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Palm oil is a versatile ingredient of many food and non-food products. Yet, over the last year it has rapidly become a controversial product due to its alleged harmful health and environmental effects. Palm oil has rapidly become a controversial product. As a consequence, many food companies have introduced alternative fat sources into their products, in order to meet consumers’ concerns. The purpose of this paper is to: first, investigate consumer purchase intention by assessing whether the environmental, social and health concerns (HCs) act as drivers with regard to the choice of not consuming products containing palm oil; and second, estimate the direct effect of participants’ information seeking (IS) upon their intention, and whether IS mediates the effects of the attitudinal latent constructs on intention.

A quantitative survey of 608 respondents was performed. A structural equation modelling (SEM) procedure was implemented.

Results show that: first, HC is the main driver of participants’ intention to reduce palm oil consumption; second, consumers’ attitudes towards environment and social fairness exert significant direct effects upon intention; third, IS exerts a direct effect on intention; also, it partially mediates the effects of environmental and social concerns, whereas it totally mediates the HC effect.

This is the first study to address the issue of comparison between different drivers of sustainable consumer intentions using a formal test by SEM. Moreover, findings add insightful discussion points to some important issues concerning the role of consumers in the current food system organisational structure and strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of socio-economic context in affecting the relationship between personal values and the purchase of fair trade (FT) products.

The study was based on data and information collected by means of a web-administered survey and was performed in two steps. First, an explanatory factor analysis on the Schwartz value system and a confirmatory factor analysis on socio-economic context variables were carried out. Second, the per capita GDP at provincial level and the predicted factor scores were used in an ordered probit model to explain the expenditure level of FT products.

The results provide evidence that the value system has an effect on the consumption of FT products, but the economic context, in particular the average wealth at province level, is also relevant and plays a role by either affecting FT product purchasing levels directly or interacting with personal values.

Because of the electronic submission and the specific channel used in the survey, the sample cannot be considered as representative of Italian consumers, and thus the analysis has a merely descriptive (non-inferential) function.

While several studies investigated how personal values affect consumers’ behaviour directly or indirectly, very few studies analysed the way socio-economic context interacts with the value structure and the way both aspects influence ethical consumption. The present study analyses this last aspect and provides evidence of the role economic context plays in affecting the relationship between personal values and FT products consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate attitudes of Italian consumers towards a set of applications of nanotechnology in the food domain. The chief goal is to identify the main factors influencing the willingness to buy nanofoods (WTBN), distinguishing between factors related to the products, in terms of perceived risks and benefits and psychological factors.

A questionnaire was administered to a sample of about 300 people to gather information about the willingness to buy six nanofoods (namely: creamier ice cream with the same fat content; salt and sugar that do not form lumps with moisture; fruit juices enriched with bioactive molecules; bread enriched with Omega-3; plastic bottles for beer; antimicrobial food packaging for meat) and psychological characteristics, measured by several attitudinal scales. In order to study the influence of the attitudinal factors on the WTBN a simultaneous equations model was estimated, defining both its structural and reduced form.

Respondents show a certain reluctance to buy foods produced using nanotechnologies The estimates of the econometric model indicate that WTBN is affected by the risks and benefits perceived with respect to the six nanofoods under consideration; the level of neophobia, as captured through the food technology neophobia scale; and the level of trust in food industry.

The study extends the literature on nanofood consumer acceptance by adding useful evidence from the Italian case, which has not yet been studied.

The proliferation of traceability standards shed light on the understanding of the mechanisms leading agri-food firms to choose among different kind of rules and systems for their implementation. The present paper investigates the role of firms economic incentives on the adoption of different traceability systems. In specific, the analysis aims at segmenting food firms on the basis of economic incentives for the adoption of voluntary traceability and the levels of the system complexity implemented.

A survey based on an ad hoc questionnaire was conducted in 2014 on a sample of firms certified ISO 22005/2008. Cluster analysis was run for the analysis and one-way ANOVA was used to confirm differences among clusters.

The analysis presents three different clusters in terms of economic incentives for voluntary traceability and the level of systems complexity implemented. All the clusters reveal that supply chain incentives play a key role. Moreover, ‘fine traceability’ clusters firms with high level of traceability. They consider food safety as an important incentive to adopt a voluntary standard. ‘Medium traceability’ groups firms with an average level of traceability system complexity. The interviewed consider the firm reputation as strategic driver for voluntary standard implementation. The cluster ‘coarse traceability’ groups firms which introduced traceability for quality differentiation of products on the market. These firms implemented a low level of traceability system complexity.

The paper presents some limitations due to the sample dimension. Future research is oriented to test such results on an extended sample and to analyse the relationships between the traceability system implemented and the different kind of economic incentives for traceability standards.

The present paper offers two main contributions. From a conceptual point of view it tries to deepen existing knowledge on the mechanisms regulating the existence of different traceability standards. From a managerial point of view, the analysis contributes in the understanding of firm strategies in relation to the adoption of different traceability systems. Such results could address firm management on the allocation of financial resources for the adoption of different traceability systems.

Investigating the drivers of consumers’ behaviour towards purchasing in short food supply chains (SFSCs) and clarifying their relationships, the purpose of this paper is to test the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in order to predict the intention and the behaviour under investigation.

The research includes a literature review of SFSCs. To investigate all the variables (attitudes, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC) and intention) underlying consumers’ behaviour towards buying in SFSCs, an exploratory survey with a TPB questionnaire and a principal component analysis have been carried out among university students in Italy. Using a system of simultaneous equations, the relationships among variables have been measured.

Findings illustrate that both attitudinal variables (i.e. sustainability, typicality and loyalty), SN and PBC play a key role in the consumers’ intention, that has a predictive effect on behaviour instead of PBC.

This paper fulfils the purpose to explain and predict post-modern consumers’ preferences towards SFSCs, in order to orient policy strategies to support SFSCs.

The purpose of this paper is to assess consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for three different food claims on semi-cured, pasteurized sheep milk cheese. In particular, the authors used a health-related claim (the nutritional claim indicating a reduced fat content: “light”), a regional claim (“designation of origin – PDO”) and an organic claim (the European organic logo). Moreover, the authors investigated whether consumers’ personal characteristics could influence their WTP for those types of cheese.

A home-grown experimental auction was applied in Spain during Spring 2012. The authors opted to use the nth random price with repeated rounds and without price feedback.

The results show that consumers were willing to pay more for PDO cheese, followed by organic and light cheese. Moreover, respondents who were female, older and with a university-level education showed some environmental concerns, influencing their WTP for different cheeses.

Empirical evidence on consumers’ preferences for PDO, organic and nutritional claims, evaluated jointly, is lacking in Spain. Moreover, the home-grown auction has several merits in terms of real market simulation and consumer preference application.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the factors affecting intentions to purchase food through the internet. Based on the available literature – more specifically, on Ajzen’s (1985) theory of planned behaviour and Grunert and Ramus’ model (2004) – this study proposes and tests a model of planned food purchases via the internet.

A quantitative study was conducted among 403 respondents. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling.

The main results demonstrated that attitude and perceived difficulty are the antecedents of purchase intentions. Perceived risk had a negative relationship with attitude. With respect to lifestyle, novelty was positively related to attitude, and freshness was negatively related. In addition, novelty had only an indirect effect on intention, which was mediated by attitude. A wired lifestyle had a positive relationship with attitude, and a negative relationship with perceived difficulty.

This study operationalizes and improves Grunert and Ramus’ (2004) model of intention to buy food over the internet, by developing, testing and presenting a more comprehensive model.

The increasing frequency with which food and beverage producers feature in mainstream media, including television cooking shows, provide opportunities and pitfalls for using media to promote artisan food and beverage businesses. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these, as experienced by a group of food and beverage producers who appeared on the popular Australian television show, Gourmet Farmer.

Findings are based on semi-structured interviews with 14 of the producers featured on the show, plus textual analysis of relevant segments of the show.

While all of the producers felt that food television offered a good promotional tool, those who were most familiar with the practices of media production and whose businesses offered experiences through which viewers could access (or imagine) a “taste” of the Gourmet Farmer life tended to be more satisfied than those who were less familiar with the practices of media production and who expected a greater focus on their products and production practices.

The development of media skills is essential for artisan producers to get the best outcomes when using media to promote their businesses.

The experiences of food and beverage producers using food television to promote their businesses have not previously been the subject of thoroughgoing research. This paper offers new insights into how artisan producers can best capitalize on the opportunities offered by food media.

The purpose of this paper is to measure the relative degree of rejection or reluctance to try new foods of the Mexican consumers.

To measure the degree of acceptance or rejection that individuals have for foods that are unusual in their diets, a phobia scale was used to new foods developed by Pliner and Hobden (1992) Food Neophobia Scale (FNS). The authors also distinguished between individuals’ predisposition to taste new foods, “neo-phobic” (lower bias) and “neo-philic” (predisposition). Additionally social and demographic variables such as age, gender, monthly income level and marital status to discuss relations with the FNS scale were incorporated.

The results have shown that Mexican consumers show relatively low levels of phobia toward new foods, but there may be differences in accordance with the characteristics of the environment, the proximity of another culture or urbanization level have a significant influence on consumer attitudes.

In Mexico the development of new foods has increased, in a recent study 83 percent of respondents indicated they are interested in buying new foods on the market. Studies of novel foods phobia have been made in various international contexts, in Mexico, however, the exploration and understanding of consumer attitudes toward foods that are unusual in their diets is incipient. This study represents one of the first contributions in this regard and more so to focus specifically on the Mexican consumer.

The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the decision-making process of consumers from novice markets facing the choice of a complex product like wine, explaining the determinants of their consumption intention and behaviour. It also aims to understand the link between product attributes and consumption intention and behaviour, analysing the role played by intrinsic and extrinsic cues.

This study applies the theory of planned behaviour considering that individuals do not always have complete control of wine consumption behaviour, especially when they come from a novice market. A questionnaire survey, preceded by an exploratory phase, was conducted in St Louis, Missouri, a novice market for wine.

This study identifies a novice consumer whose choice of a complex product is driven by experiential attitude towards the product more than the conditioning of referents, and even more than the perceived behavioural control and the interconnected concept of risk. The risk is perceived to a greater extent when it has to do with the functional nature of the product linked to its sensory component, rather than with its social or health connotations.

This study assesses the role of intrinsic and extrinsic cues and of the perceived behavioural control, assumed as closely interconnected with the concept of risk, in explaining wine consumption intention and behaviour. Perceived behavioural control was omitted by previous studies applying the reasoned action approach to explain wine consumption behaviour.