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Hospitality companies increasingly sell their unsold, or so-called rescued meals, on food waste reduction applications (e.g. Too Good To Go [TGTG]). The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of product construal and benefit appeals on consumer evaluations.

Study 1 (N = 277 participants) is an online experiment with a 2 × 3 between subject design analyzed using ANOVA and planned contrast analysis. Study 2 is a 2 × 2 field experiment (N = 147 sold rescued food boxes) using chi-square tests for the main analysis.

This study finds that an abstract product description (e.g. a magic box with an opaque content) matched with an environmental benefit appeal renders significantly higher consumer evaluations in comparison to when the same product is paired with financial benefits. In contrast, a concrete product presentation featuring financial benefits as opposed to environmental benefits increases consumer purchase intentions and willingness to pay.

We empirically show how the interaction and congruency between product construal and benefit appeals affect evaluations in a last-minute purchase context.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to look at the interactive effect between product construal and benefit appeals in a food waste and technology context.

The purpose of this study is to test the impact of time and price sensitivity on consumer satisfaction and purchase intention on online-to-offline (O2O) takeout platforms and explore the moderating effect of purchase preference on time sensitivity and satisfaction, as well as price sensitivity and satisfaction, in order to guide market pricing.

A structural equation model (SEM) of customer purchase intention was constructed, and the relationships between the variables (time sensitivity, price sensitivity, satisfaction and purchase intention) were examined. The completed questionnaires of 349 respondents were collected from the Questionnaire Star platform in China. The research model and hypotheses were then tested. Analytic hierarchy procedure was used to determine the moderating effect of purchase preference. Finally, the study proposes a pricing strategy for customer-active selective services.

Satisfaction positively influences purchase intention, and price sensitivity significantly increases satisfaction and further increases purchase intention; however, time sensitivity negatively affects satisfaction. Specifically, purchase preference has strongly moderated the relationship between time, price sensitivity and satisfaction. In addition, the findings show that when purchase preference is high, the effect of price sensitivity on satisfaction is stronger, suggesting the importance of purchase preference in strengthening purchase intentions. The research work recommends a pricing strategy involving value-added pricing primarily for time-sensitive customers, which can help build a high-end brand image and reduce price competition. Reduced pricing is mainly for price-sensitive customers, which is conducive to stimulating consumption within a specific time. This pricing strategy is important for adjusting market sensitivity and flexibility.

This research provides new ideas for related disciplines and guidance for the differentiated pricing and promotion of takeout platforms, as well as a theoretical basis for the diversified development of takeout platforms, improvement of personalized service quality and enhancement of customer stickiness. This study fills gaps in the existing literature on the moderating effect of purchase preference on time sensitivity and satisfaction and price sensitivity and satisfaction.

This article draws upon our perspective as academic-practitioners working in the fields of food insecurity, food systems, and inequality to comment, in the early stages of the pandemic and associated lockdown, on the empirical and ethical implications of COVID-19 for socio-economic inequalities in access to food in the UK. The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the profound insecurity of large segments of the UK population, an insecurity itself the product of a decade of “austerity” policies. Increased unemployment, reduced hours, and enforced self-isolation for multiple vulnerable groups is likely to lead to an increase in UK food insecurity, exacerbating diet-related health inequalities. The social and economic crisis associated with the pandemic has exposed the fragility of the system of food charity which, at present, is a key response to growing poverty. A vulnerable food system, with just-in-time supply chains, has been challenged by stockpiling. Resultant food supply issues at food banks, alongside rapidly increasing demand and reduced volunteer numbers, has undermined many food charities, especially independent food banks. In the light of this analysis, we make a series of recommendations. We call for an immediate end to the five week wait for Universal Credit and cash grants for low income households. We ask central and local government to recognise that many food aid providers are already at capacity and unable to adopt additional responsibilities. The government's – significant – response to the economic crisis associated with COVID-19 has underscored a key principle: it is the government's responsibility to protect population health, to guarantee household incomes, and to safeguard the economy. Millions of households were in poverty before the pandemic, and millions more will be so unless the government continues to protect household incomes through policy change.

This study investigates how a competitor orientation (knowledge of and acting on competitors' strengths and weaknesses) facilitates coopetition activities (collaboration with competitors), within networks of competing micro-sized, independent, family restaurants, owned by entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds.

An instrumental case study features data collected from interviews with 30 owners (as key informants) of micro-sized, independent, family-owned restaurants, in two urban clusters within the Midlands (UK). Specifically, the context involves restaurants offering South Asian cuisine and where the owner originated from the Indian sub-continent (Bangladesh, India or Pakistan). Secondary data were collected wherever possible. These two clusters (not named for ethics reasons) are highly populated by members of these respective ethnic communities; also, they contain a relatively large number of restaurants offering South Asian cuisine.

A competitor orientation facilitated strong coopetition-oriented partnerships comprised of extended family and intra-community members that helped enhance individual firms' performance, maintained family employment and sustained their cluster. It also helped owners develop subtle counter strategies where weak ties existed, such as via inter-community networks. For example, strategies attracted customers that were not loyal to a particular restaurant, or indeed, sub-ethnic cuisine (within Bangladesh, India or Pakistan, like the Punjab region). Subtle as opposed to outright counter strategies minimised retaliation, since restaurant owners wanted to avoid price wars, or spreading misinformation where the reputation of a cluster may suffer alongside the likely survival of individual businesses within that regional cluster.

Mixed evidence exists in earlier studies regarding the competitive rivalry in certain sectors where ethnic minority ownership is prominent; not least, restaurants located in regional clusters. However, this investigation considers the notion – what if some of these earlier studies are wrong? More specifically, does certain prior research under-represent the extent that rival entrepreneurs of an ethnic minority origin collaborate rather than compete for mutually beneficial purposes? New evidence emerges regarding ways in which a competitor orientation can influence the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition activities among business owners originating from both intra and inter-ethnic communities.

On completion of this case study, students will be able to understand collaboration and synergy between farmers and organisations through value creation, like fundraising, based on the comprehension of the resource-based theory; understand the overview and concept of the value chain and supply chain management in the agribusiness to reduce costs of inventories; understand the concept of segmentation and positioning to increase revenue for organisations by leveraging existing resources – human and financial; and understand the branding strategy to create a sustainable competitive advantage for Suguna Foods.

Suguna was started by two brothers, B. Soundararajan and G.B. Sundararajan, to help other farmers. Suguna, with just 200 broilers in 1984, grew to be the number 1 poultry company across India. Soundararajan was a pioneer and innovator who started “contract farming” in India in 1991. This model helped both the farmers and the company to became successful. The farmers always struggled to pay the cost of feed and other materials, as credit was not readily and easily available from financial institutions. Suguna helped farmers by providing feed, medicines, etc., free of cost in return for the good rearing of chickens. Because of the success of this venture, they decided to continue with it. Today, Suguna is a successful company that sells chicken, eggs and processed meat. They modernised the retail chain to supply consumers with fresh, healthy and hygienic meat. Suguna’s vision was to “Energize rural India” by helping farmers succeed. They helped over 40,000 farmers from 15,000+ villages in 18+ Indian states. Although the growth helped both farmers and Suguna, the increased cost of raw materials for Suguna and increased input costs/power costs for farmers had to be tackled on a war footing so that both could have good income despite the increased inflation. Moreover, the retail price of live chicken was more or less stagnant in the past five years, especially after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This case can be used as the basis for a 90-min class discussion. This case study is suitable for use in an master of business administration course module or in an executive education program on developing an understanding of value creation in the business model in a rural market and also how the supply chain works. This case study can also be used to teach pricing, segmentation in marketing and supply chain perspectives and decision-making skills.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing.

This study explored how Brazilian young adults who cook interact with cooking-related content on social media and how such content fits their cooking routine.

Semi-structured interviews (n = 31) were transcribed, inductively and reflexively thematic analysed.

Interactions happened both in recreational and intentional ways, which coexisted and alternated depending on participants' motives and schedules. Recreational interactions such as browsing and saving happened more for self-entertainment and to some participants, to help meal planning and food shopping. Intentional interactions such as searching and sharing happened to fulfil specific needs which arised on cooking occasions, leading to agency development. Young adults who self-identified as being less experienced in cooking reported checking and comparing many recipes, as well as relying on video features to improve skills and develop self-efficacy. Despite showing agency in cooking-related matters, participants perceived lack of time to cook as an important barrier to cooking more. Intentional interactions with cooking content were linked to more established cooking routines, indicating the importance of social media to young adults' development of self-efficacy and improvement of skills.

The use of social media to search for cooking-related content is recommended by Brazilian dietary guidelines to develop cooking and food skills, but research on if and how the interaction occurs, and the resulting knowledge is put into practice, is scarce. This study addressed this gap and proposed practical implications to inform the development of interventions employing social media to improve young adults' cooking skills and health.

This photovoice study aims to explore how cleaners experience dirty and invisible work in the workplace.

This research is twofold. The authors first used the photovoice technique, which is one of the visual data collection techniques, to elaborate on the phenomena. The data were obtained with the participation of seven people (four women and three men) from building cleaners working at two public universities in Turkey. Three photographs were requested from each participant and selected nine photographs were described and analyzed among the collected 21 photographs. In addition to photovoice research, five interviews gave insight into the cleaners’ experiences in the second stage of the study.

This research revealed that participating cleaners experienced invisible dirty work and they felt undervalued, despised, treated as “second class/low-level people” and stigmatized.

This study recommends that university administrations defend the rights and dignity of cleaners at work, provide services to support their inclusion and increase staff awareness.

This study sheds light into an understudied area which is the building cleaners’ invisible and dirty work experiences and how that impacts their lives via a photovoice research.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the food and beverage sector very severely. The complete breakdown of the supply chain and lack of customers was particularly challenging for start-ups in the industry. Those that survived were the ones who made a timely and smooth transition in business models to become more technology driven. However, the issues faced and the ground realities of the extent of struggle that these start-ups went through are less understood in the scholarly literature, with most accounts being anecdotal. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

The present study attempts to bridge this gap by conducting a qualitative study to collect data from 35 owners/employees of food and beverage start-ups and using the grounded theory approach to code it and identify key themes.

Content analysis of the 35 responses revealed three main themes: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on operations of food and beverage start-ups, challenges due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and combating the pandemic, divided into seven subthemes: differences in operations pre- and post-COVID, key changes experienced in operations post-COVID, problems arising in operations due to the pandemic, problems in the use of digital marketing due to the pandemic, problems in the use of technological platforms due to the pandemic, using innovative approaches and technological innovations and using disruptive technologies.

The study contributes novel insights by investigating the changes experienced by food and beverage start-ups due to the pandemic, the innovations introduced by them and the perception about the role of disruptive technologies in their postpandemic operations of food and beverage start-ups.

This chapter focuses on exploring challenges encountered by the neglected group of employees who live alone and do not have children, particularly in relation to work-life balance (WLB). We first question the conventional WLB discourse – predominately surrounded by addressing work-family conflicts. We next discuss how this formulates debates about the equality and fairness of HR policies affecting various groups of employees, with solo-living individuals being excluded. In addition to previously documented work-life issues, we articulate difficulties related to the pursuit of independence, freedom, balancing, and healthy work-life experiences for and specific to solo-living women academics. We conclude that our insights on “vulnerability” may lead to feminist approach being incorporated into work-life policy development in order to better engage underrepresented groups of employees, accommodate the needs of “others” and promote collective flourishing.

This paper aims to investigate the donor characteristics of Muslim donors and fills the gap by empirically surveying Muslim donors from Kuwait. The authors believe their sample choice to be of importance due to the stark contrast between the Kuwaiti and Asian environment, of which much of the literature’s findings on Muslim donor behavior was based on.

The characteristics studied include demographics, socioeconomics, individual attitudes, trust perceived generosity among others identified in the literature. Data was gathered by disseminating 320 surveys to better understand which variables have significant influence on an individual’s charity behavior. Statistical analysis using regression method was used to analyze the data.

The findings report that fundraising campaigns, perceived financial security are significant and there is also a significant association between certain charity activities and gender. The findings have implications on market segmentation and promotional strategies aimed toward similar donor profiles and for the charities soliciting Zakat who are based in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

The contributions of this manuscript further the knowledge of donor behavior and thus enrich the body of work within research that explores the role of marketing in philanthropic and non-profit organizations. This study provides deeper insights into the Muslim’s donor behavior and from a managerial standpoint, facilitates on how to target them effectively when soliciting donations or raising funds for campaigns within Muslim communities, an area that has received little attention from research investigating marketing for nonprofit organizations.