard” (n=19) and “innovator/early adopter” (n=19) segments using the DSI scale. A combination of qualitative reductionism (means-end chain analysis) and qualitative holism (semi-structured interviewing) was employed.

Confusion regarding the functionality and purpose of QR codes adversely affected willingness to use and utility perceptions. Source trust and information credibility emerged as key concerns for those considering QR codes, with consumer risk aversion and innovativeness orientations influencing the nature of trust concerns. A perceived lack of complementarity between QR codes and retail environments reduced perceived relevance. For low-involvement products, marketers should consider moving beyond brand-level communication to align offerings to the broader foodscape.

Findings are limited to the low-involvement product context. Although DSI was considered, the impact of technological innovativeness was not explored. Future research may consider the impact of information provision at the broader foodscape rather than product-specific level when exploring QR code applications in the food domain.

This is the first study to explore the role of product category innovativeness, as distinct from technological innovativeness on the acceptance and usage of mobile marketing applications in the low-involvement context. This research builds on existing risk and innovation literatures and addresses tensions between these literatures presented by QR codes within the low-involvement context.

This paper aims to contribute to a developing literature on continuous improvement (CI), enabled by Lean Six Sigma (LSS), in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports on the key learning points arising from the initial steps taken by an Irish university on its CI journey.

A case study strategy was adopted following a participatory research approach. This approach supports reflexivity and also provides access to all relevant documentation and staff within the case university. Thematic analysis was supported by data reduction and display techniques.

The introduction of a LSS approach rather than a reliance on lean alone introduced a structured methodology (DMAIC) that supported simplification of a number of administrative processes. A number of specific improvements were achieved including: Cycle time and cost reduction; customer or employee satisfaction; and rework and error reduction. The findings support the importance of the Readiness Factors as identified by Antony (2014), with particular insight into the role of senior and middle management, the impact of training and deployment of expertise.

This paper is based on an ongoing, longitudinal, empirical study of a single case study in Ireland.

This paper tracks the development of CI in a HEI in a longitudinal manner and adds to the emerging the literature in this area. The paper evaluates the role of management at various levels, analyses the use of LSS tools and techniques and evaluated the role of training and capacity building. Implications for Management are shared including: design and role of training programmes, role of champions at various organisational levels, including key functional areas and sustaining momentum.

Recent research has demonstrated that small firm performance in Northern Ireland has benefited from the availability of a comprehensive and well‐funded programme of selective financial assistance provided by the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU), the small business agency for the region. Such assistance to small firms was seen to overcome many of the constraints of doing business in a peripheral location such as Northern Ireland. However, one question remains unanswered by that research and that is the precise way in which LEDU financial assistance impacts upon business performance. One interpretation of the research to date could be that the relatively better performance of LEDU‐assisted small firms is due to the fact that they are more likely to be faster growing businesses in the first instance, because either they are self‐selecting in presenting themselves for LEDU assistance or else the LEDU engages in a “creaming” process, which results in the granting of assistance to the more successful firms in Northern Ireland. In order to probe further into the impact of LEDU assistance, it is necessary to examine the differential impact on growth of the wide range of support programmes and initiatives for small firms operated by the small business agency in Northern Ireland. This paper will report the results of the first stage of such an analysis by analysing the business performance of two broad groups of LEDU‐assisted clients who have received different levels of assistance in the 1990s – “Growth” and “Established” clients. The analysis is based on information drawn from a specially created database of approximately 1,600 small firms who were in receipt of LEDU financial assistance in the period 1991‐97. The analysis of the employment and turnover performance of LEDU‐assisted firms revealed that Growth clients grew faster than Established clients in the 1991‐97 period and provides tentative evidence that a more intense and directed package of assistance is clearly associated with faster business growth. The age of Growth firms was much older than Established LEDU clients and, therefore, this differential growth performance cannot be related to a simple life‐cycle explanation. The shift in LEDU policy in the 1990s towards a greater concentration of effort on firms with growth potential would appear to have been successful.

Increasing consumer interest in nutrition has led to an increased interest in nutrition labelling. Finds that over half (58 per cent) of the sample surveyed read nutrition labels. Nutrition labelling was found to have an impact on consumer purchase decisions. Of those consumers who read nutritional labels, 81 per cent use them in their evaluation of food products. Consumers have to deduce information from nutrition labels in their current format. Survey findings reinforce previous work carried out in this area, particularly in the context of consumer categorization of food products as “good” or “bad”. For example, consumer avoidance of “negative” nutrients is apparent throughout the survey. The majority of respondents, who read labels, indicated that they search out information on nutrients they wish to avoid. In general, since time allocated to shopping for food products is limited, the format of nutritional labelling needs further consideration and improvement. The concept of nutrition should be incorporated into food companies’ marketing strategy.

Research findings have suggested that today’s consumers view nutrition in a positive light. The findings of this survey support such evidence. The majority of consumers consider diet to be a very important component of their lifestyles and regard nutrition as a positive attribute of food products. A high level of awareness of nutrition labelling is evident among consumers, and 58 per cent of respondents use nutrition labels. However, consumers have to deduce information from nutrition labels in their current format. This proves rather difficult as knowledge of a balanced diet is quite low. Therefore, consumers find it difficult to implement current dietary advice through the use of nutrition labels, and only 17 per cent of the sample surveyed use labels for this purpose. Social networks and the “popular” media were found to be the most used sources of nutrition information, the medical profession was seen as a source of “cure” rather than prevention and a negligible percentage of the sample used official government information channels. Concludes that nutrition labels have a role to play; however, the food industry needs to respond to consumer needs and education/information provision needs to be improved.