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This paper aims to test the general validity of a hierarchical model of country image conceptualizations across countries that differ in socio-economic development and distance to the exporting country.

Representative consumer samples in Germany, France, China and Thailand (N ∼ 1,000 per country) completed an online survey on three levels of country image regarding Denmark and attitudes towards buying an organic food product from Denmark. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The hierarchical country image model fitted the data well in the two European countries, but not in the two Asian countries. It appears that the hierarchical relationships proposed by the model require a high level of familiarity with and knowledge of the origin country and the product type.

The application scope of the model is considerably narrower than implied by earlier research. Further research should combine data from a number of sources to investigate the model’s application further.

Exporters must pay attention to both the general image of their country and the image of their country with regard to their specific product category, as this impacts consumer product evaluations.

International trade and the success of export strategies ultimately depend on consumer acceptance in importing countries. This study demonstrates how consumer perception of imported products is affected by the exporting country’s image, which may be more or less elaborate and differentiated. It gives exporters new insight into how they can make their marketing effective when entering markets.

Filling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated imported product.

Online surveys carried out in Denmark (Study 1), Germany and France (Study 2; N˜500 from each country). In Study 1, we develop an environmental country image instrument and investigate its nomological validity vis-à-vis other country image constructs and Danish consumers' evaluation of organic milk from Germany. In Study 2, we validate the instrument with consumers from Germany and France, evaluating organic milk from Denmark.

Consumers differentiate between a country's environmental image and its general and production-related images. The country's environmental image is important to consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated product from the country. Specifically, we find that a country's environmental image strongly influences its product-specific images and, through these, the consumer's evaluation of an organic food product from the country.

Consumers' use of a country's environmental image as a cue to the credibility of environmental claims gives competitive advantages to exporters from countries with a favorable environmental image, while exporters from countries with an unfavorable environmental image need measures to compensate. Companies and countries should monitor how the environmental image of their country evolves in important markets and be ready to act when facing damages to their country's environmental image.

This article is the first to propose a measure of environmental country image and to document that consumers use the environmental image of an exporting country to assess environmental claims on imported products.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize virtual influencer marketing, outlining the opportunities and dangers associated with using virtual influencers in social media marketing communications.

Drawing on the literature addressing influencer marketing and interactions between consumers and technologies, this paper introduces the landscape of virtual influencer marketing.

This paper distinguishes virtual influencers from real-life influencers and related digital characters. It further defines four unique elements attributed to virtual influencers: customization, flexibility, ownership and automation. Finally, it introduces a taxonomy for virtual influencers.

The conceptualization of virtual influencer marketing contributes to advancing the understanding of the (virtual) influencer marketing landscape.

This paper suggests that brands need to carefully evaluate the different characteristics of virtual influencers, when deciding to leverage them in social media marketing communications. It also provides guidelines for working with virtual influencers in marketing campaigns targeted at consumers.

This paper discusses ethical and social implications for brands and consumers that interact with virtual influencers in the encounter between reality and virtuality.

This paper makes three contributions. First, it conceptualizes virtual influencer marketing by defining and critically evaluating the key characteristics attributed to virtual influencers. Second, it offers a 2 × 2 taxonomy of virtual influencers, grounded in research on anthropomorphism and reality–virtuality. Third, this paper reflects on the opportunities and dangers associated with virtual influencer marketing, outlining avenues for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the country-of-origin (COO) effect in the context of organic food and develop suggestions for further research in this area. Research has investigated COO effects and consumer responses to organic food, but there is little research on the combination of the two.

A narrative review of two research streams and their intersection, forming the basis for the development of a research agenda.

There are few studies analysing the possible interaction between the effects of organic and COO on consumers’ food preferences and choices. In general, COO seems to lose impact when other quality cues are salient. This suggests a lower impact of COO for organic than for conventional food products. However, there is still no research on the possible impact of organic labelling in categories where products from a foreign country are able to demand a premium, and little is known about consumer preferences for different import countries regarding organic food. Six potential future research directions are suggested.

There is a need for research that more systematically investigates the possible interactions between COO and organic labelling on consumers’ food product preferences and choices. A research agenda is suggested as a starting point.

This literature review highlights the lack of research on the interaction between COO effects and consumer responses to organic food. The literature review creates a basis for future research and a possible research agenda is suggested.

Snacking has been characterized as normatively unrestricted and identified as one of the main causes of adolescent obesity. The purpose of this paper is not to question the relation between obesity and snacking, but to ask to which extent adolescent snacking is socially unrestricted and to explore adolescent perceptions of the potential conventions and dilemmas involved in snacking.

Referring to previous research in food choice dilemmas and conventions, the paper starts out by discussing potential implications for adolescent snacking in different social contexts. Following this, the design, implementation and results of three focus groups, aiming at an exploration of adolescent snacking perceptions is described.

By identifying two distinct forms of adolescent snacking, i.e. “in‐between meals” and “fun snacks”, the results of the focus groups falsify the perception of snacking as socially unrestricted and offer some interesting insights into the conventions, personal dilemmas and intergenerational conflicts which characterize adolescent snacking.

The classification of snacking as unrestricted of social norms is both unwarranted and counterproductive to the understanding – and subsequently the mitigation – of the relation between snacking and obesity.

Apart from falsifying the classification of snacking as unrestricted of social norms, the study contributes by devising a focus group design for elicitation of social norms and dilemmas. Recognizing that the study is just a first step towards a comprehensive understanding of adolescent snacking and that facilitation of healthier snacking behaviors requires such an understanding, recommendations for further research are given.

Healthy‐eating socialization is often described as a bi‐directional process, but there are only few studies on children and parent's roles in the process. This paper aims to investigate children and parents' accounts of awareness and involvement in healthy eating and how they relate it to their roles in healthy‐eating socialization.

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 38 families three months after a healthy‐eating intervention involving dietary advice and SMS feedback. The interviews were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis.

Children and parents identified several causes of awareness and involvement in healthy eating: new or re‐activated health knowledge, visualization of amounts, self‐regulation and planning. Children adopted two strategies in terms of family socialization: a direct strategy placing demands on parents or a cooperative strategy helping the parents. Parents initiated dialogues with family members about healthy eating and felt responsible as role models often honouring the children's demands and help.

Findings provide a concrete empirical account of the socialization process and confirm that parents still have the superior hand, when it comes to healthy eating, but with children as active players. The authors suggest future studies to explore the development of influence and awareness of healthy eating among children and the extent to which children wish to engage in healthy‐eating socialization.

The study supplements previous research by including children's immediate family as a unit of analysis. By taking an intra‐familiar systemic approach to studying family socialization, future studies can take into account the family support (or lack hereof), when designing interventions and evaluating the outcomes.

The aim of this paper is to study the extent of change in parents' fruit and vegetable consumption during a period when their children participate in a school-based healthy eating intervention.

A total of 256 12-year-old Danish schoolchildren took part in a text-message feedback intervention promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. One parent of each child filled out self-administered questionnaires at three points during the 40-week study period. In the questionnaire, stated consumption, perceived influence factors on their consumption and self-efficacy and self-regulation were measured.

Only half of the parents stated that they met the “five a day” target. These parents reported good availability of fruit and vegetables in their household, high consumption among their friends and frequent exercise and they were characterised by high self-efficacy levels. Stated consumption increased during the period of the intervention targeted at their children. Parents that reported an increase had, at the start of the intervention, reported low levels of consumption, lack of encouragement to eat healthy at their workplace and lower autonomous self-regulation.

The consumption data is limited to self-report.

The results indicate that parents can be influenced indirectly by school-based interventions targeted at their children. Future interventions should include the family with the intent to support positive interaction that might further promote and sustain healthy eating habits.

The study considers the possible effects school interventions targeting children may have on the immediate family, an aspect generally overlooked in school-based health initiatives.

This essay aims to draw attention to the idea of a new research approach to knowledge management (KM) labelled responsible KM (rKM) as a possible answer to not only address the consequences of the pandemic but also other present and upcoming societal challenges.

This essay has been prepared by a KM researcher who shares their own personal views and opinion regarding past and current societal developments and based on that offers a potentially new KM direction.

Switching the focus to rKM may help address current and upcoming social challenges that can only be addressed jointly by the global community and which would also involve a new consideration of the “knowledge” resource.

The essay proposes a new alternative approach to KM called rKM that is based on ideas that to the author’s knowledge have not been discussed in this way in the contemporary literature on KM.