Food waste is a major sustainable development problem in the world, and the promotion of ugly food may help address this issue. According to cue utilization theory and the VAB model, the primary purpose of this research is to investigate the role of green packaging in ugly food with multiple internal and external cues. A conceptual model with eight hypotheses are proposed. Conclusion, contributions of study and research limitations are finally shown.

This paper explores the relationships of various cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioural responses of e-discount sales promotion technique preferences consumers have when making purchases through online food delivery services (OFDS). This paper highlights new findings towards expanding e-discount and sales promotion literature and thus provide relevant implications.

In the last decade, labels have been multiplying on food products (e.g., organic labels, Nutri- Score) to foster nutritious and sustainable food purchases, as such raising the question of the effect of multi-labelling. In this article, we use the prism of information processing and specifically address the question of multi-labelling when the labels have simultaneously positive and negative valences. Such a situation could confuse consumers and therefore, harm multi-labelling ability to empower consumers. An experiment shows that 1/ adding a good Eco- Score to a good Nutri-Score enhances warm glow among the most ecology-sensitive consumers, though it does not significantly increase purchase intentions, 2/ adding a bad Eco- Score to a good Nutri-Score increases consumer confusion (i.e., a discomfort due to ambiguous stimuli that requires mental efforts to cope with) but does not decrease purchase intentions. Recommendations to food managers and public policy makers result from these results.

Food waste is a major sustainable development problem in the world, and the promotion of ugly food may help address this issue. According to cue utilization theory and the VAB model, the primary purpose of this research is to investigate the role of green packaging in ugly food with multiple internal and external cues. A conceptual model with eight hypotheses are proposed. Conclusion, contributions of study and research limitations are finally shown.

Healthy and environmentally friendly food is a subject of increasing prominence all around the world, and especially so in developing countries such as India, where consumption of agricultural goods produced in a sustainable environment with a low reliance on pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and genetic manipulation is a real challenge. Consumer interest in green food items is increasing as safety and health concerns grow, and researchers are calling for further investigation of green food consumer behavior. Although a large number of research was done on environmental performance in industrialized countries, very little research has been conducted among Indian consumers. Furthermore, the gap between intention to consume green food products and actual behavior remains under-investigated. This gap can be investigated through the prism of theory of planned behavior (TPB). This theory has been widely used in green consumer studies: it seeks to explain how individuals make decisions and take actions based on their attitudes, beliefs, and perceived behavioral control. However, the TPB has not been extended to account for cultural values (i.e., Hofstede’s cultural framework), which can play an important role in shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, this research investigates the application of the extended TPB model in the context of green food products with a quantitative survey among Indian consumers (N=387). The results show that long-term (health) orientation and collectivism influence both green purchase intention and behavior. This effect is explained by subjective norms, perceived value, and environmental attitudes of the consumers.

This study aims to integrate the protection motivation theory (PMT) model and attitude to explore the factors influencing consumers’ usage behavior toward online food delivery platform services (OFDPSs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The utilitarian value and hedonic value of OFDPSs, which may influence consumers’ attitude, were also included in the integrated research model. This study collected a total of 384 participants who are with experience in using OFDPSs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan for analysis

To reduce food waste at the retail and personal consumption stages, discounts are offered in retail channels to encourage consumers to buy goods that are less attractive or close to their expiry dates. While discounts can encourage consumers to accept and purchase suboptimal foods, previous studies find that low prices or price discounts will make consumers produce positive or negative perceptions of product values. Consumers may increase their purchase intentions due to price concessions, but will think that price reductions are caused by quality degradation and thus reduce their purchase intentions. Additionally, the literature rarely explores the interaction between original prices of suboptimal products and discount presentation modes. This study thus contends that the interaction between original prices of goods and discount types will lead to significant differences in consumers' attitudes and purchase behavior toward suboptimal products. For research goals, this study employed a full factorial between‐subjects experiment designed with 2 original prices (High and Low) × 2 discount presentation modes (Discount percentage and Discounted price). An anonymous web-based questionnaire posted on the popular PTT forum and in Facebook and Instagram related communities is used to collect the data, and then a total of 328 valid questionnaires were finally collected. The findings indicate that attitudes and purchase intentions toward suboptimal food with a low original price is significantly higher than that of a high original price. Among the interaction effects, the means of attitudes and purchase intentions on the level of the low original price of suboptimal foods presented by discount percentage are higher the other three types. For the high original prices of suboptimal foods, the means of attitudes and purchase intentions on the level of discounted price are higher than for discount percentage. Based on these findings, this study demonstrates that consumer attitudes and purchase decision-making toward suboptimal foods are shaped by original prices and discount presentation modes. In Asia-Pacific countries such as Taiwan, consumers are price-sensitive but once a food item belongs to the category of suboptimal foods, their perceptions of discounts become different. Consumers’ attitudes toward that food and their willingness to buy may be moderated by the high or low original price of suboptimal food with the levels of discount presentation mode. Thus, based on the analysis and results of this study, we offer fresh findings and make both theoretical and managerial contributions to the related field of suboptimal food marketing and price discounts.

The current research introduces a novel relationship between consumer attitudes toward time and consumer well-being, connected to organic food consumption based on the findings from 206 American consumers. Consumer motivations to seek nutritional information appears as a mediator impacting organic food purchase intentions. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Entomophagy (or insects eating) is seen as a new, sustainable, and promising protein alternative for consumers in Western countries. Although eating insects is not new for many cultures (e.g., Asian culture), it represents a novel and unconventional eating practice in the Western world (e.g., United States and Europe), often characterized by food taboos and by a negative advertising in the media.

A new high-tech product - lab grown meat (LGM), has been gaining media attention while initiating public discourse on social media (SM) platforms. This netnographic study is based on a dataset of selected SM public posts, comments and discussions collected during 30 days in early 2023. The findings indicate that LGM is highly contradictory, while not being fully understood how it is produced or when it will become commercially available. The findings indicate that this novel food requires carefully designed marketing strategies: when naming a new product category; must allow transparency and sensibly explain all product’s attributes; and invest time and efforts to educate consumers, leading to higher adoption rates when launched on mass consumer markets, as an alternative to conventionally grown foods.

This study explores internal and external factors that influence consumers’ novel food technology acceptance (NFTA). Findings suggest that the primary driver of the purchase intention of NFTA is hedonic motivation. Also, the level of trust in the food regulatory organizations can play a vital role in driving consumers’ NFTA.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the concept of mindfulness and examine its effects on climate-friendly food perception and choice, thereby uncovering climate-friendly food by parsing out the different effects of mindfulness vs. mindlessness and exploring the key consumer outcomes. The value of this study lies in clarifying the role of climate-friendly food and mindfulness in perceived food value and food choice. This study provides a framework for examining the effects of climate-friendly food and mindfulness, thereby shedding light on climate-friendly food and discovering perceived climate-friendly food value and food choice as main outcomes. This study contributes to the literature on value by clarifying the concept of mindfulness and the relationships between perceived food value and food choice. The findings also offer practical implications for how marketing strategies for value work more effectively and cater to different types of mindfulness.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems in the world. In modern society, the consumption of single-use plastics in the food service industry has increased along with the increase in food-away-from-home. The COVID-19 pandemic has attacked the consumption of single-use plastic in the restaurant industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the US has retracted the related laws and policies regarding using single-use plastic for fast food and carry-out food, and customers have increased their use of single-use plastic for fast food and carry-out food due to worries about hygiene. Even though sustainability has been a novel topic in hospitality literature, a majority of studies have focused on the consumers’ perception, attitude, or behavioral willingness toward sustainability. To fill this gap in research, finding an effective way to influence consumers’ behavioral change becomes important and necessary.

This study addresses the problem caused by unhealthy = tasty intuition (UTI) when positioning innovative new categories of food products. Our research on Japanese consumers’ choice of soy meat hamburgers shows that UTI formed by the old category influences choices in the new product category.

With the development of information technology, online food delivery services have significantly changed people’s food consumption patterns. The outbreak of COVID-19 has further facilitated the development due to restaurant restrictions and social distancing measures. Due to the emergence of online food delivery services, scholars have paid increasing attention to this popular topic, and a large number of studies have examined which factors are related to consumers’ intention to use online food delivery services. However, previous studies showed inconsistent findings, and relationships between variables lack a comprehensive understanding. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a research model and examine the factors influencing consumers’ intention to use online food delivery services. By reviewing and analyzing 52 studies with 53 independent samples (N = 22,937), the meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach was carried out to assess the research model. The findings indicate that two attributes of online food delivery services (i.e., convenience and price-saving orientation) play different roles in the research model. Specifically, convenience significantly impacted perceived ease of use but had no direct impact on perceived usefulness. Price-saving orientation significantly influenced both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Moreover, relationships between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived trust were significant, and these factors ultimately significantly led to the intention to use food delivery services. The findings contribute to theoretical advancement in the extant literature on food delivery services and help firms develop to provide better food delivery services for consumers’ continuous usage.

Marine industry generates tons of waste, which is usually discarded or used for production of fish feed and low-value silage. However, marine residual raw materials (e.g., skins, heads, liver, and roe after fish gutting and processing) contain lipids rich in omega-3 fatty acid, which has several beneficial physiological effects such as maintenance of normal cardiac function, normal brain function, and normal vision. Food fortification with omega-3 fatty acid derived from marine residual raw materials can therefore provide health benefits and contribute to a circular food system. The current research explores consumer acceptance of the food fortified with microencapsulated fish oil derived from marine residual raw materials. Consumers may be hesitant to try these products due to food neophobia associated with tendency to eat foods with familiar ingredients. The idea of ingredients from normally discarded food parts may seem disturbing. However, there is a growing concern about low utilization of bioresources. Thus, conflicting goals may be in place and there is a need for research on motivations and barriers for consumption of this type of food. To address this, focus group interviews were conducted with 42 Norwegian consumers (7 groups, 4-7 participants each). The sample represented different age groups (20-55 years), genders, educational backgrounds, and income levels. Each participant received a compensation of ca. USD 30. The focus groups discussed food habits, attitude towards the fortified food and utilizing residual raw materials, and reasons for intake/no intake of such food. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results indicate that the informants have limited experience with fortified food. However, they demonstrate positive attitude towards the foods fortified with microencapsulated fish oil and appreciate the utilization of residual raw materials. Health benefits are one of the important motivations. Still, the informants are concerned about the fishy taste, as the flavor is also quite crucial. Another barrier is an expected high price for such food. Adding fish oil may also be a problem for vegetarians and consumers with allergies. Thus, transparent information about the food ingredients is essential. The results also highlight the importance of food’s sensory characteristics. The current study advances understanding of the consumer acceptance of the food with residual raw materials (so far under investigated in the literature), and thus provides a basis for finding an efficient strategy for communicating its benefits to consumers. It also provides societal health benefits and positive environmental effects due to the increased intake of omega-3 and better utilization of unused bioresources.

Food waste is a critical problem for many countries. Food producers and groceries often discard imperfect foods or food by-products that still contain nutritional value. To address this problem, some food manufacturers have turned to upcycling, that is, to convert otherwise discarded ingredients into new food products (e.g., cacao fruit pulp into crunch bites). Consumers’ acceptance of sustainable products is generally lower than that of conventional products due to quality concerns. We speculate that for upcycled food products, consumers’ perception of product quality may vary when different percentages of imperfect ingredients are integrated into the products. Drawing from schema congruity theory, this research examines how the usage of imperfect ingredients can impact the perceived quality of upcycled food products. The implications for marketing upcycled foods are discussed.

In the wake of the global pandemic of obesity of the young generation in Europe, with varying prevalence depending on culture and television advertising consumption, the role of marketing communications in the process needs to be re-addressed. Hence, the manner in which the food and beverages are promoted to children in various geographical settings becomes crucial concern for not only parents and teachers, but also society as the whole, represented majorly by regulatory bodies. Previous research within the theme of the correlation between TV advertising and youth obesity have focused on the reaction of children and parents to the advertisements targeting children, mostly disregarding the actual content of the ads, the level of their influence on children and specific context in which this interaction occurs.

The aim of this paper is to conceptualise the internationalisation of food and drink SMEs by developing and evaluating a framework specifically for food and drink SME internationalisation. SME internationalisation is an established area of research that has seen a wealth of research since the seminal work of the Uppsala scholars on the stage approach (cf. Johanson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Johanson & Vahlne, 1977). In recent decades SME internationalisation research has focussed on a range of issues that impact on internationalisation, from company characteristics (cf. Jones & Coviello, 2005; Hsieh et al., 2019) entrepreneur characteristics (cf. Reuber & Fischer, 1997; Ramón-Llorens et al., 2017), network connections (cf. Johanson & Mattson, 1988; Johanson & Vahlne, 2009) and determinants to international growth (Katsikeas et al., 1996; Li, 2018). This wealth of research underlines the complexities in understanding and explaining internationalisation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to understand and evaluate the critical determinants of internationalisation specifically for food and drink SMEs, through an evaluation of relevant theory and the development of a framework for food and drink SME internationalisation. These aims address three gaps in the literature, namely, limited research on specific industries, limited research on food and drink SMEs, and few efforts to conceptualise the SME internationalisation process.

The rise of social media has brought the existence of “foodie” and “food bloggers” in the culinary business. The word “foodie” refers to those who highly favor and engage with food and spend a substantial amount of time collecting culinary experiences and visiting famous restaurants, while a food blogger is an individual or a foodie who uses a communication platform to share recipes and passion for food through reviews based on his or her experience. Culinary businesses use food bloggers to help promote their products and encourage consumers to try their products, which are believed to be effective as the viewers or the followers tend to take their recommendations.