G.B. Parravicini, G. Samoggia, B. Morten and M. Prudenziati
A weak change of resistivity caused by visible radiation both for commercial and for model thick‐film (cermet) resistors (TFRs) has been observed and studied in the temperature…
Abstract
A weak change of resistivity caused by visible radiation both for commercial and for model thick‐film (cermet) resistors (TFRs) has been observed and studied in the temperature range 10–380 K. A possible origin of this photoelectric effect in terms of photoexcited electrons emitted from the metallic grain surface into the glassy region is discussed.
Hajar Fatemi, Erica Kao, R. Sandra Schillo, Wanyu Li, Pan Du, Nie Jian-Yun and Laurette Dube
This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This research sheds light on how consumers think and talk about natural food within the context of food well-being and health.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a keyword-based approach to extract user generated content from Twitter and used both food as well-being and food as health frameworks for analysis of more than two million tweets.
Findings
The authors found that consumers mostly discuss food marketing and less frequently discuss food policy. Their results show that tweets regarding naturalness were significantly less frequent in food categories that feature naturalness to an extent, e.g. fruits and vegetables, compared to food categories dominated by technologies, processing and man-made innovation, such as proteins, seasonings and snacks.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides numerous implications and contributions to the literature on consumer behavior, marketing and public policy in the domain of natural food.
Practical implications
The authors’ exploratory findings can be used to guide food system stakeholders, farmers and food processors to obtain insights into consumers' mindset on food products, novel concepts, systems and diets through social media analytics.
Originality/value
The authors’ results contribute to the literature on the use of social media in food marketing on understanding consumers' attitudes and beliefs toward natural food, food as the well-being literature and food as the health literature, by examining the way consumers think about natural (versus man-made) food using user generated content of Twitter, which has not been previously used.
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Mei-Jung (Sebrina) Wang, Emmanuel Kwame Opoku and Aaron Tham
This study aims to explore factors that affect gendered consumption (male and female), willingness to pay (economic attributes) and the socio-cultural context of Gen-Z consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore factors that affect gendered consumption (male and female), willingness to pay (economic attributes) and the socio-cultural context of Gen-Z consumers towards specialty coffee as compared to other types in Taiwan.
Design/methodology/approach
Samoggia and Riedel’s (2018) theoretical framework is adopted to examine the concepts of interest. A mixed method approach comprising interviews and experimental taste tests was used to collect data from Gen-Z specialty coffee consumers in a purposive sampling manner.
Findings
The findings suggested the effect of price elasticity of demand where specialty coffee was perceived as an expensive commodity by young consumers, and hence, not a regularly purchased item. Nevertheless, specialty coffee was linked to health benefits, and a signal for conspicuous consumption – where café experiences facilitated self-promotion on sites like Instagram and Facebook. Finally, the findings alluded to a potential gender effect, with more female young consumers likely to consume specialty coffee as compared to their male counterparts.
Originality/value
This study is located within the context of Taiwan, which has been a tea-dominated consumption landscape for numerous decades. The use of an experimental design also presents a unique angle to elucidate sensory elements surrounding specialty coffee as a research design for Gen-Z research projects. The study points to the relevance of social context in the consumers’ behavioural patterns, which has been largely implicit within consumer behaviour scholarship.
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Xuehai Guo, Guofeng Pan, Xin Ma, Xiangzhou Li, Ping He, Zhongqiu Hua and Haiqing Li
The purpose of this research is to synthesize Al2O3-ZnO thick films, study the effect of doping and optical excitation on their sensing properties and introduce an attractive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to synthesize Al2O3-ZnO thick films, study the effect of doping and optical excitation on their sensing properties and introduce an attractive candidate for acetone detection in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
ZnO nanoparticles doped with Al2O3 were prepared by sol-gel method and characterized via X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The sensing properties to acetone were investigated with an irradiation of UV. The sensing mechanism was also discussed with UV-Vis spectroscopy.
Findings
The doping of Al2O3 promoted the sensing response and stability of ZnO nanoparticles. The optimum performance was obtained by 4.96 Wt.% Al2O3-ZnO. The response to acetone (1,000 ppm) was significantly increased to 241.81, even just at an operating temperature of 64°C. It was also demonstrated that optical excitation with UV irradiation greatly enhanced the sensing response and the sensitivity can reach up to 305.14.
Practical implications
The sensor fabricated from 4.96 Wt.% Al2O3-ZnO exhibited excellent acetone-sensing characteristics. It is promising to be applied in low power and miniature acetone gas sensors.
Originality/value
In the present research, the optimum performance was obtained by 4.96 Wt.% Al2O3-ZnO at a low operating temperature of 64°C. The sensing properties were enhanced significantly with optical excitation, and the sensing mechanism was discussed with UV-Vis spectroscopy which has been reported rarely before.
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Antonella Samoggia, Bettina Riedel and Arianna Ruggeri
Food companies and consumers are increasingly interested in healthy food and beverages. Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. There is increasing…
Abstract
Purpose
Food companies and consumers are increasingly interested in healthy food and beverages. Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. There is increasing consensus that coffee consumption can have beneficial effects on human body. This paper aims at exploring Twitter messages' content and sentiment towards health attributes of coffee.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a utilitarian and hedonic consumer behaviour perspective to analyse online community messages. A sample of 13,000 tweets, from around 4,800 users, that mentions keywords coffee and health was collected on a daily basis for a month in mid-2017. The tweets were categorized with a term frequency analysis, keyword-in-context analysis and sentiment analysis.
Findings
Results showed that the majority of tweets are neutral or slightly positive towards coffee’s effects on health. Media and consumers are dynamic Twitter users. Findings support that coffee consumption brings favourable emotions, wellness, energy, positive state of mind and an enjoyable and trendy lifestyle. Many tweets have a positive perception of coffee health benefits, especially relating to mental and physical well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The high number of users and tweets analysed compensates the limited amount of time of data collection, Twitter messages' restricted number of characters and quantitative software analysis limitations.
Practical implications
The research provides valuable suggestions for food and beverage industry managers.
Originality/value
This work adds value to the literature by expanding scholars' research on food product attributes perception analysis by using social media as a source of information. Moreover, it provides valuable information on marketable coffee attributes.
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Federico Nassivera, Gianluigi Gallenti, Stefania Troiano, Francesco Marangon, Marta Cosmina, Paolo Bogoni, Barbara Campisi and Matteo Carzedda
This paper aims to investigate the wine consumption among young people belonging to the so-called millennial generation
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the wine consumption among young people belonging to the so-called millennial generation
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a questionnaire and a choice experiment (CE) with a multinomial logit model (MNL), implementing a random parameter logit model (RPL), to investigate the attitudes of millennials towards wine consumption, their purchasing behaviours and their willingness to pay for attributes of the products; in particular regarding the follwing: region of origin, “winescape”, certification, carbon footprint claim and price.
Findings
Millennials appear to drink wine less frequently; they consume it more often in social on-premise settings, having a slightly higher willingness to pay and preferring carbon-neutral brands when choosing wine.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this research was the analysis of a simulated situation where consumers declared their intention to purchase and not the effective purchase behaviour in the market.Further research should investigate wider millennials groups, also using the new media communication tools that characterise the communication behaviour of Generation Y. In this way, it would be possible to interview a millennial group at the national or international level.
Practical implications
The research identifies some characteristics of millennials’ habits that can take into account the strategies of wine companies in order to develop a constructive relationship with Generation Y in Italy.
Social implications
This research contributes to knowledge regarding the wine consumption habits of Italian millennials.
Originality/value
This paper applies discrete choice models to consumption situations in order to analyse millennials' preference and their willingness to pay for some innovative attributes of wine, in particular the carbon footprint.
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Antonella Samoggia, Aldo Bertazzoli and Arianna Ruggeri
Healthy food sales have increased in recent decades. Retailers are widening their marketing management approach, including the use of social media to communicate with consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthy food sales have increased in recent decades. Retailers are widening their marketing management approach, including the use of social media to communicate with consumers and to promote healthy food. The purpose of this paper is to investigate European retailers’ social media communication content used to promote healthy food products, by analysing retailers’ Twitter messages and accounts characteristics, retailers’ Twitter messages content on healthy food and retailers’ Twitter accounts orientation on healthy food.
Design/methodology/approach
Data include approximately 74,000 tweets sent in 2016 from 90 corporate and brand accounts. The tweets were sent by the top 36 European retailers. Data elaboration includes quantitative content analysis of Twitter messages, which is used to identify healthy food categories’ occurrences and co-occurrences. Then, multiple multivariate-linear regression analyses explore the relation between retailers’ characteristics and healthy food messaging and between the overall content of retailer accounts and a healthy food focus.
Findings
The vast majority of retailers’ tweets on healthy food issues mainly address general health and sustainability issues. Tweets about food health and nutrition refer to food types, meals or consumer segments. Tweets about food sustainability refer to general issues. Analysis of retailer accounts shows that the larger the retailer is, the lower the relevance of healthy food. Retailers with high numbers of tweets and followers tend to decrease their attention to healthy food promotion. Compared to retailers with lower revenues, retailers with higher revenues tend to send a higher number of tweets that focus on healthy food but the incidence is lower compared to the overall accounts’ messaging.
Research limitations/implications
As the study focuses on a single category of food products, further research into other categories of retail products may contribute to a wider perspective. Future research may include graphical content/emoticons and extend the analysis to other social media platforms. Finally, social media data allow studies to cover a wide geographical area. However, in order to also value non-English written messaging, this research introduces some approximations in language interpretation.
Practical implications
The research provides insights into how retailers use social media and provides an overview of how retailers manage their social media communication in one of the most promising food product categories. Retailers manage social media communication content cautiously to minimise controversial issues. This study provides insights into the need to more effectively target the increasing number of social media users.
Originality/value
The research approach and findings of this study extend prior research on retailers’ communication management by improving the understanding of retailers’ use of social media and marketing communication content for their key products, focusing on healthy food.
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Antonella Samoggia, Aldo Bertazzoli, Vaiva Hendrixson, Maria Glibetic and Anne Arvola
The purpose of the chapter is to explore the relation between women’s healthy eating intention and food attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and barriers with a focus on the effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the chapter is to explore the relation between women’s healthy eating intention and food attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and barriers with a focus on the effect of women’s income differences.
Methodology/approach
The research applies the Theory of Planned Behavior, including attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived barriers, and ability opportunity resources. Close-ended survey responses of 704 women between ages 25 and 65 years, affluent and at-risk-of-poverty women in three EU-member countries were analyzed.
Findings
Women are mostly positively inclined towards healthy eating, and income does not differentiate women’s inclination. Influencing factors are perceived behavioral control, attitudes towards healthy eating, subjective norms, and level of knowledge regarding healthy food. Barriers, when present, are similar for lower or higher income women and relate to routinized family habits and food affordability and availability.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should thoroughly investigate family network and structure features, with a focus on family food preferences and habits.
Social and practical implications
Encouraging women’s healthy behavior also impacts children and men, and vice-versa. There is need to target all family components with enjoyable, self-rewarding, emotionally gratifying, and pleasant tasting food.
Originality/value
Income is an overestimated driver in healthy food choices. Women are strongly influenced by personal and environmental factors, mainly personal control, feelings, and family habits.
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Sustainable development has become increasingly urgent due to significant environmental and social challenges, and sustainable food consumption has emerged as a critical component…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable development has become increasingly urgent due to significant environmental and social challenges, and sustainable food consumption has emerged as a critical component of this development. This study examined Greek consumers’ sustainability preferences and explores consumer segments related to demographics and food choices.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of 285 consumers from Attica, Greece, reported on a wide range of factors: environmental and health-related attributes, food waste, food miles, fair trade and sustainability perceptions.
Findings
Five factors affecting food sustainability preferences were identified: environmental attributes, unhealthy preferences, organic qualities, local and seasonal attributes, and sustainability attitudes. Based on these factors, three consumer segments were discovered. Ecocentrics displayed strong attitudes towards sustainability; conformists exhibited a higher preference for conventional, Western-type diets; and convenientarians showed a preference for quick and affordable meals with limited concern for sustainability. Demographics (gender and age) and food consumption were associated with food sustainability preferences. Despite the financial constraints faced by most Greek consumers, food preferences and consumption patterns were consistent with sustainability principles, which may be explained by the long-standing tradition of the Mediterranean diet.
Research limitations/implications
This study is not without limitations. The cross-sectional design prevents establishing causal relationships between demographic factors and sustainability preferences. Future research should explore longitudinal studies to assess how consumer preferences and sustainability behaviours evolve over time, particularly in response to environmental and economic changes. This would provide deeper insights into the durability and evolution of sustainability preferences. The sample used in this study was drawn from the Attica region, which is largely urban. Therefore, the findings may not be generalisable to other parts of Greece, especially rural areas where sustainability practices and food choices might differ. Future research should include more diverse geographic samples to better understand regional variations in consumer behaviour, particularly in rural settings.
Practical implications
These findings strongly suggest the necessity of raising awareness regarding sustainable fast-prep meals, meat-substitute products and plant-based options that are local and organic.
Social implications
Furthermore, the recognition of gender and age as significant determinants of sustainable food behaviours challenges traditional assumptions and stereotypes about consumer behaviour, highlighting the need for a more inclusive and diverse approach to sustainability, that takes into account the varying perspectives and experiences of different demographic groups. This alignment between demographic characteristics and sustainable food behaviours underscores the need for targeted interventions and strategies to promote sustainability across diverse demographic groups. Ecocentrics have higher rates of marriage and parenthood, indicating that family dynamics might encourage more sustainable food choices.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study is twofold: (1) it provides data on consumer perceptions in an economically challenged Mediterranean country and (2) it offers new evidence on the actual size of sustainable/non-sustainable consumer segments in Greece. Understanding these consumer behaviours is crucial for developing targeted strategies that support sustainable practices and address the specific needs of low-income Mediterranean countries. By investigating these dynamics, this study provides valuable insights into the broader Mediterranean region, offering a framework for policymakers and businesses to address the evolving preferences and constraints of these consumers.
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Ayodele Christopher Oniku and Olamide Akintimehin
The purpose of this paper is to examine the coffee culture of citizens of Southern Nigeria. Specifically, different scales were developed to measure coffee culture among the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the coffee culture of citizens of Southern Nigeria. Specifically, different scales were developed to measure coffee culture among the citizens which cover health, socialisation, elitism, culture and commercialisation factors.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative approach was adopted for the study, and factor analysis was used to analyse the data collected through an online survey. As a result, EFA and CFA showed the test of sphericity and the different fit indexes.
Findings
The findings revealed the experiences of consumers and their disposition to coffee consumption to establish coffee culture among the citizens. Largely, the findings revealed that coffee culture is still very low among the citizens and the summation that coffee culture is still in infancy.
Originality/value
Given the importance of coffee culture in the larger world, and acceptance of coffee as a global social drink, the design of a scale that focussed on socialisation, health, elitism, culture and commercialisation factors help to robustly investigate the state of coffee culture among the citizens.