Consumer Product Categories Research Articles

The relative nature of the standards for proof of safety: a review of FDA's safety standards for various consumer products.

Are all food ingredients, dietary supplement ingredients and even foods, required to meet the same safety standards? Are they all equally safe? If so, then why do the various categories have different expressions describing their safety, such as "reasonable certainty of no harm" for food ingredients and "reasonable expectation of no harm" for dietary supplement ingredients? The basis for these different expressions is that they are not standards of safety, but standards of proof of safety. Just as in criminal vs. civil courts, the threshold for proving guilt or fault is different, so too are there differences between various categories of consumer products regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. This manuscript describes the threshold requirements for each standard, as well as to the identity of the decision makers on what is safe, their credentials as decision makers and the databases mandated for their use.

The Total Mass of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in California Cosmetics.

Cosmetics make up one of the consumer product categories most widely known to contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including precursors to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and other perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). Because of the way cosmetics are used, most of the PFASs present in these products are likely to reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which suggests that cosmetics may contribute significantly to the load of PFOA and other PFASs at WWTPs. However, the majority of PFASs present as intentional ingredients in cosmetics cannot be quantified with the available analytical methods. To address this issue, we developed a methodology to estimate the total PFAS mass in cosmetics as well as the corresponding mass of total organic fluorine and of fluorinated side chains associated with PFAA precursors, using various ingredient databases and ingredient concentrations reported by manufacturers. Our results indicate that the cosmetics sold in California during a one-year period cumulatively contain 650-56 000 kg of total PFASs, 370-37 000 kg of organic fluorine, and 330-20 000 kg of fluorinated side chains associated with PFAA precursors. Among the 16 product subcategories considered, >90% of the PFAS mass came from shaving creams and gels, hair care products, facial cleansers, sun care products, and lotions and moisturizers, while the sum of all nine makeup subcategories accounted for <3%. Comparing our estimates to available WWTP influent data from the San Francisco Bay Area suggests that cosmetics may account for at least 4% of the precursor-derived PFAAs measured in wastewater. As the first study ever to estimate the total mass of PFASs contained in cosmetics sold in California, our results shed light on the significance of certain cosmetics as a source of PFASs to WWTPs and can inform effective source reduction efforts.

Improving Marketing Strategies Using a Clustering and AR-MBA Methods at Indomaret Kaliurang

Marketing is the main activity carried out by entrepreneurs to maintain the viability of their business, develop the company, and get maximum profit. Companies need to know the right and appropriate marketing strategy so that the products to be sold on the market. Marketing strategy is one of the strategies applied to the retail industry in Indonesia, one of which is Indomaret. The purpose of this research is to increase market competitiveness so that it can survive and develop, and Indomaret in Kaliurang hopes to make a strategy to increase sales by conducting an analysis of consumer segments and product categories so that they can create sales strategies that can increase sales. The method used is clustering to find potential target markets that have similar characteristics and association rules &amp;; Market basket analysis (AR-MBA) is used to find best practices for product marketing. The results of the Cluster Method with Non-Hierarchical Algorithm K-Means are 3 clusters. Based on the analysis conducted, it was found that the results of the AR-MBA method, there could be 6 rules for goods purchased simultaneously. Marketing strategies that can be applied by Indomaret Kaliurang such as promotions can be created by making products that are rarely purchased as bonuses for buying products that are often purchased. In addition, vouchers can be created as a promotional tool to encourage greater consumer purchases. Keywords: AR-MBA, clustering, sales strategy, strategy marketing

A Hazard-Based Framework for Identifying Safer Alternatives to Classes of Chemicals: A Case Study on Phthalates in Consumer Products.

Humans are exposed to hazardous chemicals found in consumer products. In 2019, the Pollution Prevention for Healthy People and Puget Sound Act was passed in Washington State. This law is meant to reduce hazardous chemicals in consumer products and protect human health and the environment. The law directs the Washington State Department of Ecology to assess chemicals and chemical classes found in products, determine whether there are safer alternatives, and make regulatory determinations. To implement the law, the Department of Ecology developed a hazard-based framework for identifying safer alternatives to classes of chemicals. We developed a hazard-based framework, termed the "Criteria for Safer," to set a transparent bar for determining whether new chemical alternatives are safer than existing classes of chemicals. Our "Criteria for Safer" is a framework that builds on existing hazard assessment methodologies and published approaches for assessing chemicals and chemical classes. We describe implementation of our criteria using a case study on the phthalates chemical class in two categories of consumer products: vinyl flooring and fragrances used in personal care and beauty products. Additional context and considerations that guided our decision-making process are also discussed, as well as benefits and limitations of our approach. This paper gives insight into our development and implementation of a hazard-based framework to address classes of chemicals in consumer products and will aid others working to build and employ similar approaches. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13549.

Where is the panic in “panic buying”? Consumer purchases at the outset of the COVID pandemic

The declaration of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 was immediately followed by news media accounts of “panic buying.” However, this term is problematic because it implicitly assumes that people engage in indiscriminate consumer product purchases that are motivated solely by extreme fear. Contrary to the implicit assumptions of “panic buying,” this study's examination of consumer product purchases by 435 households found that respondents drew clear distinctions among four activities (observed shortages, own consumption changes, own stockpiling, and others’ stockpiling) related to six consumer product categories (fresh produce, fresh meat, nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, sanitary supplies, and nonprescription medications). The results show that own stockpiling has moderately positive correlations with own consumption changes and is as strongly related to optimism and anger as to fear. Own stockpiling also has positive correlations with perceptions of others’ stockpiling, reliance on informal information sources, and observed shortages. Unexpectedly, own stockpiling has positive correlations with positive disaster stereotypes rather than negative disaster stereotypes, and is unrelated to expected pandemic duration, authoritative information sources, demographic characteristics, and routine stockpiling. The results suggest that the term “panic buying” should be replaced by “crisis stockpiling,” which avoids unnecessary erroneous inferences about the motivation for that behavior.

Competing through brand style: A systematic approach to explain style strategies in product design

Brands selling consumer products are known to strategically use a distinct and consistent style or design language across their portfolios, in order to communicate their brand identities and differentiate themselves from competitors. However, these styles vary from brand to brand, and across consumer product categories as well. How can a brand’s style strategy be defined, what factors affect the choice of a particular strategy, and how can designers decode these strategies? This paper unravels answers to these questions, and proposes a framework. The framework juxtaposes category-level and brand-level factors with brand style parameters, paving the way for understanding and explaining brand style strategies. It is assessed using pilot case studies. An important insight is that the array of influencing factors often have contradictory effects, opening up interesting opportunities for future research.

The seven faces of consumer sustainability, and what they mean for brands

Sustainability is still a driving force behind the marketing approach taken by many brands. There are, however, risks associated with perceptions of ‘greenwashing’ and a potential failure to understand the attitudes and behaviours behind consumer behaviour in this area — in particular, the ‘say-do’ gap. This pertains to what people think about sustainability and how it actually affects their buying patterns. This paper analyses the findings from an extensive study of more than 12,000 adults in the USA, Canada and UK to identify seven consumer segments characterised by personas that identify their thinking and buying behaviours across a number of important consumer product and service categories. It thereby offers marketers new insight into how the nuances of these personas can inform future campaigns developed around sustainability.

Identifying Toxic Consumer Products: A Novel Data Set Reveals Air Emissions of Potent Carcinogens, Reproductive Toxicants, and Developmental Toxicants.

Consumer products are important sources of exposure to harmful chemicals. Product composition is often a mystery to users, however, due to gaps in the laws governing ingredient disclosure. A unique data set that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) uses to determine how volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from consumer products affect smog formation holds a partial solution. By analyzing CARB data on VOCs in consumer products, we identified and quantified emissions of volatile chemicals regulated under the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act ("Prop 65"). We here highlight individual chemicals as well as consumer product categories that people are likely to be exposed to as individual consumers, in the workplace, and at the population level. Of the 33 Prop 65-listed chemicals that appear in the CARB emissions inventory, we classified 18 as "top tier priorities for elimination". Among these, methylene chloride and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone were most prevalent in products across all three population groups. Of 172 consumer product categories, 105 contained Prop 65-listed chemicals. Although these chemicals are known carcinogens and reproductive/developmental toxicants, they remain in widespread use. Manufacturers and regulators should prioritize product categories containing Prop 65-listed chemicals for reformulation or redesign to reduce human exposures and associated health risks.

Persulfate‐containing consumer products in the US market

Persulfate compounds are reactive oxidative agents increasingly recognized as contact allergens. The aim of this study was to identify common consumer products containing persulfate compounds in the US market. Five publicly accessible online ingredient repositories and searches of two large online retailers were used to identify persulfate-containing consumer products. We identified persulfates in 23 hair colouring products, 11 denture cleansers, 8 pool/hot-tub products, 3 paints, and 3 cleaning products. Clinicians assessing contact dermatitis should be aware of three primary categories of consumer products that contain persulfates: denture cleansers, hair colouring products, and nonchlorine hot-tub and pool shock.

Satisfying consumers all around: a multidisciplinary view of omnichannel retail

PurposeOmnichannel retail are catching increasing attention from multiple research area, due to its widespread and essential application in retailing industry. The principal object of this paper is to systematically review current studies on omnichannel retail in information systems, operations and marketing research area. Further, the second purpose of this study is to provide insights and guides on omnichannel research to facilitate advance research in the area.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review on omnichannel retail in retailing industry has been conducted. 33 research articles from 2014 to 2020 from Financial Times 50 journals (FT 50 journals) were identified to be reviewed. The articles were reviewed on the basis of study area namely: information systems, operations and marketing. These research areas were further divided into subcategories to provide in-depth and crystal clear review of literature.FindingsThe review outcome showed that omnichannel topics are active in management studies. There are three main research areas: information systems, operations management and marketing. This study found that IT enhances channel capabilities and expands demand in omnichannel retail; operations can be better optimized based on understanding of cross-channel interactions, product category and retailer types; consumer heterogeneity, product category, channel capabilities and retailer type are all found to contribute to complexities of omnichannel marketing.Originality/valueThis study provides a pioneering review to gauge the updated literature concerned with omnichannel research in terms of IT, operations and marketing perspective. Further, a systematic literature review provides insights and guides for future significant studies on potential research subjects.

Trends and clinical features of intentional and accidental adult foreign body ingestions in the United States, 2000 to 2017

Foreign body ingestions (FoBIs) are a common cause for medical attention. However, trends and patterns of adult FoBIs as well as associations with clinical comorbidities and behavioral attributes have not been elucidated beyond single institutional experiences. We utilized survey data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to examine fundamental characteristics of adult FoBIs involving consumer products between 2000 and 2017 across the United States. Data regarding the circumstances of FoBIs were abstracted from narrative data. Relationships among time, intent, demographics, and behavioral attributes were assessed using regression analyses, accounting for survey structure. Adult FoBIs have increased in incidence over the past 2 decades from 3 to 5.3 per 100,000 persons. Examination of consumer products revealed that jewelry (15.4%), nails (7.2%), and toothpicks (6.9%) were the most commonly ingested products. The most common products ingested varied over time, and the number of unique consumer product categories ingested increased from 103 to 143 in the time period studied. Intentional ingestions accounted for 14% of adult FoBIs and frequently involved plastic bagging (13.6%), batteries (13%), nails (10.1%), and desk supplies (6.8%). Adjusted regression analyses demonstrated that compared with accidental FoBIs, intentional FoBIs have increased over time. Intentional FoBIs were more frequently associated with younger age, substance abuse, police custody, and mental and cognitive illnesses relative to accidental FoBIs. Our results indicate that adult FoBIs are an increasing burden of disease in the United States with social, psychiatric, and behavioral contributors to this trend.

The Impact of Cause-Related Marketing on Millennials’ Product Attitudes and Purchase Intentions

This study, using scenarios, examined the impact of two kinds of cause-related marketing (CRM) efforts (a traditional donation of a portion of sales to a related cause and a more strategic one-for-one donation of donating a product to a related cause when that product was purchased) on millennials’ (those born between 1982 and 2000) attitudes and purchase intentions for four different consumer product categories. The four different consumer product categories selected included a specialty good (laptop), a shopping good (hat), a convenience good (bottled water), and a service (food restaurant). Given the importance of social media to millennials, this research also examined the role of social media on CRM awareness. While millennials had relatively low awareness of CRM campaigns, there was a positive correlation between social media use and CRM awareness. Additionally, CRM efforts may not work for all products as there was no impact on attitude or purchase intention for the product category of laptops. Additionally, the positive attitudes created by marketers’ CRM efforts will not always translate to increased purchase intentions. The use of a strategic one-for-one CRM effort though had a greater impact, specifically for products that deal with needed fundamentals, such as food and water.

The Impact of Demographic Variables and Consumer Shopping Orientations on the Purchasing Preference for Different Product Categories in the Context of Online Grocery Shopping

This study examines the impact of demographic variables and consumer shopping orientations on the purchasing preference for different product categories in the context of online grocery shopping within the UK. The data for this study was primarily collected from a web-based survey of consumers in the UK using a questionnaire. The quantitative data was enhanced by qualitative data in form of semi-structured interviews to enhance the quantitative results. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyse the quantitative data and to measure the relationships between the respective constructs. The findings show that the purchasing preferences vary by product category. Keywords: Demographic Variables, Consumer Shopping Orientations, Product Categories, UK, and Structure Equation Modelling. DOI : 10.7176/JMCR/52-05

A supply chain member should set its margin later if another member's cost is highly uncertain

Recently, there have been several cases in which a large-scale retailer has demanded a margin for a consumer product from a supplier before the supplier has determined the margin or the wholesale price, reflecting a power shift from upstream suppliers to downstream retailers in supply chains. Given the recent change of power structures in supply chains, we investigate a practical decision-making problem of when a supply chain member should set its margin in the presence of uncertainty based on a stochastic game-theoretic supply chain model. We assume a typical two-echelon supply chain that consists of a manufacturer and a retailer, each of which determines the margin of a product based on private information of its marginal cost. Hence, the cost structure of a firm is uncertain and is known only to the firm. We construct an incomplete information game model with this setting, drawing the following clear-cut managerial implication: a supply chain member should set its margin later if the other member's cost is highly uncertain. By delaying decision-making, the late-moving member can make a more precise inference on the cost of the early-moving member by observing the margin demanded by the early-mover, thereby choosing a more desirable margin. Despite the current power shift from manufacturers to large-scale retailers in various consumer product categories, our result warns a retailer that if it assumes leadership to demand a margin from a manufacturer in an uncertain environment simply because it has power, it may cut its own throat.

Impact of Celebrity Brand Endorsement on Consumer Buying with Reference to Decorative Paint

Post-globalization, Indian market has got flooded with plethora of brands across most of the consumer product categories. With so many products in the market with seemingly very little difference among them, the consumer not only gets confused but the marketing organizations also find it difficult to differentiate and attract customer eye balls. High decibel advertisement campaigns and aggressive promotions have partially bailed out the organizations. Decorative paint industry in India is a very competitive industry dominated by big players. Of late, more and more paint marketing organizations are piggy riding on celebrities to get their brands endorsed. Today, celebrities mostly from the domain of sports, and cinema, have a dominating presence across many product categories. But not much is known as to what extent customers get influenced by the celebrities and what do they perceive about them. This paper makes an attempt to understand the customers' perception about the celebrities and to what extent they impact the customers buying behaviour. Necessary statistical analysis has been done to understand the relevance of various factors and association thereof. The outcome of this research throws interesting insights on consumers' understanding of celebrities and the significance of celebrity endorsement in buying decision of consumers.

Estimating Search Benefits from Path-Tracking Data: Measurement and Determinants

We study consumer search behavior in a brick-and-mortar store environment, using a unique data set obtained from radio-frequency identification tags, which are attached to supermarket shopping carts. This technology allows us to record consumers’ purchases as well as the time they spent in front of the shelf when contemplating which product to buy, giving us a direct measure of search effort. We estimate a linear regression of price paid on search duration, in which search duration is instrumented with a search-cost shifter. We show that this regression allows us to recover the marginal return from search in terms of price at the optimal stopping point for the average consumer. Our identification strategy and coefficient interpretation are valid for a broad class of search models, and we are hence able to remain agnostic about the details of the search process, such as search order and search protocol. We estimate an average return from search of $2.10 per minute and explore heterogeneity across consumer types, product categories, and category location in the store. We find little difference in the returns from search across product categories, but large differences across consumer types and locations. Our findings suggest that situational factors, such as the location of the category or the timing of the search within the shopping trip, are more important determinants of search behavior than category characteristics such as the number of available products. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2017.1026 .

Corporations and Human Life

This article considers a hypothetical corporate decision that will generate $5 million of profit today but result in the loss of one human life in ten years. This example is not abstract; corporations in a range of businesses engage in decisions and oversight that affect risk to human life: autonomous cars and airbags, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and many categories of consumer products. Historically, social policy has responded to corporations that kill primarily through regulation and tort liability. I ask whether corporate law and governance might also address these issues. If corporations really are “people,” how should we think about them when they kill? The article assesses the literatures on the value of human life and relevant discount rates, and considers proposals to incentivize directors and officers to consider more explicitly the risks their corporations pose to human life.

A model for screening and prioritizing consumer nanoproduct risks: A case study from South Africa

The potential risks of the increasing variety and volume of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) entering into the ecosystem remain poorly quantified. In recent years, information essential to evaluate the ecological risks of ENMs has increased. However, the data are highly fragmented, limited, or severely lacking. This limits the usefulness of the information to support holistic screening and prioritization of potentially harmful ENMs. To screen and prioritize ENMs risks, we adopted a two-phased approach. First, a holistic framework model was developed to integrate a diverse set of factors aimed to assess the potential hazard, exposure, and in turn, risk to the ecosystem of ENMs from a given consumer nanoproduct. Secondly, using published literature we created a database of consumer nanoproduct categories, and types based on embedded ENMs type. The database consisted of eight consumer product categories, eleven different types of ENMs, and twenty-three nanoproduct types. The model results indicates the largest quantities of ENMs were released from sunscreens, textiles, cosmetics and paints with dominant ENMs quantities in descending order (based on quantity) as nTiO2>nZnO>nSiO2>nAg, and nFe2O3. In addition, according to the results from this study, nAg from washing machine were found to likely the highest risk to the environment. Overall, our model-derived results based on the case study illustrated: (i) the holistic framework's ability to screen, prioritize, rank, and compare ENMs potential exposure and risks among different nanoproducts categories and types, (ii) the derived risk estimations could support nanowastes classification with likelihood of non-uniformity of nanowastes classes even from the same nanoproduct category (e.g. cosmetics), and (iii) the lack of a mass-based criteria specific for EMNs impedes realistic exposure and risk evaluation in the ecological systems.

The use of potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution as a suitable approach to isolate plastics ingested by marine organisms

In studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, visual separation of plastic particles from gastrointestinal tracts or their dietary content can be challenging. Earlier studies have used solutions to dissolve organic materials leaving synthetic particles unaffected. However, insufficient tests have been conducted to ensure that different categories of consumer products partly degraded in the environment and/or in gastrointestinal tracts were not affected. In this study 63 synthetic materials and 11 other dietary items and non-plastic marine debris were tested. Irrespective of shape or preceding environmental history, most polymers resisted potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, with the exceptions of cellulose acetate from cigarette filters, some biodegradable plastics and a single polyethylene sheet. Exposure of hard diet components and other marine debris showed variable results. In conclusion, the results confirm that usage of KOH solutions can be a useful approach in general quantitative studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife.

Gender differences in Taiwan’s hypermarkets

Purpose Hypermarkets face a very competitive environment, as their rivals also include traditional markets, convenient stores and supermarkets. In addition to offering innovative services, hypermarket managers must also pay attention to customer shopping patterns and behaviors in order to gain market share. The purpose of this paper is to posit that there will be significant differences between male and female hypermarket customers in terms of both shopping time and categories of goods purchased. Design/methodology/approach To investigate actual shopping behaviors, this study observed customers in hypermarkets and recorded how long they spent shopping and what they purchased. Findings The results of this study implied that gender is a key factor that affects both shopping time and the goods purchased in Taiwanese hypermarkets. The empirical findings also indicated that customers favor certain goods categories. Practical implications The results of this study provide details of the differences between male and female hypermarket customers, with which managers can use to develop better marketing strategies. Originality/value The purpose of this study is to show hypermarket retailers how gender differences affect customer behavior in this context. It also presents a consumer product categories list for hypermarkets, and this can be used as a reference for follow-up studies.