Labelling or not: influence of food retailer's approaching the expiration date labelling on consumers' patronage intention

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of food retailer's Approaching the Expiration Date (AED) labelling on consumers' retailer-related response. Specifically, the main effect of food retailer's AED labelling on consumers' patronage intention, the mediation effect of food retailer's concern for consumers and the boundary condition of this effect are explored. The selected context of research is that food retailers are reluctant to stick an AED label on nearly expired food due to negative effect on selling them.Design/methodology/approachTwo separate pretests and two separate experiments have been conducted to investigate the influence of food retailer's AED labelling on patronage intention. Pretest 1 develops the stimulus material of food retailer's AED labelling. Study 1 investigates the influence of AED labelling on patronage intention and mediation effect of consumers' perception of retailer's concern for consumers. Pretest 2 develops the stimulus material of government regulation on food retailer's AED labelling. Study 2 explores the boundary condition of the positive effect, namely the moderation effect of whether retailer's AED labelling is voluntary or mandatory.FindingsThe main findings of this research highlight the positive influence of food retailer's AED labelling on consumers' patronage intention. In addition, the current research reveals the underlying mechanism food retailer's concern for consumers and the boundary condition whether the AED labelling is voluntary or mandatory.Originality/valueAlthough previous researches has explored the effect of food retailer's AED labelling on consumers' response, most of them focus on consumer purchase intention of the nearly expired food and neglect its effect on consumers' food retailer-related response. It is a need for food retailer to explore the potential positive influence of food retailer's AED labelling on consumers' patronage intention.

Negative affordance effect: automatic response inhibition triggered by handle orientation of non-target object

Habituated response tendency associated with affordance of an object is automatically inhibited if this affordance cue is extracted from a non-target object. This study presents two go/no-go experiments investigating whether this response control operates in response selection processes and whether it is linked to conflict-monitoring mechanisms. In the first experiment, the participants performed responses with one hand, and in the second experiment, with two hands. In addition, both experiments consisted of two blocks with varying frequency of go conditions (25%-go vs. 75%-go). The non-target-related response inhibition effect was only observed in Experiment 2 when the task required selecting between two hands. Additionally, the results did not reveal patterns typically related to conflict monitoring when go-frequency is manipulated and when a stimulus–response compatibility effect is examined relative to congruency condition of the previous trial. The study shows that the non-target-related response inhibition assists hand selection and is relatively resistant to conflict-monitoring processes.

O-192 Modulating hypoxia and oxidative stress in human ovarian tissue xenografts using adipose tissue-derived stem cells

Study question To investigate whether adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) modulate hypoxia and oxidative stress in human ovarian tissue transplants to reduce early follicle loss. Summary answer ASCs protect the follicle pool by mitigating the hypoxia-related response through HIF1↑ signaling in human xenografts and enhancing revascularization by ensuring faster tissue reperfusion. What is known already ASCs are known for their angiogenic potential and capacity to boost angiogenesis by secreting growth factors and differentiating into vessels in numerous models of wound healing in regenerative medicine. In a 2-step ovarian tissue xenotransplantation involving grafting inside a fibrin scaffold two weeks prior to transplantation, ASCs reduced follicle loss after short- and long-term grafting, as well as abnormal follicle activation, by increasing reoxygenation and revascularization in human xenografts. Study design, size, duration Prospective experimental study. Cryopreserved ovarian cortex from five adult women was transplanted to 30 nude mice, with or without ASCs (ASC group; OT group). Ovarian grafts were retrieved on days 3 (n = 5), 10 (n = 5) and 21 (n = 5). One piece of ovarian tissue per patient was fixed for analysis after thawing to serve as non-grafted controls. Participants/materials, setting, methods The 10 animals grafted for 21 days underwent in vivo microdialysis evaluation to investigate direct reactive oxygen species (ROS) kinetics. Analyses of ovarian grafts at all time points and non-grafted controls included immunolabeling for double CD34 (revascularization by host and graft components), immunofluorescence for HIF1α (hypoxia-related response), Nrf2 (oxidative stress-related response) and 8OHdG (oxidative stress-related DNA damage), and gene expression (RT-qPCR) for VEGF-A (neoangiogenesis), SOD2 (antioxidant activity) and Nrf1 (mitochondrial biogenesis). Main results and the role of chance ROS peaked sooner in the ASC group (day 2, p < 0.0001) than the OT group (day 10, p = 0.01) after grafting, indicating earlier tissue reperfusion. Total vascularization was stable in the ASC group at all time points, but lower in the OT group 3 days after grafting (p = 0.01) due to a drop in both host and graft vascular components. HIF1α expression, detected mainly in follicles, was significantly lower in primordial follicles in the ASC group than the OT group on days 3 (p = 0.008) and 10 (p = 0.01). VEGF gene expression rose significantly (around 40x) in both groups on day 3 and persisted significantly longer in the ASC group (10 days) than the OT group (3 days) (p = 0.04), emphasizing the role of ASCs as enhancers of proangiogenic factors. There was no upturn in the oxidative stress-related response (Nrf2 pathway) nor DNA damage (8OHdG) to follicles in any of the grafted groups over time, while a modest increase in both markers was observed only in the stroma after 21 days. Neither was there any major increase in SOD2 and Nrf1 gene expression, suggesting no significant activation of the Nrf2 pathway for cytoprotection from oxidative stress. Limitations, reasons for caution Although Nrf2 signaling activation was detected in human granulosa cell cultures in increasing ROS concentrations, our findings did not confirm its role in tissue damage modulation after ovarian tissue transplantation. Further studies may evidence the involvement of other pathways that modulate oxidative stress after transplantation. Wider implications of the findings The role of ASCs in protecting the follicle pool appears to be related to a decrease in hypoxia and faster ovarian graft revascularization and reperfusion, sustained by an increase in VEGF for a longer period after grafting. There was no evidence of oxidative stress-related damage, irrespective of the transplantation strategy. Trial registration number