Consumers In USA Research Articles

Taste, sustainability, and nutrition: Consumers' attitude toward innovations in aquaculture products

Marine aquaculture is one of the solutions to provide sustainable nutritious food. While technological and product development in the marine aquaculture industry is challenging, the industry is also facing consumer skepticism. Therefore, it is crucial to understand consumers' food decisions to deliver the benefits of marine aquaculture on environmental sustainability and human nutrition. This study aims to test how a sheer cognition of innovative or traditional production methods influences the USA consumers' acceptance of marine aquaculture products.In an online experimental study, 186 consumers from the USA evaluated their perceptions of a series of marine aquaculture products that vary in processing levels. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: Tradition, Technology, and Control condition. In the Tradition condition, participants were told the products are produced in a traditional way. In contrast, a high-tech production system is emphasized in the Technology condition. In the Control condition, the producer uses a conventional method to farm seafood. The results of a set of general linear models for repeated measures reveal that emphasizing traditional production methods is associated with better perceptions of tastefulness, healthiness, and sustainability. Further analysis of a structural equation model found that the difference between the Tradition versus Technology brand image mainly lies in the perceived sincerity of the producer. The image of a traditional producer contributes to better consumer trust, and it further leads to a higher perceived value of healthiness and sustainability.The results of the study shed light on the strategies to accelerate technological advances and the social acceptance of innovative nutritious food. The research is one of the early attempts in the aquaculture industry to collect consumer feedback on tech/product development. The process can support future tech/product research projects by enhancing the societal embeddedness of marine aquaculture innovation.

Psychosocial linkages of consumers' income security, financial well-being and social loneliness

PurposeExtant research suggests that consumers value the pursuit, attainment and retention of income security and financial well-being (FWB). The authors aim to expand the relevant literature by examining how consumers' psychosocial characteristics affect and are affected by the pursuit of those objectives.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilize partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the authors' hypotheses based on a sample of USA and Canadian consumers (n = 619).FindingsThe authors' PLS-SEM results provide support for the authors' hypotheses, indicating that individuals' insecure attachments – anxious and avoidant – relate negatively to their income security and FWB. The authors' results also show that these two desirable states relate positively to individuals' undesirable state of social loneliness.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' methodology and findings illuminate the positioning of psychosocial factors as antecedents to and outcomes of income security and FWB. This research also provides a basis for understanding the linear vs curvilinear influences of income security on an individual’s social life.Originality/valueIn the present empirical study, the authors present a rare empirical examination of individuals' income security and FWB as outcomes of their psychosocial profile vis-à-vis insecure attachments. Drawing on established psychometric scales, this study expands the consumer psychology and FWB literature, showing significant linkages between insecure attachments, income security, FWB and social loneliness.

How does self-congruity foster customer engagement with global brands? Examining the roles of psychological ownership and global connectedness

PurposeDrawing on the self-congruity theory and customer engagement literature, this research accounts for the influence of the three dimensions of customer self-congruity on customer engagement with global brands by uncovering the mediating mechanism of brand psychological ownership and moderating mechanism of global connectedness. The research framework is tested across developed and developing country contexts to highlight any cultural differences in the drivers of customer engagement with global brands.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from developed (USA; n = 270) and developing (India; n = 273) countries through two online surveys and tested, employing structural equation modeling, across the two markets to investigate cross-cultural variations.FindingsSocial self-congruity has the strongest influence on customer engagement for USA consumers, while all three forms of self-congruity are equally important in India. Psychological ownership consistently works as the mediating mechanism across both contexts. While global connectedness accentuates the relationship between self-congruity and brand psychological ownership for Indian consumers, it attenuates the relationship amongst USA consumers.Originality/valueWhile prior literature mainly establishes a direct link between self-congruity and customer engagement, this study provides a deeper understanding of the self-congruity–customer engagement relationship by: a) investigating the mediating role of psychological ownership; b) examining the moderating role of global connectedness and c) studying all three forms of self-congruity (i.e. actual, ideal and social) simultaneously. The study, testing the framework in developing and developed country settings, highlights cultural nuances in forming customer engagement with global brands.

Consumer hate and boycott communications of socially irresponsible fashion brands: Applying complexity theory in psychology and marketing research

AbstractApplying complexity theory tenets, this cross‐cultural study proposes and empirically examines generalizable, asymmetric, case outcome models of consumers who respond extremely negatively to luxury and mass fashion brands that they judge to be acting socially irresponsibly—and separately, consumers who do not engage in such responses—among separate national samples of consumers in France, the UK, and USA. This study includes constructing a theory of discrete simple and complex antecedent algorithms (i.e., screens) of who perceives specific brands acting socially irresponsible, who exudes brand hate (BH), and which brand haters call versus do not call for brand boycotts. The study's findings support the following conclusions. Most consumers expressing BH advocate call for boycotting the brand (supported cross‐culturally in the study here). Among consumers who also view the brand to be very unlike themselves, most consumers recognizing a brand to be acting socially irresponsibly hate the brand. Separate tests of propositions for the models' predictive validities across three national samples of consumers support the models' generalizability. The study adds to workable approaches in psychology and marketing for complementing (or replacing) theories framed in terms of symmetric, variable, directional relationships and examined using null hypotheses significance tests.

Agency appraisal of emotions and brand trust

PurposeThis study aims to examine how the appraisal of both incidental and direct positive other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) enhances brand trust and, subsequently, brand attitudes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents three experiments that examine the effect of other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) on brand trust and brand attitudes by both Australian and USA consumers. Studies 1 and 2 compared the effect of self- and other-agency emotions evoked through an irrelevant reflective task. Study 3 used real-world marketing communication to evoke self- or other-pride.FindingsGratitude (Study 1) and other-pride (Study 2) evoked through an irrelevant, reflective task enhanced brand trust and attitudes for both familiar and unfamiliar brands. The authors replicated these effects using marketing communications that evoked other-pride (Study 3) and showed how these findings can be applied in a marketing context.Research limitations/implicationsThere are contradictory findings in the literature on how positive emotions influence brand trust and attitudes. The findings show that other-agency appraisal is a crucial appraisal within a marketing context and reveals why not all positively valenced emotions increase brand trust and brand attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of examining the effects of emotions on brand trust and attitudes beyond the consideration of their valence.Practical implicationsThe research provides significant implications for marketers to improve brand trust and brand attitudes through the elicitation of other-agency emotions. The findings also demonstrate that different components of emotions, such as appraisal structure, may influence consumer trust and attitudes towards marketing and branding communications.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate how other-agency appraisals of emotions can influence consumer brand trust and attitudes in a marketing context.

Identification of the Factors Influencing the Cosmetic Products Market (Ukraine Case)

Abstract The global cosmetics market is dynamic and significant in size. Cosmetic products’ market is constantly expanding its influence to different target audiences and covers all classes of consumers. Marketing strategy of cosmetics corporations exists on different levels: main (global) and adapted (for the region or definite country). Generally, it connects with different influencing factors. Based on this, the main aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the key factors globally and evaluate the same for the Ukrainian market. To collect data about global tendencies authors accumulated existing statistical data, annual reports and scientific papers on this topic. For receiving results and collecting data about Ukrainian consumers, close-ended questionnaires were used as a method of collecting preliminary information. Results were classified, most important key success factors were highlighted and then machine learning techniques were used to provide an analysis of correlation. Our results demonstrated that despite the general difference of financial well-being of consumers in USA, Canada and European countries, Ukraine does not differ in consumer preferences by price, as a main factor. For sure it should be noticed, that price is the most influential in third world countries, but Ukrainian market has its own more influential specific factors.

Bayesian time-varying quantile regression on exceedance

ABSTRACT Exceedance analysis aims to model extreme data that are in the tail of the distribution, with these values being greater than a threshold. In this type of modelling, the tail can usually have different types of shapes. For exceedance, the extreme value theory shows that generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) is the limit distribution of sufficiently large thresholds. The studies on extreme analysis primarily focus on estimating the probability of the occurrence of extreme events, which are the values that are in the highest quantiles of the distribution. Based on this, this work proposed a quantile regression model for the GPD distribution, where the high quantiles of the distribution are written as a function of covariates. The proposed model also allows the regression parameters to vary over time. The parameter estimation of these new models is conducted under the Bayesian paradigm. Simulations are conducted to analyze the performance of our proposed models. Results of temperature applications in the USA and Brazil (environmental data) and consumer price index in Brazil (financial data) have efficiently explained how covariates influence the quantile behaviour over time.

Food neophobia modulates importance of food choice motives: Replication, extension, and behavioural validation

It was recently shown that food neophobia (FN) shows consistent patterns of relationships with the factors from the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ). The data reported in Jaeger, Roigard et al. (2021) [Appetite, 105056], based on consumer surveys in USA, Australia, and New Zealand, indicate that each of 11 FCQ factors are negatively associated with FN except for Convenience and Familiarity, which were both positively associated with FN. The present study, based on online surveys with 5752 adults aimed to replicate, using another USA sample, and extend, using samples from the UK and Germany, the earlier findings. In addition, behavioural validation of the observed FN-FCQ linkages was undertaken by directly relating FN to stated frequency of selected food and beverage (F&B) purchases and consumption. The US and UK results largely replicated the findings of Jaeger, Roigard et al. (2021), and for the two exceptions found – Convenience and Weight Control – the directional relationships matched those expected. The German results also partially supported replication, in that the relationships between FN and FCQ factors were in the expected directions, but mostly they were non-significant. Examination of self-reports of F&B purchase and consumption frequencies tended to validate the observed FN-FCQ linkages with the exceptions of Convenience and Sensory Appeal (USA and UK consumers), although these linkages were less evident in the German consumers. We suggest that the concept of high arousal underlying the food choices of those high in FN may help explain why some F&B characteristics and not others reflect FN-FCQ linkages. These findings, along with those presented in Jaeger, Roigard et al. (2021) have increased knowledge about how FN and FCQ factors influence consumer choices. It is increasingly clear that FN not only influences which specific foods are consumed but also shapes the reasons for food choice itself. Understanding this link therefore allows us to predict at a more global level those reasons that influence consumers with different degrees of FN in choosing foods.

A Cross-Cultural Evaluation of Liking and Perception of Salted Butter Produced from Different Feed Systems.

Perception and liking among Irish, German and USA consumers of salted butter produced from different feed systems—outdoor grass (FS-GRSS), grass/clover (FS-CLVR), and indoor concentrate (FS-TMR)—was investigated. A consumer study was conducted in all three countries. Irish and German assessors participated in ranking descriptive analysis (RDA), whereas descriptive analysis (DA) was carried out by a trained panel in the USA. Volatile analysis was conducted to identify differences in aroma compounds related to cow diet. Overall, there was no significant difference in overall liking of the butters, among USA, German and Irish consumers, although cross-cultural preferences were evident. Sensory attribute differences based on cow diet were evident across the three countries, as identified by German and Irish assessors and trained USA panelists, which are likely influenced by familiarity. The abundance of specific volatile aromatic compounds, especially some aldehydes and ketones, were significantly impacted by the feed system and may also contribute to some of the perceived sensory attribute differences in these butters.

A Comparative Study of Trust in Mobile Banking

With the rapid growth of mobile phone usage, mobile services have influenced many industries including banking. Mobile banking has become a popular service as it offers a convenient channel for customers to perform banking transactions. Nevertheless, not all customers feel safe performing financial transactions online. Trust has become a crucial element on whether customers choose to use mobile banking. As a comparative study, this research examines factors and bank customers' characteristics that influence trust in mobile banking between U.S. and Thai mobile banking customers. Three hundred and eight USA consumers and two hundred and fifty-two Thai consumers participated in this study. The results found multiple significant factors influencing trust and usage of mobile banking. This study expands on previous trust and mobile banking usage research and provides practical implications for cross-cultural strategies in mobile banking.

A cross-cultural sensory analysis of skim powdered milk produced from pasture and non-pasture diets

Understanding potential cross-cultural sensory differences in the perception of Irish dairy products is important for key markets such as the USA and China. As most Irish dairy products are produced from pasture derived milk, this study investigated the impact of pasture and non-pasture diets on the cross cultural sensory perception of skim milk powder (SMP) in Ireland, USA and China. SMP was produced from cows fed outdoors on ryegrass (GRS), ryegrass/white clover (CLV), and indoors on trial mixed rations (TMR). SMP samples were evaluated by Irish (n = 78), USA (n = 100) and Chinese (n = 106) consumers using an identical hedonic sensory acceptance test in Ireland, USA and China. Optimized Descriptive Profiling (ODP) was performed using trained assessors familiar with dairy products in Ireland (n = 25) and China (n = 22), and traditional descriptive analysis was undertaken by a trained panel (n = 7) in the USA. Volatile analysis was undertaken on each SMP sample. Hedonic assessment found that USA consumers preferred SMP derived from TMR, and Irish consumers preferred SMP from either GRS or CLV. Chinese consumers perceived SMP samples differently to the USA and Irish consumers, but preference was not influenced by diet. Both Irish and Chinese trained assessors found it more difficult to discern differences between GRS or CLV SMP, but could differentiate TMR SMP. Irish assessors preferred GRS and CLV SMP. Chinese and Irish assessors had different preferences for many attributes. Trained USA panelists found significant differences, exclusively associating pasture based diets with “cowy/barny” and “cardboard/wet paper” attributes and more intense “grassy/hay” attributes than in TMR SMP. The abundance of ten volatile compounds differed significantly based on diet with acetoin derived from carbohydrate metabolism at much greater abundance in TMR SMP. This study found that sensory perception and volatile profiles of SMP were influenced by diet and differences in sensory perception existed between the three cultural groups. Irish and USA sensory responses aligned with familiarity of dairy products derived from pasture and non-pasture diets, respectively, and Chinese sensory responses differed to Irish and USA responses likely reflecting their lack of familiarity with dairy products.

THE DECOMPOSITION OF CHANGES OF THE EXCESS RETURN OF THE PFTS INDEX: THE DEFINITION CHANNELS OF INFLUENCE OF ECONOMIC INFORMATION SIGNALS

Purpose. The work is devoted to determining the characteristic features of the impact of USA economic information signals through transmission channels to the components of the decomposition of excess returns of the Ukrainian stock market (using the example of the PFTS index). Methodology. To identify the parameters of changes in the excess yield of the Ukrainian stock market in reactions to economic information signals, vector autoregression modeling was applied. The selection of the VAR (3) model was justified according to the AIC and SIC information criteria. Results. It was found that only the variable excess return (with a lag of 3) allows us to predict a certain proportion of future changes in the yield of the PFTS index. However, the R² coefficient shows that the variables involved can explain only about 7% of the change in the excess returns of the PFTS index, which confirms the rather low predictability of the Ukrainian stock market. Based on the decomposition of excess returns on the PFTS index from 2000 to 2017 (trading day format) it was revealed that the Ukrainian stock market is sensitive to information signals for future excess returns, since more than 89% of its total change can be explained by the influence directly through the risk premium channel. The influence of the USA consumer confidence index on the excess yield of the Ukrainian PFTS index via the risk premium channel has also been established, which confirms the assumption that the «surprise effect» of USA macroeconomic signals may be a risk factor for the Ukrainian stock market. Scientific novelty. A methodical approach was developed to determine the response parameters of the components of the excess return of the PFTS index on the «surprise effect» informational content of USA macroeconomic signals. Practical significance. Using this methodical approach will improve the accuracy of financial forecasting of the reaction parameters of the price quotations of the domestic stock market to the publication of USA macroeconomic information signals, which will enable investors (private and institutional) to increase the profitability of their own investment strategies.

Utilitarian or Hedonic? A Cross Cultural Study in Online Shopping

With the irreversible effect of globalization, a growing number of websites today sell their products to more than one country. The effects of cross cultural differences on buying behaviors are widely acknowledged. Therefore, a consideration about attracting and retaining online consumers from different countries and cultures is gaining importance. This paper examines the roles of hedonic and utilitarian values in online shopping by comparing cross culturally the Turkish and US consumers. A total of 264 students from Turkey and USA participated in the survey. The findings showed that the online shopping behaviors of Turkish and USA consumers differ according to their hedonic and utilitarian values. While Turkish consumers use online retailers to socialize with others, the USA people use online shopping for relaxation purposes.

Wine-related aromas for different seasons and occasions: Hedonic and emotional responses of wine consumers from Australia, UK and USA

It is still not fully clear how particular aromas in wine may affect consumers’ liking and emotional responses, and whether these change in different contexts and seasons. Therefore, a study was conducted with 3000 regular wine consumers from Australia, UK and USA using an online survey that assessed liking for 59 wine aromas, and from which 9 aromas, selected as representatives of groups of similar aromas, were profiled for elicited emotions by the ScentMove™ scale.The most liked wine aromas across all countries were ‘berry-like’, followed by ‘vanilla’, ‘chocolate’, ‘citrus-like’ and ‘honey’. Interestingly, aromas with the same liking rating displayed significantly different emotional profiles which seemed to drive differences in preferred consumption occasion and season. For example, highly liked ‘passionfruit’ aroma, associated with happy, relaxed and romantic emotions, was suitable for many occasions and seasons, ‘lemon’ evoked energetic emotions and was preferred in wines consumed at parties/BBQs in summer, while ‘chocolate’ would fit well in a restaurant. Hedonic and emotional responses towards selected wine aromas differed between various demographic groups. Gender, age and consumption frequency had greater effects than education or income, with similar patterns found in each country indicating similarity in wine cultures and the language used. The national influence was more reflected in the polarised rating by the USA consumers compared to UK and Australia. This information could be utilised to produce wines for specific occasions and seasons.

Study of medical student's perspectives about prescribing generic medicine at tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Health-care expenses are booming nowadays. India is one of the biggest generic medicine manufacturers in all over the world still generic medicines are less prescribed in India. In the USA, 86% prescriptions contain generic medicines which saved 1.5 trillion dollars of USA consumers in the past decade. Less knowledge of generic medicine is correlated to less prescribing. Previously, studies were carried out on pharmacist and general practitioner to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of generic medicine among them. Such study was not done on MBBS students who will be future doctors. Aims and Objectives: This study was planned with the aim of assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students toward generic medicines. Materials and Methods: This was a questioner-based cross-sectional survey kind of study. This preformed and pre-evaluated questioner was given to third semester of second year MBBS students. Questioner contains 10 items for knowledge, 10 items for attitude, and 2 items for practice. These are multiple choice kind of questions. Data were analyzed by MS Excel. Results: In this study, 110 students participated. Only 14.55% of students said that generic drugs only be marketed after expiry of patent of innovator drug. Only 27.27% of students said that generic drug manufacturer need not to repeat the preclinical studies and clinical trials as required by innovator medicines. Most of the students (65.45%) know that innovator drugs are more costly than their generic substitute. Only 23.64% of students were aware about the Government of India scheme called Jan Aushadhi whose sole purpose to set up generic drug stores in the country. Just 30.91% of participants know that patients or pharmacists are not legally empowered to sell or purchase generic medicines over innovator medicine. There were a good number of participants (54.55%) not agree with Generic drugs cost less because they are inferior to innovator (patented) drug. About 88.18% of students gave the opinion that there should be a training program to increase the awareness regarding generic drugs among doctors and patients. Nearly 81.82% of students gave the opinion that there should be a generic medicine store at every government hospital. 80% of participants had not read any article regarding the comparison of safety and efficacy of generic versus innovator (patented) drugs. Conclusion: This study showed that medical students having good knowledge, attitude about safety, efficacy, and cost of generic medicines. Students know less about government scheme such as Jan Aushadhi. They also support that patients and pharmacist are legally empowered to sell or purchase generic medicine in place of costly innovator medicines. Students also agree with there should be some change in policy by medical insurance company to improve generic drugs prescribing.

Can emoji be used as a direct method to measure emotional associations to food names? Preliminary investigations with consumers in USA and China

Measurement of consumers’ emotional associations to food/beverage stimuli is one way to obtain product insights that extend beyond hedonic responses. Survey methods are a popular way to obtain direct responses from consumers, but concerns over their ecological validity exist. In this research, a preliminary investigation and assessment of emoji-based questionnaires as a potential method for measuring food-related emotional associations was conducted. Six studies involving 1087 consumers in USA and China were conducted using names of foods and beverages as the stimuli. On average consumers selected 1–2 emoji per stimulus. The elicited data was able to discriminate between stimuli that span the hedonic continuum and generate detailed emotional product profiles. Less discrimination was obtained between hedonically similar stimuli, but meaningful emotional profiles were elicited nonetheless. Repeatability of emoji responses was high and data with good face validity was obtained from American and Chinese consumers. Emoji responses from groups of consumers who liked/disliked a focal stimulus were different (in the expected directions) and frequency of consumption also influenced emoji responses. The preliminary investigations reported here suggest that emoji may have potential as a method for direct measurement of emotional associations to foods and beverages. Additional research is required to further develop this emoji-based approach, including assessment of its pros and cons of and performance relative to existing tools.

A multi-group analysis of online survey respondent data quality: Comparing a regular USA consumer panel to MTurk samples

With the exploding use of Internet surveys, research efforts and data quality are increasingly subject to the effects of respondents who do not give the required attention to survey questions and who speed through the survey, or who intentionally cheat with their answers. We investigate respondent integrity and data quality for samples drawn from a “Regular” online panel and from Amazon's MTurk. New metrics for assessing sample integrity and online data quality are introduced. Overall, MTurk respondents in both respondent groups took less time to answer questions. The non-USA MTurk group deviated most from correct answers in attention filter questions and had more duplicate IP addresses. In addition, the results from the three Internet sample sources are substantively different. The choice of an Internet survey sample vendor is critical, as it can impact sample composition, respondent integrity, data quality, data structure and substantive results.

An in vitro model of placental inflammation

Extant consumer behavior research has alluded to learning in coping with stressful experiences; however, little research exists regarding situated learning or in situ learning that is dynamic and changing in nature. This exploratory study addresses the important but under-studied area: consumers' situated learning with stressful service experiences. It provides in-depth understanding of key factors influencing situated learning and its relevance to effective coping. Specifically, we examine the influencing factors of situated learning and how it relates to effective coping. Besides, we explore the differences in situated learning across two cultural contexts by understanding consumers in USA and China. Through Semi-structured and in-depth interview with 20 U.S. consumers and 16 Chinese consumers, we found that situated learning is an important mechanism that enhances coping. Need for closure, psychological closeness to the problem, and consumer expertise helped enhance consumers' learning and coping. Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Chinese consumers initiated the process of learning long before experiencing the actual service, possessed greater zone of tolerance towards stressful service episodes with attempts to even “save the face” of providers, and trusted their own ability to cope rather than depend on the service provider. Interestingly, U.S. participants discussed the importance of optimism as a way to learn and cope.

How to engage Millennials: Re-imagining the consumer as a partner, not a target audience, to increase engagement

The Millennial generation — those born between 1978 and 1996 — make up 80 million of the USA's consumers. Business owners and marketers hoping to engage and connect with these tech-savvy and well-informed young Americans must learn what they want and how to deliver it.

A cross-cultural exploration of situated learning and coping

Extant consumer behavior research has alluded to learning in coping with stressful experiences; however, little research exists regarding situated learning or in situ learning that is dynamic and changing in nature. This exploratory study addresses the important but under-studied area: consumers' situated learning with stressful service experiences. It provides in-depth understanding of key factors influencing situated learning and its relevance to effective coping. Specifically, we examine the influencing factors of situated learning and how it relates to effective coping. Besides, we explore the differences in situated learning across two cultural contexts by understanding consumers in USA and China. Through Semi-structured and in-depth interview with 20 U.S. consumers and 16 Chinese consumers, we found that situated learning is an important mechanism that enhances coping. Need for closure, psychological closeness to the problem, and consumer expertise helped enhance consumers' learning and coping. Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Chinese consumers initiated the process of learning long before experiencing the actual service, possessed greater zone of tolerance towards stressful service episodes with attempts to even “save the face” of providers, and trusted their own ability to cope rather than depend on the service provider. Interestingly, U.S. participants discussed the importance of optimism as a way to learn and cope.