Personalised nutrition can contribute significantly to the prevention of non-communicable dietary related diseases by providing dietary suggestions based on individual’s nutritional needs. Adoption of the concept of personalised nutrition by individuals is crucial for the success of personalised nutrition services. However, consumers’ adoption intention of personalised nutrition services is not only the result of cognitive deliberations of benefits and risks, but several studies in other contexts show that affective and contextual factors also play an important role in explaining consumers’ adoption intention. This study therefore examines whether affective factors (i.e., measured by means of ambivalent feelings) and contextual factors (i.e., eating context) increase the understanding of consumers' intentions to use personalized nutrition services. An online survey study was conducted among a total of 996 participants in the Netherlands. The results of a number of estimated fully latent structural regression models show that the intention to use personalized nutrition is not only positively driven by a weighing of benefits and risks (i.e., privacy calculus), which is also established in previous studies, but also negatively by ambivalent feelings. In turn, the results show that ambivalence towards personalized nutrition is predicted by privacy risk and the extent to which someone perceives the eating context as a barrier for personalized nutrition. Taken together, the current study implies that to stimulate the adoption of personalized nutrition services not only benefits and risks of personalized nutrition should be addressed, but also consumers’ ambivalent feelings regarding the concept and contextual factors that may prohibit adoption.

This study examines the extent to which Fair Trade reputation and fit between this reputation and the communicated Fair Trade message influences consumer skepticism and positive electronic word-of-mouth. The results of two experiments show that previous Fair Trade reputation has a direct and indirect effect, via consumer brand identification, on consumer skepticism. Moreover, the fit between a reputation and the communicated message only seems to affect skepticism when the communicated message is perceived as realistic. In industries with bad Fair Trade reputations (Study 1) fit does not seem to have an effect on skepticism, while fit does influence skepticism in industries with a certain reputation history on Fair Trade (Study 2). Skepticism and consumer brand identification play an important mediating role in the relationship between reputation, fit and consumers’ electronic word-of-mouth intentions. We therefore conclude that communicating Fair Trade initiatives can be a rewarding effort but also seems to be a delicate matter.

The market for environmentally friendly or ‘green’ products has increased substantially over the last ten years (Willer and Kilcher, 2010). Both brand manufacturers and retailers are increasingly, and successfully, incorporating environmental and social issues in their brands (Aouina Mejri and Bhatli, 2014; Chkanikova and Lehner, in press; Gleim et al., 2013). Given the increasing importance of ‘green’ branding, the current study examines the role of key drivers (i.e., brand equity, store image and product familiarity) in the consumption of green brands. Moreover, since previous studies found that positive evaluations of a specific brand led to more positive buying behavior for the green product concept in general (Bartels and Hoogendam, 2011), in the current study we also assess the impact of these key drivers on green consumption in general. Finally, by explicitly distinguishing between store brands and national brands, we try to determine whether these relationships differ between these two types of brands in a green context. To test these effects, we used a panel study among consumers in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S.. For each country, we used one national brand and one or two store brands. Respondents randomly received one of these brands to evaluate. This process resulted in 404 respondents for store brands and 302 respondents for national brands. Results show that store image and brand equity have a direct effect on the consumption of green store brands and green national brands. In addition, we found that for both store and national brands, the relationship between brand equity and green brand consumption is partially mediated by the perceived image of the store where that brand is sold. Furthermore, for national brands, a positive store image also leads to an increase in green consumption behavior in general, which is not the case for store brands. Finally, for national brands, there is a clear relationship between product familiarity and brand consumption, whereas this is not the case for store brands.

The past decades showed an increase in the number of meals consumed away from home. Restaurants could therefore play a pivotal role in improve diet quality by offering healthier food on their menus (Glanz and Hoelscher, 2004). One of the instruments that restaurants can use to increase healthier food intake is by making use of portion size. When people are served larger portions, they eat more (Steenhuis & Vermeer, 2009). In this study, we investigate the effectiveness of increased portion sizes of vegetables and lower portion sizes of meat (or fish) in a restaurant setting. Three restaurant locations from a restaurant chain in the Netherlands were selected for a field experiment. A cross-over design was used in which each restaurant was randomly assigned to a sequence of two conditions (i.e., intervention and control condition). In the intervention period, portion sizes of vegetables on plates were doubled (150 grams versus 75 grams) and portion sizes of meat and fish were cut on average with 12.5%. Consumption was calculated by subtracting the residues from the plates from the average served amount. Additionally, p3rticipants received a questionnaire in which a number of questions were asked, i.a., about their satisfaction with the meal and restaurant. In total, 536 participants in the control condition and 470 participants in the experimental condition were obtained. Vegetable consumption was higher in intervention weeks (M = 115.5 grams) than in control weeks (M = 61.7 grams; p < .001). Meat consumption was lower in intervention weeks (M = 183.1 grams) as compared to control weeks (M = 211.1 grams; p < .001). Finally, satisfaction with the restaurant visit did not differ between intervention weeks (M = 4.27) and control weeks (M = 4.35; p > .05). The results are robust given that we found the same effects across the three restaurants. An important implication of this study is that portion sizes could indeed be used as an effective instrument in stimulating healthy consumption behavior without affecting customer’s satisfaction.

Next to brand manufacturers, retailers are increasingly incorporating ‘green’ issues in their store brands. Although a lot of studies are devoted to comparing store brands with national brands (e.g., Steenkamp et al., 2010), there is limited research that compares these two types of brands in a ‘green’ context. This study investigated what factors influence the consumption of ‘green’ store brands and national brands by focusing on three important determinants: brand equity, store image and brand identification.Different models are tested in which we incorporate both mediating and moderating effects of these constructs on green brand consumption. Using the context of organic food brands, we conducted a longitudinal online panel study among consumers in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire and, for each country, received either a questionnaire on store brands (n = 562) or on national brands (n = 302). Multiple regression analyses showed that for store brands, brand equity and brand identification had a positive direct effect on brand consumption. Additional analyses indicated that brand equity was not mediated by store image, but that store image moderated the effect of brand equity on brand consumption. For national brands, store image and brand identification had a positive direct effect on brand consumption. Mediation analysis showed partial mediation of brand equity by store image. We did not find a moderating effect of brand equity on brand consumption for national brands.Our findings indicate that for ‘green’ store brands, the relationship between brand equity and consumption is strengthened by consumers’ image of the store. In contrast, for national brands, the relationship between consumers’ brand equity and brand consumption is not strengthened but actually partially determined by the current image of the store where that brand is sold. In addition, identification with the green brand seems to play an important role in brand consumption for both store brands and national brands.

In the past few decades, much attention has been focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Dahlrud, 2008; McWilliams & Siegel, 2001; Maignan & Ralston, 2002; Montiel, 2008), consumer responses to CSR initiatives (Brown & Dacin, 1997; Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001) and more recently, employee attitudes towards CSR (Kim et al., 2010; Michailides & Lipsett, 2012; Rupp et al., 2006; Zhu et al., 2012). Although awareness of environmental sustainability has increased over the past few decades, the current market share of sustainable products remains low. Because of their market position, large-scale and high- volume customer interactions (Vella et al., 2009), supermarkets appear to be appropriate venues for investigating perceived sustainability initiatives (Hampl & Loock, 2013). Our study examined the extent to which supermarkets are perceived to have embedded sustainability initiatives in their marketing strategies and to have taken sustainable tactical measures on the store floor. In addition, the study considered the roles played by social identification (as an indicator for intrinsic motives) and by perceived external prestige (as an indicator for extrinsic motives). Based on a literature review and semi-structured qualitative interviews with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Dutch supermarkets (n = 8), we conducted an online panel survey among the managers of these supermarkets (n = 99). The results of the qualitative study show that although CEOs’ opinions differed regarding the relevance of sustainability, the majority of CEOs indicated that the implementation of a sustainability strategy is strongly dependent on the intrinsic motivation of board members, the family business in general or local entrepreneurs (supermarket managers). Specifically, the role of the supermarket manager was recognized as important concerning sustainability initiatives on the shop floor. The results of the quantitative study show the positive impacts of managers’ social identification with a sustainable consumer group and managers’ perceived external prestige on the perceived environmental sustainability initiatives of Dutch supermarkets. The study finds that managers’ social identifications are powerful ways to engender employee loyalty. Moreover, organizations that are perceived to have more external prestige are perceived as being more capable of developing sustainability policies.