Paola Migliorini, Alexander Wezel, Eve Veromann, Carola Strassner, Dominika Średnicka-Tober, Johannes Kahl, Susanne Bügel, Teresa Briz, Renata Kazimierczak, Hélène Brives, Angelika Ploeger, Ute Gilles, Vanessa Lüder, Olesa Schleicher-Deis, Natalia Rastorgueva, Fabio Tuccillo, Liina Talgre, Tanel Kaart, Diana Ismael and Ewa Rembiałkowska
To clarify needs and requests of the young generation to the contemporary and future education on food systems, this paper aims to examine the following issues: students’…
Abstract
Purpose
To clarify needs and requests of the young generation to the contemporary and future education on food systems, this paper aims to examine the following issues: students’ background knowledge, students’ behaviour as consumers and food citizenship, most interesting topics of SFS for students and students’ preferences and expectations in developing different skills, topics and preferences in teaching/learning methods.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was performed as an online-survey amongst eight European Universities in seven European Union (EU) countries to which 1,122 students responded. Data was analysed with descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses.
Findings
Taste and Health are the most important values and motives that influence students’ food buying and consumption decisions, but significant differences were found amongst students from different universities and countries. The most important topics for students for future teaching courses are “organic food”, “fair trade”, “organic agriculture” and most important skills to learn are “ability to make a judgement and justify decisions” and the “ability to create and innovate”. Excursions and field trips as teaching methods was given the highest ranks.
Research limitations/implications
Different study programmes and cultural backgrounds of the participating students in the different universities could be a limiting factor for the interpretation of some results.
Originality/value
These results provide a basis for improvement of higher education in the EU towards sustainable food systems based on experiential learning/teaching methods.
Details
Keywords
Deiyali Angélica Carpio Pacheco, Teresa Briz and Beatriz Urbano
The aim of this research is to explore content, traffic and visibility on four social platforms to boost social visibility.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to explore content, traffic and visibility on four social platforms to boost social visibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The study explores content, traffic and visibility in the context of Spanish beer brands. A sample of 3,332 beer brands' social media (SM) sites, specifically the four most commonly used platforms amongst Spaniards, was analysed. An inductive content analysis by a panel of experts identified the main contents. A cluster analysis then divided the significantly different beer brand SM sites, and a Kruskal–Wallis test confirmed the significant differences by content and traffic. To determine and predict SM visibility, a binary logistic regression was conducted.
Findings
The findings reveal that traffic is not significantly correlated with social visibility. Moreover, the SM sites with the highest traffic show significant leisure content. Twitter is significantly different network in traffic and content, whilst YouTube is the best for boosting social visibility.
Practical implications
The study's findings constitute valuable information in understanding how content, traffic and visibility are correlated and help in managing brands' public presence and exposure on SM.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring four SM platforms (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook), two dimensions of SM interactions (traffic and social visibility) and three main focal points of contents (leisure, product and promotion). This research bridges the gap amongst content, traffic and social visibility and ascertains how to gain traffic and boost social visibility.
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Keywords
Andrew Fearne, José María García Álvarez‐Coque, Teresa López‐García Usach Mercedes and Sánchez García
This paper aims to analyse the capacity of rural and urban spaces to promote innovation in the agro‐food firms. The purpose is to determine if the rural/urban division affects the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the capacity of rural and urban spaces to promote innovation in the agro‐food firms. The purpose is to determine if the rural/urban division affects the innovative behaviour of agriculture, food processing and food distribution firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Business data have been obtained for over 2,000 firms based in the Valencia region, Spain. Out of them, over 200 declared to have taken part in R&D&i activities, mainly in partnership with public support institutions. The database supplies data of micro and small enterprises, which have been typically underestimated in the Spanish Survey on Technological Innovation in Enterprises. The database also makes it possible to identify the main location of agro‐food business, and the territory is divided in Local Labour Systems (LLS). LLS were in turn classified as rural or urban according to alternative criteria (OECD, national legislation). A logit model has been used in the analyses.
Findings
The location of enterprises according to the rural/urban divide does not appear relevant concerning innovation, although businesses orientated to the primary sector seem less innovative. Co‐op businesses appear to be more innovative.
Originality/value
The paper offers an approach of innovation in the agro‐food traditionally considered as a non‐innovative system. It explores how territory affects innovation using data from firms.
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Opeyemi Femi-Oladunni, Pablo Ruiz-Palomino and Israel Roberto Pérez Jiménez
This study aims to identify how Spanish consumers’ extrinsic preferences for food have evolved by examining the extant literature on food preferences in Spain, focusing on…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify how Spanish consumers’ extrinsic preferences for food have evolved by examining the extant literature on food preferences in Spain, focusing on food-related attributes and food-related values.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a synthetic review of the extant academic literature on Spanish consumer preferences for food-related attributes and food-related values from the mid-20th to the 21st century. This study uses key economic and social milestones that are most likely to influence food value chain actors to show how consumer preferences have evolved over the study period.
Findings
Spanish consumer food attribute preferences expanded as the food sector of the nation continued to grow, and value preferences showed a similar pattern from the mid-20th to the 21st century. The drivers of these preferences were trust, lifestyle, education (campaigns), sociodemographic factors and purchasing power.
Originality/value
Evaluating the extant literature’s contribution to consumer preferences for food-related attributes and values is important because it can aid in understanding the hierarchy and variety of consumers’ food preferences as well as the factors that drive these preferences. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore how Spanish consumer preferences evolved between the mid-20th and 21st centuries.