Marketing Activities of Local Food Producers in E-Commerce

Healthy food and determinants of food choice on online food delivery applications

Online food delivery applications (OFD apps) provide consumers with a wide range of options to choose from. The present study aimed to assess the usage of OFD apps and investigate the factors that affect food choices with a special emphasis on healthy food choices and hygiene. A cross-sectional study among food delivery application users in Jordan was conducted using an online questionnaire between March and May 2022. A total of 675 eligible subjects participated in the study. Consumers' demographic characteristics, data on consumers' use of OFD apps, consumers' perceptions of healthy food availability in OFD apps, and consumers' attitudes toward food safety and delivery hygiene were collected and analyzed. About 64% of the studied sample used OFD apps weekly. Fast food was the most popular option for ordering (87.1%) and lunchtime was the most preferred time to order food (67.3%) for most of the respondents. Respondents' perceptions of a "healthy meal" was associated with the presence of a variety of vegetables in the meal. Food price, food appearance, time of delivery, macronutrient content information, the availability of healthy options, and considering vegetables as part of a healthy meal were determinants of consumer food choice (p<0.05). The findings suggest that the online food environment in Jordan was perceived to be unhealthy. Nevertheless, the convenient nature and the popularity of OFD apps hold great potential to promote healthy eating among consumers.

Benefits Achieved by Energy Suppliers through Cooperation with Individual Recipients and Their Readiness for This Cooperation

The aim of this article is to identify the benefits perceived by individual recipients that are achieved by consumer energy suppliers on the market, through multilateral trade cooperation, and to define the structure of these benefits according to the declared readiness of recipients to cooperate with the suppliers. The results of the analysis of the available literature on the subject indicate that there is a cognitive and research gap in relation to the perceived benefits achieved by the suppliers through joint marketing activities. The benefits are not being analyzed; especially from the perspective of individual recipients’ readiness for this cooperation. This gap is noticeable not only in relation to the energy market, but also in other areas of the consumer market. In an effort to reduce the identified gap, an online survey was conducted among 1196 adult individual energy recipients in Poland. The primary data collected was subjected to quantitative analysis using the following research methods: average grade analysis, comparative analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. The Kruskal–Wallis test was also conducted. The results of the quantitative analysis indicate, inter alia, that the majority of the respondents declared their readiness to cooperate with energy suppliers on the preparation of marketing offers. This variable statistically significantly differentiated nine out of twelve analyzed benefits that, according to the respondents, suppliers obtain as a result of cooperation. This differentiation was not found only in the case of three benefits related to the cost-free acquisition of recipient potential. For all respondents, as well as for the respondents willing to cooperate with suppliers and for those who did not express such willingness, three sections were identified, including the respondents who saw the same benefits achieved by suppliers. The conclusions drawn on the basis of the analysis results constitute a significant contribution to the theory of marketing and the theory of market behavior of individual recipients in the energy market. They also bear clear application advantages, making it easier for energy suppliers to effectively initiate cooperation with individual recipients and/or strengthen this cooperation.

Prosumers’ Needs Satisfied Due to Cooperation with Offerors in the Context of Attitudes toward Such Cooperation

The purpose of this article is to determine final purchasers’ needs satisfied due to cooperation with offerors and the dependencies between these needs and previous behaviors and attitudes toward this cooperation. The results of the world literature analysis indicate a cognitive and research gap regarding the aspects mentioned. In order to reduce the gap, empirical studies were conducted, in which an online questionnaire was used to gather primary data. The research was implemented in the second half of 2020 among 1150 respondents representing Polish adult final purchasers. The data were subjected to quantitative analysis using statistical analysis and statistical testing, including exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis, Pearson chi-square independence test, V-Cramer contingency coefficient analysis, and Kruskal–Wallis test. The results of the statistical analysis made it possible to verify six research hypotheses. Dependencies were found between needs satisfied due to cooperation with offerors and the following aspects: (1) purchasers’ previous participation in cooperation with offerors, (2) purchasers’ willingness to cooperate with offerors, and (3) the assessment of contemporary purchasers’ readiness to cooperate with offerors. Willingness to cooperate with offerors differentiated all eleven needs satisfied due to cooperation with offerors analyzed in this study. Two other variables differentiated only a few of the needs analyzed. The results obtained from the research have a cognitive and applicability value. They contribute to theory of marketing and market behavior. They can also facilitate establishing and strengthening cooperation between offerors and final purchasers as important partners cooperating in the process of creating a marketing offer. This effect is very important in the case of shaping the cooperation between final purchasers and offerors of different products including energy ones. The originality of the approach proposed is evidenced by the fact it is the first time final purchasers’ needs that can be satisfied due to cooperation with offerors have been analyzed in the context of attitudes and behavior reflecting purchasers’ (1) previous participation in this cooperation, (2) willingness to cooperate with offerors, and (3) the assessment of contemporary final purchasers’ readiness to cooperate with offerors.