The Importance of Country-of-Origin Information on Food Product Packaging

Eating Macro-Algae (Seaweed): Understanding Factors Driving New Zealand Consumers' Willingness to Eat and Their Perceived Trust towards Country of Origin

Macro-algae is an umbrella term for seaweed, which is an important ingredient in many novel food products in New Zealand and other Australasian countries. While attitudes, consumption motivation, knowledge, and socio-demographic consumer profiles have been investigated in specific countries in the region, consumer behavior such as willingness to eat and factors driving this behavior have not yet been explored. Therefore, the present study fills this research gap in a New Zealand context and explores predictors of New Zealand consumers' willingness to eat macro-algae and their perceived trust towards the countries of origin of these products. The symbolic value of food, health importance, food safety concerns, and food fussiness were the factors under investigation. The work builds on an online questionnaire and a sample of 437 consumers mirroring the New Zealand population in terms of gender, age, and annual household income. Data were collected through an opt-in panel provider in November 2023. The data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and partial least square structural equation modeling. Results show that health importance and food fussiness tendencies are the strongest predictors of willingness to eat and trustworthiness of the two countries of origin. Best practice recommendations for marketing managers in New Zealand food retail are provided.

Analysis of Consumer Behaviour in the Context of the Place of Purchasing Food Products with Particular Emphasis on Local Products

BACKGROUND

Researchers and marketing specialists study consumer behaviour in the market because it is an important part of economics. There is a growing trend among consumers to buy local products. Consumers know that buying local products is seen to support local producers and entrepreneurs and protect the domestic economy.

METHODS

A diagnostic survey analysis was conducted among 404 respondents from Eastern Poland in 2022 to achieve the research objectives. The aim was to present the specifics of the phenomenon of consumer behaviour in relation to the place of purchase of food products, with particular emphasis on local products, according to the qualitative approach adopted. An attempt was made to identify and evaluate the attitudes and declarations of individual consumers in this area. A questionnaire was used as the research tool, and its distribution was carried out entirely electronically via the Internet.

RESULTS

The study showed that shopping habits vary by location and age, with hypermarkets and local stores popular among both men and women, while online shopping and wholesale options were also common.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding how consumers make decisions is a complex task, as it involves various factors such as thoughts, emotions and actions that lead to product selection and purchase. These factors can vary based on demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, and location. Studies have shown that Polish consumers are more likely to buy local products from large chain stores than from smaller manufacturer-owned stores, and prefer domestically produced goods, which is reflected in an ethnocentric attitude toward the local market.

The country-of-origin label impact on intention to consume insect-based food

The global food consumption scenario and the influence of a country's image on consumer decision-making motivated this research. The global edible insect market is growing, and cultural issues, disgust, and low perception of quality are barriers to consumption. Through an online experiment (n = 194) Brazilian consumers demonstrate that the use of the country-of-origin label (COOL) can result in greater intention and quality expectation regarding a cricket flour. Consumers showed a preference for the flour produced by a positive image country label. Both intention and quality expectation were higher for the cricket flour produced in the United States. Furthermore, the mediation model indicates that quality expectation mediated the effect of COOL on the intention to consume. The results show that even though consumers have created a positive expectation concerning the product, a higher level of neophobia diminished their intention to consume the product and this relates to the aversion and disgust that can exist towards an edible-insect product. The neophobia level can weaken the effect of COOL on intention mediated by quality expectation. The study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the consumer's perception of an insect-based food and provide insights into variables related to the intention to consume by verifying their contribution to the consumer's behavior.

The Impact of Consumer Schwartz Values and Regulatory Focus on the Willingness to Pay a Price Premium for Domestic Food Products: Gender Differences

This paper aims to identify which Schwartz values and regulatory focus orientations influence consumer behavior on the food market in the domain of preference for domestic products, which is closely related to consumer ethnocentrism. The CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interviews) method was applied. The sample consisting of 1000 respondents was representative for the Polish adult population in terms of sex, age, education, place of living (rural vs. urban), and region. The willingness to pay (WTP) a higher price for domestic products was affected by the tradition and universalism values. Consumer value orientations and regulatory focus were more powerful in explaining the WTP than demographic or socio-economic variables. The theories of value orientations and regulatory focus were found to be more relevant for men than for women, as reflected in adjusted regression determination coefficients. Finally, the promotion regulatory focus was a significant predictor of the WTP among men, but not among women. Based on my findings, it is recommended (1) to emphasize the following elements in marketing communications in order to stimulate the purchases of domestic food products: appeals to tradition, customs, ecology, being natural; (2) to take into account the Schwartz values in consumer segmentation on the food market; (3) to differentiate marketing communications for domestic food products on the basis of gender segmentation: in messages addressed to male consumers, arguments appealing to the promotion orientation should be used more frequently.