Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Normalised Misconduct During an Industry-Wide Crisis: An Investigation in the Chinese Dairy Industry

Industry-wide crises are rooted in institutional problems and can cause large-scale negative consequences. This study investigates consumer responses during industry-wide crises by considering micro-level psychological aspects of institutions – the processes in which individual consumers perceive, judge and respond to the affected industry as an institutional entity. Specifically, it examines how consumers’ perceptions of the normative and regulatory environments of the affected industry influence their purchase intentions through legitimacy judgement. A consumer survey ( n = 534) was conducted after an industry-wide crisis in the Chinese dairy market. The results show that a high degree of perceived normalised misconduct and insufficient governmental regulation propel consumers to form negative legitimacy judgements of institutions and decrease their purchase intentions. This study is one of the first to provide an integrative framework for understanding consumer psychological mechanisms during industry-wide crises. It contributes to integrating the perspectives of consumers’ micro-level psychological mechanisms with views from macro-institutional environments. The research provides implications for managing industry misconduct and industry-wide crises.

Do consumer survey data help improve US vehicle sales forecasts?

PurposeThis study is concerned with evaluating the Federal Reserve forecasts of light motor vehicle sales. The goal is to assess accuracy gains from using consumer vehicle-buying attitudes and expectations about future business conditions derived from the long-running Michigan Surveys of Consumers.Design/methodology/approachSimplicity is a core principle in forecasting, and the literature provides plentiful evidence that combining forecasts from different methods and models reduces out-of-sample forecast errors if the methods and models are valid. As such, the authors construct a simple vector autoregressive (VAR) model that incorporates consumer vehicle-buying attitudes and expectations about future business conditions. Comparable forecasts of vehicle sales from this model are then combined with the Federal Reserve forecasts to assess accuracy gains.FindingsThe findings for 1994–2016 indicate that the Federal Reserve and VAR forecasts contain distinct and useful predictive information, and the combination of the two forecasts shows reductions in forecast errors that are more significant at longer horizons. The authors thus conclude that there are accuracy gains from using consumer survey responses.Originality/valueThis is the first study that is concerned with evaluating the Federal Reserve forecasts of vehicle sales and examines whether there are accuracy gains from using consumer vehicle-buying attitudes and expectations.

Understanding the importance of fresh mango quality attributes from the perspective of Indonesian domestic consumers

The domestic market is the primary market of the Indonesian locally produced mango. There is a positive transition in the economy in this market, highlighting the increase of healthy lifestyles and changes in fresh agri-food product preferences, including fresh mango. Understanding how consumers in this community have a variation in preferences is essential to formulate the strategy to improve the performance of the Indonesian mango value chain. This study aims to identify quality attributes of fresh mango considered important by Indonesian domestic consumers. An online consumer survey involving 435 consumers was conducted in February 2021 in Jakarta, the biggest city in Indonesia. Based on the hierarchical cluster analysis, consumers are divided into four clusters based on their perception of the importance of mango quality attributes. The results highlight the differences between four clusters of respondents in giving importance to intrinsic and extrinsic mango quality attributes, where three out of four clusters concern with quality attributes importance. The differences in respondent characteristics in each cluster can represent how different consumers give importance to a mango quality attribute. It can be valuable information to improve mango value chain performance by understanding that most consumers are concerned about mango quality attributes’ importance.

Factors Influencing the Consumer Acceptance of Innovation in Handicraft Products

This study investigates the factors influencing consumer acceptance of certain types of innovation in handicraft products. Another aim of the article is construct/scale development applicable to handicrafts because our study collected scale items from other studies and tried to develop constructs applicable to handicraft products. The descriptive analysis through a quantitative cross-sectional consumer survey was applied along with cluster analysis for consumer market segmentation following the acceptance of certain types of innovations. Eight factors were discovered through EFA. The construct scores for authenticity innovation, packaging innovation, value-adding, product improvement, product design innovation, alternative/new materials, quality materials, and technological innovations were used in the cluster analysis. The results show that most consumers are open to accepting innovation in handicrafts. Particularly, consumers prefer those innovations that do not modify the traditional features and characteristics of products, such as authenticity, packaging, and quality-related innovations. However, consumers considered technological innovations as more skeptical. The comparison of socio-demographic profile of consumer segments with their acceptance of innovation indicates that the younger generation and well-educated consumers are more willing to accept innovation in handicraft products. Contrarily, the old-age consumers were unwilling to accept the innovation and prefer to purchase authentic and quality products. Additionally, as income increases, people like more authentic and quality products. This study focused on an emerging topic for handicraft industry, that is, innovation considered controversial, challenging, and received less attention from scholars in past. Further, this study is the first of its kind to explore the consumer acceptance of innovation in handicraft products.

MARKETING FOR, BY AND OF THE PROJECT: CASE OF KAZAKHSTANI COMPANIES

The article reveals the features of marketing as a part of project management, its purpose and objectives. The essence of marketing in general is described, the concept of marketing research is considered. The article examines the features of project marketing for promoting products to the market. Article also considers a certain example of a Kazakh company that provides medical services. Consumer survey and subsequent experiment were used as research methods. The survey showed the most popular channels of communication between consumers and the company, their experience with chat-bots, and their use and satisfaction assessment from using chat-bots. The hypothesis that the implementation of such a modern marketing technology as a chat-bot will effectively affect the company's activities is considered proven. The research objectives were fulfilled.

Perceptions of Vegan Food among Organic Food Consumers Following Different Diets

This article identifies consumer segments for vegan food by analysing perceptions of vegan food among food organic consumers following different diets: vegans, vegetarians, former vegetarians, flexitarians, and omnivores. The analysis is based on responses to a quantitative consumer survey for which 503 participants were recruited from customers at German grocery stores by quota sampling according to diet and region. From the responses to an open-ended question eliciting the participants’ associations with vegan food, the analysis finds that vegans and vegetarians perceive vegan foods primarily as being beneficial for animal welfare, healthy, and environmentally friendly, while those who ate meat perceive vegan food primarily as containing no animal ingredients and as being healthy. The respondents’ varying assessments of the taste, diversity, and environmental benefits of vegan food were found to differ in relation to the various diets they followed, as did their assessments of how long the vegan trend is likely to last. A cluster analysis based on the consumers’ perceptions and attitudes revealed three consumer groups: “vegan fans”, “enjoyment sceptics”, and “originality-sceptics”. Scepticism about the originality of vegan food was found in all diet groups. These findings can help inform more effective targeting of consumer needs for vegan organic food.

AMR Consumer Perceptions Survey

As part of the UK national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working to improve the scientific evidence base around consumer perceptions and understanding. A consumer survey was carried out in 2016 and 2019, and replicated in 2021, to understand current views and awareness, and to identify any changes over time.

Consumer Vs Producer Misperception: The Case of French Wine

Aims: The study aimed at assessing the similarities and the differences between French wine producers’ perception of Belarusian consumers and the actual behavior of Belarusian consumers. Study design: Questionnaires filled in individually were used to compare consumers and producers’ perception. The questionnaire was made up of general questions addressing socio-demographic data, the kind of beverage preferred, the frequency of consumption of wine, the type of wine preferred, the origin of the wine preferred (producer country), the price and the criteria for purchasing wine. The aim was to get to know their profiles, their habits regarding purchasing and consuming alcohol and more specifically wine. Place and Duration of Study: Consumer survey was undertaken in 2018 in Belarus and producers survey was undertaken in 2019 in France. Methodology: Subjects were all volunteers. Belarussian consumer subjects were healthy (especially no addiction to alcohol, no food disorders) and adult. French participants were experienced producers or novices separated in two sub-samples. Comparison between answers used t-test and z-test. Results: Producers have a correct representation of the type of wine sought by Belarusian consumers and of the criteria to select it but misperceive who shop for wine and how it is consumed. In addition, French producers imagine their wine to be preferred while it is this of Moldavia. Conclusion: This may lead the producers to offer the wrong product for the wrong consumer target and contribute to explain why French wines only ranked fourth regarding importation of wine in Belarus while France is the world's leading wine exporter. This also suggests that the teaching program in French wine schools might be adapted.

Consumer survey on the final consumer behavior concerning the disposal of WEEE in Germany

The evaluation of the waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection masses in relation to the amounts placed on the market shows comparably low rates of about 43 to 45% in Germany for the last years. Since a minimum collection rate of 65% has to be achieved from 2019 onward, it is important to ask how the current low rates can be explained. In light of these low rates, the disposal behavior of consumers might play a significant role which is examined in this study. A survey was conducted at the end of February 2018 to assess the consumers’ behavior concerning the individual disposal of WEEE. The residents’ knowledge about the known return possibilities and the collection systems for WEEE were investigated and if disposal routes differ for large and for small devices. On top of that regional differences in disposal behavior within Germany were considered to explain in all the existing deficits in the collection rate. The consumer survey showed that predominantly regular routes for the disposal of WEEE are used and relevant quantities are not only physically “lost,” but that there are also significant deficits in the monitoring itself.