Francesco Bimbo, Carlo Russo, Antonella Di Fonzo and Gianluca Nardone
The paper explores whether consumers' environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviors (e.g. saving water, energy, etc.) are associated with high frequency of local food…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores whether consumers' environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviors (e.g. saving water, energy, etc.) are associated with high frequency of local food purchases. The study uses a large sample of individual data collected across all Italian regions as well as accounts for the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis uses a large sample of individual-level data (n = 21,081) collected by the Italian National Bureau of Statistics in the annual Italian Multipurpose Households Survey (MHS). Data contain individual information on the frequency of local food purchases as well as socioeconomic characteristics and environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors. Data were analyzed using a multivariate ordered logit regression.
Findings
Results indicate that individuals sensitive to environmental issues and adopting sustainable behaviors are more likely to purchase local food products than others. Also, age, education and occupational status positively are associated with a high frequency of local food purchases. Reading food nutrition labels, living in small communities as well as buying organic products are strong predictors of a higher frequency of local food choices.
Originality/value
The role of individual sustainable attitudes and behaviors in local food purchases has been marginally investigated in the literature. We addressed the issue by jointly accounting for several individual-related characteristics potentially shaping such relation. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the authors use the largest sample ever used to explore the individual's local food purchases in Italy.
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Carlo Russo and Mariarosaria Simeone
The purpose of this paper is to devise and then test a theoretical model to illustrate the effects of the increasing importance of social media on consumer behavior and market…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to devise and then test a theoretical model to illustrate the effects of the increasing importance of social media on consumer behavior and market equilibrium in differentiated food industries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use game theory to model the strategic use of social media by firms producing high-value food products. The authors test the predictions of the theoretical model by means of a survey of 722 randomly selected Italian food consumers using an online questionnaire.
Findings
The model predicts that, as social media become more and more influential, consumers using the new media become more informed, and their concern about food quality attributes increases. At the same time, the consumers using mass media only receive less information and they prefer cheaper products to the high value one. As a result, the emergence of social media favours market segmentation and the hypotheses tested were: Social consumers are, on average, more informed than mass consumers and more concerned about environmental issues than mass consumers. The data support the theoretical model.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the debate about the impact of information from interested sources on market equilibrium, providing an innovative analysis of the role of social media.
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Maria Angela Perito, Antonella Di Fonzo, Marcello Sansone and Carlo Russo
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the market potential of food obtained from olive by-products. The marketing of such by-products (e.g. olive leaves and pulp) is a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the market potential of food obtained from olive by-products. The marketing of such by-products (e.g. olive leaves and pulp) is a challenging opportunity for the sustainable development of the sector. Yet, consumer demand is still poorly understood. The paper contributes to filling the knowledge gap with an empirical survey of a sample of Italian consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide an assessment of consumers’ willingness to accept (WTA) food from olive by-products. The authors collected structured questionnaire from a sample of 289 Italian consumers. The authors asked to consumers their willingness to try a variety of food products containing olive by-products, as a proxy for their WTA the products. In order to investigate the drivers of the average WTA, the authors used the information in the questionnaire to build four constructs of interest: technophobia, neophobia, perception of benefits and awareness about sustainable consumption. The choice of the constructs and the variables was driven by the existing literature.
Findings
The paper shows how the WTA food with olive by-products is a general attitude of the consumer, rather than product-specific choice. The results suggest that consumers perceive the use of olive by-products as a new technology for preparing well-known food products. The authors did not find statistical evidence of the wariness of olive by-products as new food products. Technophobia is the most important factor hampering the marketing of olive by-products.
Originality/value
The paper is a first attempt of exploring the topic of WTA food with olive by-products.
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Antonella Di Fonzo and Carlo Russo
Geographical Indications (GI) are complex and multi-purpose institutions. Their objectives include encouraging diversification of agricultural production, improving farmers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Geographical Indications (GI) are complex and multi-purpose institutions. Their objectives include encouraging diversification of agricultural production, improving farmers’ income, countering depopulation of rural areas, satisfying consumer demand for high-quality good, and protecting consumers from food fraud. The authors argue that such objectives are not necessarily aligned as divergence may arise among stakeholders (such as farmers, consumers or rural communities) about the optimal design of the GI. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors developed a simple, static game-theory model describing the basic choices that a planner faces in designing a GI.
Findings
The authors conclude that the optimal organization requires finding trade-offs among conflicting but equally desirable objectives. Perfect monitoring is not a sufficient condition to resolve such conflicts. Sub-consortia and flexible production agreements may increase the efficiency of a GI.
Research limitations/implications
The authors described basic trade-offs in GI design using the simplest possible model. To this purpose the authors introduced limiting assumptions that may be relaxed in future research. The representation of the GI agreement focussed on the quality level only, abstracting from all other consideration. Using a static model prevented us from explicit modeling of (loss of) reputation effects. The simplifying assumptions about consumer behavior and cost functions have reduced the generality of the results. Extensions of the model may consider introducing additional elements in the GI agreement such as production areas or governance models, dynamic games and general functional forms.
Practical implications
The authors found that in designing a GI: first, promotion approaches revolving around small groups of local leaders (i.e. efficient, high-quality producers) might overshoot quality, resulting in unsustainable production agreements; second, introducing degrees of flexibility in the production agreement may help achieving a sustainable GI; and finally, sub-consortia/optional labels may help dealing with producers’ heterogeneity.
Social implications
The authors found that setting a high standard in the production agreement is not sufficient condition for delivering quality food to consumers, as producers might have incentive to commit frauds. A simple command and control approach to quality in GI’s is not always the most efficient strategy, because it may reduce participation. In designing the GI, the goals of identity preservation and food quality must be balanced with consideration of producers’ incentives. The involvement of producers in the design of the GI is a critical success driver. Yet, this practice can be problematic because of producers’ heterogeneity.
Originality/value
The paper provides theoretical foundation for best practices in forming a GI, including: multi-stakeholder involvement, management of farmer heterogeneity and monitoring.
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Abstract
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This study examines herding behaviour in commodity markets amid two major global upheavals: the Russo–Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines herding behaviour in commodity markets amid two major global upheavals: the Russo–Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
By analysing 18 commodity futures worldwide, the study examines herding trends in metals, livestock, energy and grains sectors. The applied methodology combines static and dynamic approaches by incorporating cross-sectional absolute deviations (CSAD) and a time-varying parameter (TVP) regression model extended by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to adequately reflect the complexity of herding behaviour in different market scenarios.
Findings
Our results show clear differences in herd behaviour during these crises. The Russia–Ukraine war led to relatively subdued herding behaviour in commodities, suggesting a limited impact of geopolitical turmoil on collective market behaviour. In stark contrast, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly amplified herding behaviour, particularly in the energy and livestock sectors.
Originality/value
This discrepancy emphasises the different impact of a health crisis versus a geopolitical conflict on market dynamics. This study makes an important contribution to the existing literature as it is one of the first studies to contrast herding behaviour in commodity markets during these two crises. Our results show that not all crises produce comparable market reactions, which underlines the importance of the crisis context when analysing financial market behaviour.
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Giovanni Improta, Giovanni Balato, Carlo Ricciardi, Mario Alessandro Russo, Ida Santalucia, Maria Triassi and Mario Cesarelli
Since healthcare spending accounts for approximately 6.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, reducing waste in health facilities is necessary to generate significant cost…
Abstract
Purpose
Since healthcare spending accounts for approximately 6.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, reducing waste in health facilities is necessary to generate significant cost savings. After previous work concerning the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to hip surgery, the purpose of this paper is to use LSS as the correct methodology to analyse a clinical pathway. Fast track surgery was introduced to the Complex Operative Unit of Orthopaedic and Traumatology of the University Hospital “Federico II” to improve quality and further reduce costs associated with prosthetic hip replacement surgery.
Design/methodology/approach
The DMAIC (Define, measure, analyse, improve, control) roadmap was used as the typical problem-solving approach of the LSS methodology. A rigorous process of defining, measuring, analysing, improving and controlling business problems can be used to reach fixed goals. The paper was written following the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRES Guidelines).
Findings
In this work, the authors found that multiple variables could influence the length of hospital stay (LOS) for inpatient treatment, thereby increasing patient management costs due to longer periods of hospitalisation. Therefore, LSS analysis of the implemented corrective actions demonstrated the efficacy and efficiency of the novel protocol. The average LOS was reduced from 10.66 to 7.8 days (−26.8 per cent).
Originality/value
The introduction of fast track surgery was validated through a rigorous LSS analysis, which demonstrated that the new protocol benefitted both patients and the hospital.
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The chapter starts with some reflections on the different ways in which scholars (implicitly, if not explicitly) perform visual analysis in their own work. For social movement…
Abstract
The chapter starts with some reflections on the different ways in which scholars (implicitly, if not explicitly) perform visual analysis in their own work. For social movement scholars, in fact, the choice of logos for research centers, the selection of pictures for presentation slides, or the designing of covers for books all signal not only esthetic tastes but also specific conceptions of their object of studies. Moving from these experiences to some empirical analysis of the images collected in the place where young activist Carlo Giuliani was killed during a police charge at the counter summit against the G8 in Genoa in 2001, the chapter suggests some line of reflections on the production and use of images in social movements.
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Elisa Calabrese, Pasquale Longo, Carlo Naddeo, Annaluisa Mariconda, Luigi Vertuccio, Marialuigia Raimondo and Liberata Guadagno
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relevant role of the stereochemistry of two Ruthenium catalysts on the self-healing efficiency of aeronautical resins.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relevant role of the stereochemistry of two Ruthenium catalysts on the self-healing efficiency of aeronautical resins.
Design/methodology/approach
Here, a very detailed evaluation on the stereochemistry of two new ruthenium catalysts evidences the crucial role of the spatial orientation of phenyl groups in the N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in determining the temperature range within the curing cycles is feasible without deactivating the self-healing mechanisms (ring-opening metathesis polymerization reactions) inside the thermosetting resin. The exceptional activity and thermal stability of the HG2MesPhSyn catalyst, with the syn orientation of phenyl groups, highlight the relevant potentiality and the future perspectives of this complex for the activation of the self-healing function in aeronautical resins.
Findings
The HG2MesPhSyn complex, with the syn orientation of the phenyl groups, is able to activate metathesis reactions within the highly reactive environment of the epoxy thermosetting resins, cured up to 180°C, while the other stereoisomer, with the anti-orientation of the phenyl groups, does not preserve its catalytic activity in these conditions.
Originality/value
In this paper, a comparison between the self-healing functionality of two catalytic systems has been performed, using metathesis tests and FTIR spectroscopy. In the field of the design of catalytic systems for self-healing structural materials, a very relevant result has been found: a slight difference in the molecular stereochemistry plays a key role in the development of self-healing materials for aeronautical and aerospace applications.