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The purpose of the study was to further our understanding of in-restaurant family behaviors using an ethnographic study of families with children (at least one child from 2 to 12 years old) dining in fast food restaurants.

This study includes an unobtrusive, direct observational study of family fast food restaurant behaviour, including use of mobile technology, toys and indoor play area. Ordering and dining behaviours include field notes and enumeration of activity times for 300 families (450 children).

The food ordering process was rapid (<6 min), during which personal technology use was minimal, and adult/child interactions were perfunctory. Visits averaged 53 min, and only 18 min on average was spent eating. Families were observed using the fast food restaurant as a “third place” (home away from home) for many activities other than eating food. In-restaurant family behaviours included frequent use of technology (40 per cent of children/ 70 per cent of adults), use of the indoor play area (65 per cent of children/ 33 min of play) and child engagement with a toy (53 per cent of children/10 min of play).

Studying how time is spent in fast food restaurants expands the knowledge of current family eating behaviours and how young consumers behave in restaurants (i.e. with restaurant-provided activities, toys and indoor play spaces). Shifts in dining practices, from the intrusion of technology during the meal (technoference) to a decline in the use of restaurant-provided toys were noted. Dining visits now include many non-food activities, and the dining time in the restaurant was not a time for extensive family conversations or interactions, but rather a public home away from home.

This study aims to examine peer perceptions of a parent dining in a fast-food restaurant with their child.

A vignette approach was used to explore consumer assumptions and normative data using a four-country online survey of parents, with 1,200 respondents (300 from each of Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA). The study included qualitative and quantitative thematic analyses of the responses.

Family dining in fast-food restaurants was most often associated with an opportunity for family time together (25%), a treat (25%) and an unhealthy food decision (19%). For some, this is a normal meal that should not be judged (11%), for others, this is merely a meal of easy convenience (9%). Fathers, when depicted as the parent in the vignette, were more likely to be praised for spending time with their children, while mothers were more likely to be critiqued for making poor nutritional choices. Respondents from the USA viewed fast-food family dining more favourably than respondents from Australia, Canada or the UK.

Despite rising obesity in these four countries, only 19% of respondents focused on the unhealthy element of the food choice, suggesting that perhaps this element is not on the forefront of consumer decision considerations.

This paper confirms parental peer perception differences, based on gender and country, regarding opinions on a child dining with a parent in a fast-food restaurant.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insights of the use of social media (SM) in the wine industry. The theoretical viewpoint is to analyse wineries’ SM segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) to help the wine industry to improve the effectiveness of SM communication.

An observational study of Spanish wineries’ SM presence and traffic was carried out during a three-month period in 2013 and repeated in 2016. During this period, a questionnaire was distributed to 196 wineries. Logistic regression was used to model the dichotomous outcome variable of whether a winery “does” or “does not” utilise SM. Additionally, leader wineries were interviewed in April/May 2016 about SM STP.

The results show that most wineries are starting in SM without a well-defined strategy. The presence of a webpage is significantly related to the use of SM. SM wineries do not segment and can take advantage of digital targeting strategies.

Segmentation and targeting SM can improve the effectiveness of the winery SM activities as well as the winery competitiveness in the wine industry.

This paper is a first step in understanding the value of segmentation SM to reach millennial consumers and the importance of targeting to improve the effectiveness of winery on SM.

A strict gluten-free diet (GFD) is the only effective treatment for coeliac disease (CD), which has an increasing prevalence. However, the limited availability and high price of gluten-free products (GFPs) compared to their gluten-containing counterparts (GCCs) are still among the factors that may influence compliance with a strict GFD. The purpose of this study is to assess the availability and price of GFPs in retail stores in a major Algerian city and investigate how they compare to GCCs.

We performed a cross-sectional study that targets a representative number of supermarkets and grocery stores in Constantine (Algeria). All available GFPs as well as their GCCs were recorded. The price per 100 g was recorded for each product.

Among the 285 visited stores, only 25.4% of them sold GFPs, which were more available at supermarkets than at grocery stores. The category “gluten-free pasta and couscous” was the most represented (43.8%). A total of 64 GFPs were observed across 285 stores investigated, and their price was two to six times higher than that of their GCCs.

This study showed the limited availability and diversity and higher price of processed GFPs in Algeria. This negatively influences compliance with GFD as well as the quality of life of patients with CD. Furthermore, the findings prompt the national government to provide financial support to coeliac individuals.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of branding on healthy fast food items.

A total of 20 children (age 4–6) performed one open sort and four closed card sorts about food preferences, perceived healthiness and perceived parental preferences using branded and non-branded food image cards. Descriptive statistics were calculated and major themes were identified from the verbatim transcripts.

The children chose whole fruit over branded and bagged apple slices, stating whole fruit would be tastier, healthier and more likely parent approved. When apples were sliced and bagged, perceived taste and healthiness perceptions were variable. Packaged foods were more challenging for the children to conceptualize. Presented with eight options, french fries were the favorite choice as the children did not believe fruit or vegetable side dishes should accompany a cheeseburger.

Only children’s perceptions and not actual eating behaviors were measured. It was a small sample (n=20) with limited sample diversity that would not be representative of all children.

Packaging and branding a healthy food item with a fast food logo did not increase the item’s appeal to the children. Branding healthy foods in this manner may not lead to increased consumption.

The impact of branding healthy items on very young children’s perceptions has rarely been examined. Most of the research on branded food items has focused on high calorie processed foods. Using a card sort exercise allowed children, too young to read and write, to articulate similarities, differences and motivations around food preferences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of pricing (incentive and deterrent) to shift the purchase decision intent of parents when they order food for their child in a fast food restaurant.

A financial incentive and a deterrent pricing tactic was tested using an online quantitative approach with a sample of 400 Canadian parents, representative of the Canadian population based on geography, household income and education level.

The financial incentive tactic demonstrated that a strong and clearly articulated monetary discount can shift the stated purchase intent of parents into an increased number choosing a healthier side dish for a child’s fast food meal. A deterrent pricing approach was shown to also shift stated purchase intent, and had a higher consumer impact on a per dollar basis. Younger parents (<35 years old) were more likely to select healthier side dishes for their child; however, parents of all ages could potentially be influenced through motivational pricing approaches.

This was an exploratory study using online surveys and stated purchase intent among Canadian respondents. Examining “stated” purchase intent only through the use of a questionnaire, and without a consequence of the choice, may not reflect a consumer’s real purchase behaviour. A future study should be conducted on pricing approaches in a restaurant setting, where the parents then have the consequences of interacting with the child and the response of the child to the food decision made on their behalf.

The use of pricing to shift parental food purchase decisions into ordering healthier food items for their children is a promising option, which with further exploration may lead to easily implementable restaurant-level recommendations that achieve the desired results of children eating healthier.

As the frequency of fast food consumption continues to rise, encouraging healthier fast food choices for children could help to combat the troubling rise of obesity in young children.

While most historical research has focussed on teen or adult consumers, this paper offers insights to academics, marketers and restaurant industry influencers into the previously unexplored area of using pricing to encourage parents to make healthier food choices for children in a fast food restaurant environment.

The widespread dietary adoption of cultured meat could provide important benefits to animal welfare, the environment, food safety and security. This study examines consumer segmentation and consumer motives for choice of cultured meat in China.

The data were collected by means of a web-based questionnaire (n = 608) distributed in the two cites of Shanghai and Chengdu. Factor analysis, cluster analysis and path analysis were employed for data analysis.

Three consumer segments were identified with regard to the acceptance of cultured meat in China: Conservatives (25.7%), Acceptors (41.9%) and Pioneers (32.4%). Significant differences were recognised in age, household income, education and household size between the three consumer segments. The following meat choice motives (MCMs) have significant influences on Chinese participants’ attitudes and/or purchase intentions towards cultured meat: usually eat, environmental concern, societal concern, mood, purchase convenience and price.

This is the first study to develop a factorial construct of MCMs based on a previous theoretical model of food choice motives (FCMs) in China. The study contributes understanding of choice motives for cultured meat in a non-Western setting, particularly in China - the country consuming the largest quantity of pork. Further, this is the first study to recognise segments that are directly based on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions towards cultured meat. The findings of this study will help global producers and policymakers to create effective promotion strategies and policies for this innovative product in developing countries, particularly in China.