Sustainability and authenticity: are they food risk relievers during the COVID-19 pandemic?

PurposeThe study jointly investigates sustainability and authenticity concepts in the food context during the COVID-19 outbreak with a fourfold objective: (1) understanding whether sustainability and authenticity are equivalent concepts in consumers' perceptions; (2) advancing knowledge on the role played by them about food frauds' perception; (3) investigating whether these concepts are considered as “risk relievers” by consumers, (4) comparing the concepts to understand which one has a greater weight on the consumer's perception.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a Combination of a Uniform and a shifted Binomial distribution (CUB models) on data gathered in Spain between June and August 2020 through an online questionnaire.FindingsThe findings reveal that: (1) consumers perceive sustainability and authenticity as different concepts in the food context and (2) as two important indicators of fraud protection of a product for consumers; (3) besides, authenticity is seen as a “risk reliever” in buying a food product, as well as sustainability, (4) although results underline high uncertainty in the latter case.Originality/valueBy considering that the COVID-19 outbreak seriously threatens food safety, security and nutrition, this research elucidates the relevant role of food sustainability and authenticity concepts as “risk relievers” in terms of food frauds and negative issues related to COVID-19.

Explaining the Factors Influencing Consumer Perception, Adoption Readiness, and Perceived Usefulness toward Digital Transactions: Online Retailing Experience of Millennials in India

The present study intends to identify and evaluate the factors affecting the perception and readiness of young online shoppers regarding digital transactions. Thirty variables were identified through systematic literature review that can influence consumers’ perception of digital transactions. Data were collected from 525 millennials from north India. After performing factor analysis, five broad factors were identified namely (a) personal characteristics and incentives, (b) knowledge technical capability, (c) perceived usefulness, (d) sense of security, and (e) transaction risk, which affect the perception and intention as well as adaption of young consumers regarding the digital transactions. Using regression analysis, factors affecting consumer’s perception and readiness regarding digital transactions are modeled out. The study also examines the influence on intention to adopt digital transactions and the actual adaption of digital transactions. Further, the study concludes that consumer intention to make digital transactions mediates the relationship between factors of digital transactions and digital transaction adaption behavior.

An Approach to the Spanish Consumer’s Perception of the Sensory Quality of Environmentally Friendly Seabass

Seabass is one of the leading aquaculture species in Europe. Sensory analysis is essential for new product development. This research focused on establishing and differentiating the opinion of consumers about seabass quality obtained with organic feeding. Fish were fed for 196 days with four treatments (a control diet with 30% fishmeal and three diets with different levels of fishmeal supplemented with organic vegetable ingredients: 25%, 30% and 35%). Experimental diets were compared with commercial samples from the retail industry that were considered as “adequate quality for fish”. Two sensory analyses were carried out, check-all-that-apply (CATA) to obtain feedback on consumers’ characterization towards a different type of fish evaluated and projective mapping (PM) to measure the similarity among a set of products and establish a comparison between results provided by both methods. According to the CATA results, white color, softness, meaty taste and juicy texture were considered relevant attributes, also showing a good relationship with an adequate cooked fish description. A penalty analysis confirmed that the previous characteristics were considered essential while fibrous was an undesirable attribute. The projective mapping showed a similar sensory configuration to the CATA, corroborating these findings that showed that commercial fish were placed in a position away from the rest of the treatments, and the organic diet with a higher level of fishmeal (35%) was the most distant from the control diet.

Comparison of the Chemical and Sensorial Evaluation of Dark Chocolate Bars

As it mimics olfactory perception, headspace analysis is frequently used for examination of products like chocolate, in which aroma is a key feature. Chemical analysis by itself, however, only provides half the picture, as final consumer’s perception cannot be compared to that of a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) port, but rather to a panel test assessment. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of combined chemical (by means of headspace solid-phase microextraction and GC-MS) and panel test data (by means of a sensory evaluation operated by 6 untrained panelists) obtained for 24 dark chocolate bars to assess whether these can discriminate between bars from different brands belonging to different commercial segments (hard discount, HD; supermarket, SM; organic bars, BIO). In all samples, with the only exception of one supermarket bar (in which esters exhibited the highest relative abundance), pyrazines were detected as the most abundant chemical class (HD: 56.3–74.2%; BIO: 52.0–76.4%; SM: 31.2–88.9%). Non-terpene alcohols, aldehydes, and esters followed as quantitatively relevant groups of compounds. The obtained data was then subjected to hierarchical cluster (HCA) and principal component (PCA) analysis. The statistical distribution of samples obtained for the chemical data did not match that obtained with panelists’ sensorial data. Moreover, although an overall ability of grouping samples of the same commercial origin was evidenced for hard discount and supermarket bars, no sharp grouping was possible.

Animal protein consumer's perception on the welfare of production animals in Belém, Pará State, Brazil

The objective was to identify the level of knowledge of animal protein consumers about the welfare of production animals, in Belém city, Pará State, Brazil. The survey was carried out in two supermarkets, using 401 structured questionnaires, with 10 closed questions, with a “Yes” or “No” answer, taking into consideration, for the formation of a socioeconomic profile, questions related to gender, age group, educational level and family income of the interviewees. Most consumers of animal protein from the municipality of Belém, Pará State, Brazil, recognize that these products are part of their daily diet, however, the interviewees have no knowledge about the topic, and are not willing to pay more for the product with a seal of quality, as well as showing no interest or concern with the way animals are reared or slaughtered. The age group of consumers influences the level of knowledge about the welfare of production animals, observing that consumers aged 40 to 50 years have more knowledge on the subject. Education was a decisive factor in determining the level of knowledge of animal protein consumers about the welfare of production animals, as consumers from high school had more knowledge about the subject.

Pengaruh Bauran Pemasaran Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Kacang Edamame Oleh Konsumen Rumah Tangga Pada Pasar Swalayan

Edamame is a product which has a big advantage to be developed, specifically by the product's market, as it is good in terms of taste and nutrition. Hypermarkets nowadays sell edamame but they have not known what marketing mix affects consumer's purchasing decision towards edamame. This research aimed to find: 1) Consumer’s perception of edamame's marketing mix at hypermarkets in East Jakarta, 2) To Evaluate consumer’s purchasing decision of edamame at hypermarkets in East Jakarta, 3) The influence of edamame's marketing mix affecting consumer’s purchasing decision, 4) The largest influence of edamame's marketing mix which affects consumer’s purchasing decision. The method of this research used the survey method and the sampling method used was the non-probability sampling method with accidental sampling technique. A total of 100 respondents were calculated using the linear time function formula. The location of this research is chosen purposively which is 4 hypermarkets located in East Jakarta. The method of this research is descriptive analysis and path analysis. The results showed that: 1) Edamame’s marketing mix is done well according to the continuum line, 2) Consumer’s purchasing decision of edamame is done well according to the continuum line, 3) The marketing mix simultaneously significantly influenced consumer’s purchasing decision of edamame, 4) The promotion variable (X4) gives the biggest influence towards consumer’s purchasing decision of edamame. The implication of this research is to increase activities of promotions of edamame.