Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era

Habits, Health and Environment in the Purchase of Bakery Products: Consumption Preferences and Sustainable Inclinations before and during COVID-19

The aim of the research is to investigate whether purchasing decisions about bakery products (bread, snacks and biscuits) are influenced by concerns about health, climate change, biodiversity loss and food waste. The exploratory survey was carried out in two successive moments before and during the health emergency from COVID-19. Before the health emergency, face-to-face interviews were carried out using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by factor analysis, reliability tests and descriptive analysis. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the research hypotheses. The results of the modeling analysis of the structural equations highlighted that health and the environment represent an important background in the consumer experience of the respondents and influence the attitude and intention to purchase safe and environmentally friendly bakery products. Furthermore, the results suggest that informed, modern and aware consumers have direct and indirect effects on the intentions to adopt sustainable attitudes. On the contrary, the perception relating to the shops where consumers buy bakery products does not always show a significant influence on the propensity for sustainability. During the health emergency, the interviews were conducted online. Families confined to their homes, buying less in stores, have prepared many baked goods manually at home. The descriptive analysis of this group of consumers shows a growing attention to points of sale and the tendency to use online shopping. Furthermore, the changes in the type of purchases and the importance attributed to the need to reduce food waste emerge.

Consumer Sentiment in Turkey, from Closure to the New Normal

The main aim of the study was to analyze consumer sentiment in the COVID-19 pandemic period in the context of Turkey. In this context, “expectations of consumers regarding the changes in their current income and general expenditures in the economic conditions brought along with normalization process” and “in what direction consumer sentiment would change in the 6-month period following the normalization process in Turkey” were investigated. Based on these research questions, a descriptive study was conducted by adopting a quantitative research method. The questionnaire method was employed in the collection of the study data. As the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing when the study was conducted, the data were collected through an online questionnaire by using the convenience sampling method. The data that were obtained from 1147 participants were analyzed by using descriptive statistics through SPSS 24 software. The results that were obtained demonstrated that almost half of the consumers anticipated a decrease in their income in the 6-month period following the normalization process, and that they expected their expenditures would be reduced. In addition, it was determined that consumers were pessimistic in terms of the potential changes that would occur in their personal savings and family living conditions. Hence, it was found that consumers did not expect a considerable improvement in their economic and living conditions in the 6-month period following the normalization process. As the results that were obtained from consumers’ expectations were conscious estimations, as discussed in the assumption of rational expectations theory, they support the estimations of this economic theory.

A Model of Green Investment Decision Making for Societal Well-Being

To ensure the sustainable development, the sustainable capital market comes into picture as companies require substantial amount to develop or implement the green initiatives. The main purpose of this study is to examine the motivational factors to trust and trust to the intention to invest in the green initiatives companies among Malaysia retail investors. Partial least square modelling technique is employed to perform the data analysis. The findings suggested that the greater control as perceived by investors, the greater the trust towards investing in green initiatives companies. The element of trust appeared to be critical to encourage investors to invest in companies with green initiatives. In other words, trust has become the key component to ensure the sustainable capital among the green initiatives companies. Hence, the finding suggested the companies’ management to promote the green incentive activities to create awareness among the investors. Finally, collaboration between companies and policy makers played an importance role in encouraging investment among investors towards green initiatives companies.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Consumers’ Motives in Purchasing and Consuming Quality Greek Wine

In the rising post COVID-19 period the world is different not only from the economic point of view but also from the social and cultural point, including the selection of goods, and foods by the “new” customers. Wine is a major daily drink worldwide, affecting the lives of consumers worldwide. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on consumers’ motives for quality wine, namely the Greek wine and the local Samos’ Greek wine, assessing possible changes in their wine habits effecting current and future wine production, consumption, and sustainable regional development. Consumers’ motives were tested using variables of wine purchase and consumption (such as place of purchase, money spent, amount consumed, accompaniment meals), and preference for quality wine (such as traditional, appearance, organoleptic, sustainable, general characteristics). A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in January and February 2022 on a sample of 1493 participants through the Google platform. Basic statistical tools, combined with cross and Chi-square tests were used in order to analyze the collected data. The results show interesting changes in consumers’ motives in the new rising global era. The participants buy less from supermarket (−4.2%), more via online (+1.8%) and equally from other places, the majority one bottle per month spending 10 to 20 euros today. They consume less wine (−5.1%), the majority one bottle per month, preferable at home (+6%), with friends (+1.6%), rather than at the restaurant (−8.2%), the club/bar (−8.9%), the night club (−5.8%), or during celebration (−3.2%). They continue to prefer the “red with red, white to white” accompaniments with meals. They select quality wines based on the conventional variables with emphasis to the taste (94.5%), aroma (83.9%), value for money (72.8%). The participants expressed similar motives for the quality Samos’ wines. However, even though they are aware of its high quality (92.9%), only 53% of them have tasted them, and fewer are consuming then occasionally (32.3%). Our findings indicate that the sustainability, and growth of the quality wine in the new socioeconomic era, should focus on the easy access (including on line), the consumption at home, with friends and family, keeping the same preferences between different kinds of wine with the different meals for the consumers.

Innovative Agrifood Supply Chain in the Post-COVID 19 Era

The world is changing rapidly in the age of Coronavirus [...]

Adapting Open Innovation Practices for the Creation of a Traceability System in a Meat-Producing Industry in Northwest Greece

Traceability is becoming an essential tool for both the industry and consumers to confirm the characteristics of food products, leading industries to implement traceability to their merchandise. In order for the Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” (CTI) to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) implement traceability systems based on open innovation, principles were introduced. This paper presents market research that was carried out in order to determine the significant concerns of the Greek consumers about pork meat and pork products, their opinion on traceability information, and their preferences regarding how they would like to receive this information. The survey was conducted online and took place from mid-February to mid-March 2021 on a sample of 224 participants. The market research showed a very high interest concerning traceability, especially on the expiry date of the meat (87.9%), while the way and conditions of transport of the meat products follow (79%). Furthermore, consumers showed that they believe that the quality and safety of pork products would be improved with traceability (70.1%) and (79%) would prefer to buy traceable compared with untraceable pork, signifying the importance of traceability for consumers. Additionally, it was found that consumers and SMEs have common concerns regarding traceability. The information gathered from this market research will be used to adapt the traceability system to consumers’ needs.

Consumer Perception and Understanding of European Union Quality Schemes: A Systematic Literature Review

Food, agriculture, and labeling, affecting the environment are well connected concepts, the balance between them being determined not only by pedological and climatic factors or the development level of agricultural techniques, but also by national governments and international organizations’ food processing, trade policies and regulations. In this context, the European Union (EU) encourages the use of different food quality schemes: “Protected Designation of Origin” (PDO), “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI), and “Traditional Specialty Guaranteed” (TSG) to protect producers of special-quality foods and assist consumers in their purchasing decisions. This review examines existing studies on the impact of these labels on customers behavior. A total of 32 studies were found and systematized. The papers were selected if they featured unique empirical research on consumer perceptions of any of PDO, PGI and TSG labels. Using the search strategy, a literature analysis was performed based on papers extracted from Web of Science, Springer Link, Emerald Insights, and Science Direct. Although these papers highlight quite diversified findings, the internationally used labels play an increasing role in contemporary society and pandemic conditions caused by COVID-19, thus making the quality schemes relevant in consumer decision-making processes.

Consumers’ Perception on Traceability of Greek Traditional Foods in the Post-COVID-19 Era

In the rising new global economic and social period, after the COVID-19 pandemic, traceability is expected to be a critical parameter for the selection of foods by consumers worldwide. Accordingly, traditional foods (TFs) can become the foods of choice in the new era due to their originality, authenticity, unique organoleptic properties, and locality. In this paper, the consumers’ perception on traceability regarding Greek TFs and northwest Greek TFs is investigated, in order to find out the specific information they require for the purchase of these foods. Traceability was tested using variables related to package, product, quality, process, and personal information of these foods. A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in September and October 2021 on a sample of 1707 participants through the Google platform. The results show that the participants consider traceability regarding questions on package information “quite important” and “very important” by an average of 68%, on food information by 64%, on quality information by 69%, on production process information by 78%, and on personal information by 65%. A similar pattern was recorded for the regional northwest Greek TFs for information on production process, personal, and package data, although there was a significant increase in the perception by the participants for data related to food information itself by 87% and more related to quality information by 94%.