Benedetta Grandi, Maria Grazia Cardinali and Silvia Bellini
The wide literature about healthy behaviours posits that a high level of self-control is required in order to make healthy choices. This work intends to demonstrate that…
Abstract
Purpose
The wide literature about healthy behaviours posits that a high level of self-control is required in order to make healthy choices. This work intends to demonstrate that retailers, through the management of in-store marketing levers, can influence shopping behaviour, no matter which is the individual tendency to engage in cognitive behaviours. For this specific purpose, we have considered participants' “Need for Cognition” as a proxy of self-control.
Design/methodology/approach
With reference to a specific category (cookies), we created a new display based on benefits (healthy eating) rather than products' attributes. A pre-test was conducted before the main experiment in order to assess the potential ability of the new nutritional display to help customers selecting healthier products, by testing participants' awareness and comprehension of the stimuli proposed. Then, an online between-subjects experiment was conducted by simulating the shoppers' expedition in the cookies' aisle inside a store with the aim to demonstrate that healthy choices can be also made on impulse.
Findings
Our findings showed that when both communication and visual cues are provided, people low in need for cognition (NFC) are more willing to select healthy products from the shelf, compared with people high in NFC.
Originality/value
While there is a wide literature explaining the mechanisms supporting healthy choices, fewer are the contributions about the role of retailers in promoting healthy eating through in-store marketing levers. More important, there is no contribution about how to promote health among people with low level of self-control.
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Simone Aiolfi, Silvia Bellini and Benedetta Grandi
The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive model of impulse-buying that considers the impact of mobile device use on shopping behaviour as a tool for shopping…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive model of impulse-buying that considers the impact of mobile device use on shopping behaviour as a tool for shopping preparation or as a tool for self-regulation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained through a single-stage mall intercept survey method using a structured questionnaire involving 406 respondents interviewed after checkout. Data analysis was conducted using a structural equation modelling approach with LISREL 8.8.
Findings
The results support most elements of the hypothesis of the proposed conceptual framework. Specifically, findings show the impact of mobile usage on shopping behaviour, which results in fewer impulse purchases.
Practical implications
The research demonstrates how shoppers using mobile devices in-store felt less of an urge to purchase during shopping, resulting in fewer unplanned purchases. The effects of mobile device use on in-store purchasing decisions are designed to create a new scenario for the practice of shopper marketing, and retailers and manufacturers will have to seek new ways to capture consumers’ attention in-store and to influence shoppers’ perceptions early in the shopping cycle without diminishing the role of in-store marketing levers.
Originality/value
Prior research found the antecedents of impulse-buying in individual characteristics, situational variables and endogenous variables. However, it did not consider mobile pre-shopping factors or mobile usage. Filling the gap in the existing literature, this work sets out to develop a comprehensive model of impulse-buying that considers the impact of mobile usage on shopping behaviour.
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Benedetta Grandi, Maria Grazia Cardinali and Silvia Bellini
The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of nutritional information in the selection of healthy food products and test the effects of different communication stimuli…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of nutritional information in the selection of healthy food products and test the effects of different communication stimuli on people with different levels of self-control (NFC used as a proxy). Specifically, the authors posit that easy-to-process and intuitive nutritional information can lead to a substantial change in the shopping behaviour. Furthermore, this work wants to test the effect on behaviours, emotions and judgements of two different communication signs (stars and silhouettes) in the promotion of healthy food products inside grocery stores.
Design/methodology/approach
After the development of a new nutritional display, the authors identified two different communication stimuli (stars and silhouettes) in order to test their impact on emotions evoked, judgements and behaviours. First, a pre-test was conducted using neuro-marketing tools (Face Reader) to detect the emotions aroused by the communications and then a main online between-subjects experiment involving 222 participants was carried out to understand the impact on choices and attitudes. Data were analysed using SPSS.
Findings
Results showed that communication plays a key role in helping customers choosing healthier products. Concerning the different communication stimuli, the authors found a significant difference in the emotion evoked by the different signs used. This difference translates into a judgemental change but not necessarily into a behavioural one.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, previous researchers have focused their attention only on the nutritional values communicated at a product level through different product labels, while nobody has tried to implement and test a category/segment level communication strategy.
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Daniela Pirani, Benedetta Cappellini and Vicki Harman
This paper aims to examine how Mulino Bianco, an iconic Italian bakery brand, has reshaped the symbolic and material aspects of breakfast in Italy, transforming a declining…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how Mulino Bianco, an iconic Italian bakery brand, has reshaped the symbolic and material aspects of breakfast in Italy, transforming a declining practice into a common family occasion.
Design/methodology/approach
A socio-historical analysis of the iconisation process has been undertaken with a framework for investigating the symbolic, material and practice-based aspects of the brand and their changes over time. Archival marketing material, advertising campaigns and interviews with brand managers constitute the main data for analysis.
Findings
Three crucial moments have been identified in which the brand articulates its relationship with the practice of breakfast. During the launch of the brand, the articulation was mainly instigated via the myths of tamed nature and rural past and the material aspect of the products reinforced such an articulation. In the second moment, the articulation was established with the brand’s materiality, emphasised through the use of promotional items targeting mothers and children. In the last phase, a cementification of the articulation was achieved mainly via the symbolic aspect of the brand – communicating Mulino Bianco as emblematic of a new family life in which the “Italian breakfast” was central.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this paper advances the understanding of the pervasive influence of brands in family life, showing how they do not simply reshape existing family food practices, rather they can re-create new ones, investing them with symbolic meanings, anchoring them with novel materiality and equipping consumers with new understandings and competences.