scholarly journals Who are the future seaweed consumers in a Western society? Insights from Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 603-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Birch ◽  
Kåre Skallerud ◽  
Nicholas A. Paul

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to profile the consumers who are likely to eat seaweed products in Australia. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted as an online survey among 521 Australian consumers. Binary logistic regression modelling was used to profile the consumers. Findings The paper identifies education, familiarity, food neophobia (FNeo), symbolic value of food consumption, health consciousness, as well as snacking behaviour as significant predictors of likelihood to eat seaweed products. Consumers with a university degree (i.e. undergraduates and postgraduates) are four times more likely to eat seaweed products, and those familiar with seaweed products have a 7.6 higher likelihood to eat seaweed products. FNeo makes the largest contribution to the consumer’s likelihood to eat seaweed. A one unit increase in the FNeo score is associated with a 77 per cent decrease in the predicted odds of eating seaweed products in the next 12 months. The symbolic value of food consumption and health consciousness both doubled the likelihood of eating seaweed products. Snacking behaviour increases the likelihood by 185 per cent. The study reveals that early adopters of seaweed food products in western societies are people with higher educational levels, who are adventurous in their food choices and perceive seaweed consumption to have symbolic value. They are also health conscious “snackers”. Originality/value This study is one of the first attempts to provide insights about consumption of seaweed products; and also reveals the consumer groups in western societies that are most likely to eat seaweed products and who can be targeted as potential early adopters.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Randler

Citizen Science (CS) is a megatrend of the 21st century given its importance for nature conservation. CS projects dealing with birds often require knowledge and abilities to identify species. This knowledge is not easy to acquire and people often learn from leaders during field trips and lectures about birds. This emphasizes the need for leaders in ornithology. Although data of CS projects are increasing, less is known about people providing guidance and taking over leadership roles. In this study, leadership roles (leading field trips, giving lectures/presentations) are analyzed by studying demographic variables, birding specialization, and the social dimension of the involvement concept of serious leisure. Participants were recruited via many channels to cover a broad range of birdwatchers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland who participated in the online survey. A total of 1,518 participants were men, 1,390 were women (mean age 47.7). Mean years of birding were on average 24.5. 845 persons lead at least one field trip, and 671 gave on lecture (in combination 991). Mean number of field trips led during the last 5 years was 13.43, mean number of presentations was 8.21. Persons that gave presentations also led field trips (Phi = 0.593, p < 0.001). However, there are still people that preferred leading field trips over lecturing and vice versa. Men more than women took over leadership roles. A binary logistic regression showed an influence of age, gender, and university degree. Social relatedness was related to being a leader, also birding skill/competence as well as self-report behavior of birding were significant predictors for leadership roles. Years of birdwatching and both commitment scales were not significant. The data indicate that more diversity in leadership roles might be beneficial with more women and younger persons.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah ◽  
Nurul Alia Aqilah Hamdan

Purpose The demand for Muslim friendly tourism industry has been gaining momentum from the increasing number of Muslim travellers globally. This paper aims to examine the role of religiosity in Muslim travellers Halal food consumption attitude and behaviour while travelling to the non-Muslim destination. Design/methodology/approach A total of 384 respondents participated in this study through an online survey. This study used the partial least square structural equation modelling to assess the survey measurements and hypotheses testing. Findings This study asserts that the Muslim travellers’ Halal consumption attitude relies heavily on their level of religiosity, subjective norms and perceived control behaviour. Besides, the results provide evidence that consumption attitude mediates the relationship between religiosity, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and intention in consuming Halal food products while travelling abroad. Practical implications This study highlighted the critical aspects of an emerging Muslim market that travel for leisure with the urge to comply with their Islamic teachings and religiosity. It is vital for non-Muslim tourism destination marketers to tailor their marketing strategies and consider promoting Islamic dietary rules when planning their travel packages. Originality/value This study is one of the few that focus on Muslim-friendly tourism and the role of religiosity in Muslim traveller’s Halal food consumption behaviour. This study confirms that the theory of planned behaviour model can be used to explain Muslim travellers Halal food consumption attitude while travelling to a non-Muslim destination.


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 2282-2299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanza Bianchi ◽  
Gary Mortimer

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore antecedents of local food purchase intention in two food producing countries with different cultural backgrounds. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was employed to collect data from consumers located in Chile (n=283) and Australia (n=300). A proposed model is tested with structural equation modelling. Findings – Attitude towards consuming local food is a strong and direct driver of intentions to purchase local food in both countries. Attitude towards supporting local agri-businesses and consumer ethnocentrism are found to positively impact attitude towards consuming local food in both countries. Attitude towards local agri-businesses also has a direct effect on intentions to purchase local food in Australia, but not in Chile. Interestingly, subjective norms are not found to affect intentions to consume local food in either country. Research limitations/implications – The paper examines factors affecting the attitude towards and behavioural intention regarding local food consumption and develops an extended model of local food consumption. An outcome of this new model is the inclusion of personal variables, which influence local food purchasing behaviour. Practical implications – Producers and retailers need to develop campaigns explaining how consuming local food supports local businesses and farmers, which will reinforce personal values associated with local consumption. Originality/value – This is the first study to demonstrate that positive attitudes towards local foods are important drivers of local food purchase behaviour, independent of the cultural characteristics or level of economic development within a country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (13) ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Leopoldo Trieste ◽  
Andrea Bazzani ◽  
Alessia Amato ◽  
Ugo Faraguna ◽  
Giuseppe Turchetti

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchasing behaviour in a sample of Italian consumers.Design/methodology/approachParticipants (N = 194) completed an online survey including personal data, two questionnaires on purchase behaviour and food consumption, the General Trust Scale (GTS), a questionnaire assessing individual chronotype and two scales about food literacy: one investigating nutritional knowledge (short food literacy questionnaire, SFLQ) and the other focussing on procedural skills (self-perceived food literacy scale, SPFL). Associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchase behaviour were analysed with linear regression models.FindingsParticipants with specific education in nutrition reported higher scores in food literacy. The final score of food literacy was predicted by a greater attention to nutritional content and nutritional properties of products. Women paid more attention to nutritional properties than men, and they obtained higher scores in SFLQ. Evening types obtained lower scores in SFPL compared to intermediate and morning chronotypes. Body mass index (BMI) was negatively correlated to SPFL score, while it was associated with the easy availability of a product, so that obese (BMI ≥ 30) subjects considered the easy availability of a product more important compared to non-obese ones (BMI < 30).Originality/valueThis study investigates the influence of personal and psychometric variables of consumer profiling on food literacy and consequently on purchase behaviour, paving the way for implementing healthier food consumption policies. These findings reinforce the primacy of specific education in building healthy eating habits.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Ben Hassen ◽  
Hamid El Bilali ◽  
Mohammad S. Allahyari ◽  
Laurence Charbel

PurposeRight after announcing the first cases, several governments worldwide have implemented stringent measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. This disruption in individuals' daily routines transformed food consumption habits. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption, diet and food shopping behaviors in Lebanon.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon an online survey in Lebanon administered in Arabic and English through the Survey Monkey platform in the period of July 15—August 5, 2020, with 201 adults. The survey findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a paired sample t-test and a Phi correlation test.FindingsThe research underlined numerous key consumer tendencies that are currently affecting diet and food behavior in Lebanon. Indeed, the study outcomes suggested (1) a move toward healthier diets; (2) a rise in the consumption of domestic products due to food safety concerns; (3) a change in the grocery shopping behaviors (with a rise in online shopping); (4) a surge of food stockpiling; and (5) a decrease in household food wastage. Surprisingly, COVID-19 seems to generate several positive changes toward more sustainable and healthier consumption patterns in Lebanon.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on food behaviors in Lebanon, which would have several policy implications.Originality/valueThe findings of this first study contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on food behaviors in Lebanon, which would have several policy implications.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Wang ◽  
Baolong Ma ◽  
Dan Cudjoe ◽  
Rubing Bai ◽  
Muhammad Farrukh

PurposeThe COVID-19 outbreak has been rapidly spreading around the world for more than a year. However, few studies have explored the connection between the perceived severity of COVID-19 and purchase intention of the health-related products, for example, organic food. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, this study examines the influencing mechanism of perceived severity of COVID-19 on purchase intention of organic food.Design/methodology/approachTo evaluate the proposed model, an online survey was utilized to collect 1,104 valid questionnaires from China.FindingsThe findings suggest that (1) the perceived severity of COVID-19 has a significant positive impact on purchasing intention; (2) health consciousness acts as a mediating role between perceived severity of COVID-19 and purchasing intention and (3) perceived inconvenience negatively moderates the connection between perceived severity and purchase intention.Originality/valueThe findings of this paper provide new insights into the positive effects of COVID-19 and pave the way for governments and enterprises to promote the purchase behaviour of organic food.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Kowalkowska ◽  
Rui Poínhos ◽  
Sara Rodrigues

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the reliability of a Portuguese version of the cooking skills scale (CSS) and to evaluate the association between cooking skills and socio-demographic, psychological and other cooking-related variables. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted as an online survey among 730 Portuguese university students. Translation and back-translation of the CSS were performed. Data were assessed in two stages (test and retest) and the psychometric properties of the CSS were analyzed. The effect of socio-demographic variables was assessed by binary logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios for upper tertile of the CSS score were calculated using the lower tertile as reference. Findings Cronbach’s α for the CSS was 0.90. In the analysis of test-retest reliability, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was 0.79 and Cohen’s κ (for tertiles) was 0.49. Cooking skills were higher in respondents cooking more often, feeling more confident, enjoying more and indicating the personal interest as the main motivation to learn how to cook. Cooking skills were significantly better in females, older students and those with more independent place of residence. Originality/value Very good psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the CSS were found among university students, providing a proper and simple tool to measure cooking skills in future studies with similar populations. The interventions encouraging to acquire and improve cooking skills as part of promoting healthy eating should be targeted especially toward men and young adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Zohra Ghali-Zinoubi

The influence of intrinsic quality, health consciousness, environmental awareness, local support, and proximity of process on consumers’ intention to consume local food during the COVID-19 pandemic was tested, with food availability as a moderator. Online survey results were analyzed using a two-step structural equation modelling (SEM). Health consciousness was the major reason for consuming local food. Intrinsic quality and proximity of process were also significant drivers. Local support and environmental awareness have little impact on the intention to purchase local food. This study contributes to knowledge regarding the main factors driving local food consumption during a health crisis, providing directions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (10) ◽  
pp. 2411-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursa Golob ◽  
Mateja Kos Koklic ◽  
Klement Podnar ◽  
Vesna Zabkar

Purpose Despite numerous scholarly attempts, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relevance of various factors used to promote organic food consumption. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of environmentally conscious purchase behaviour (ECPB) and green scepticism on organic food consumption. Moreover, the paper examines the indirect impact of attitudinal and contextual forces on organic food consumption (through ECPB). Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a conceptual model of organic food consumption. Data were collected through an online survey on a sample of 462 consumers in Slovenia. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships. Findings The findings indicate that ECPB positively and green scepticism negatively affects organic food consumption. In addition, ECPB is positively influenced by personal and social norms, perceived availability and consumer sustainability orientation. Interestingly, the social norms exert the strongest indirect effect on organic food consumption. Research limitations/implications This study informs organic food producers and policy makers about the relative importance of ECPB and scepticism for increasing organic food consumption. It also highlights the role of general attitudinal and contextual factors for ECPB and organic food consumption. Originality/value The proposed model enables a better understanding of the relevance of ECPB, its antecedents and green scepticism as (direct or indirect) determinants of organic food consumption.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Lynn ◽  
Laurent Muzellec ◽  
Barbara Caemmerer ◽  
Darach Turley

Purpose This paper aims to provide a social network site influence (SNSI) profile of early adopters. This study explores the relationship between personality traits of early adopters of social network sites (SNS), their propensity to share information and rumors and their general SNSI. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was sent to the first users of Twitter (n = 200) and Google+ (n = 130) to assess their personality traits. Answers of each respondent were matched to their SNSI scores from Klout and PeerIndex, the industry standard for measuring SNSI. Findings Early adopters of SNS, in comparison to market mavens, are more likely to exert influence on one particular topic related to their profession: technology and the internet. Their levels of extraversion, openness and conscientiousness have a positive and significant impact on information sharing, and a negative impact on rumor sharing. Both, information sharing and rumor sharing have a positive and significant impact on the general SNSI of early adopters. Originality/value Firms struggle to decide whether to invest early in the life of newly created SNS as they are unsure about the characteristics of early adopters of such networks, and, more importantly, whether these sites are effective initial vectors for word-of-mouth. The findings demonstrate that early adopters’ influence (SNSI score) is on par with that of the rest of SNS users, suggesting their influence may be somewhat limited. The study also shows that the opinion leadership impact of the more influential early adopters is monomorphic in nature, being mainly confined to the related technology and internet domains.


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