Price-conscious Consumers Research Articles

Food waste under pressure: self-identity, attitudes, overbuying behavior, and consumers’ perceived time pressure

ABSTRACT Examining the elements impacting consumers’ willingness to reduce food waste, this study provides a comprehensive framework covering culturally influenced buying patterns and household food waste behaviors. Data from 362 households embedded in an Arab culture enables to quantify impacts on food waste behavior. Results indicate that time constraints negatively affect consumers’ intention to minimize food waste, while social norms and perceived behavioral control positively correlate with that aim. Additionally, price-conscious consumers demonstrate stronger intentions to minimize waste.

Pengaruh Perceived Price Terhadap Willing To Buy Jasa Transportasi Indriver dengan Perceived Quality Sebagai Mediator

Transportation is a fundamental necessity for individuals across all social strata. An efficient transportation system ensures that people can easily traverse geographical distances, connect various communities, and facilitate interactions. The proliferation of online transportation companies has led to increased competition in the industry. As a result, these companies are increasingly focused on creating attractive promotions to influence users' decisions when choosing which application to use. To stand out in this crowded market, companies often introduce various promotions and discounts to attract potential customers. InDrive, a ride-hailing platform, distinguishes itself in the competitive market by offering unique and innovative features: price negotiation. The benefits of this feature include serving price-conscious consumers and offering flexibility to find a ride with a tariff that matches their budget. This innovative approach can generate cost savings for users while providing additional income opportunities for drivers. The research population consists of Telkom University students from the 2021-2023 cohorts, with 100 respondents selected through online questionnaires distributed via social media. The sampling method used was simple random sampling, and the data was analyzed using SPSS. The research findings indicate that the perception of price and the perception of quality on the InDrive application have a significant relationship, quality perception affects the willingness to buy InDrive transportation, price perception affects the willingness to buy InDrive transportation, and quality perception serves as a mediator between price perception and the willingness to buy..

Towards Frugal Innovation Capability in Emerging Markets within the Digitalization Epoch: Exploring the Role of Strategic Orientation and Organizational Ambidexterity

Digitalization has forced emerging market (EM) firms operating in resource-constrained environments to adopt market-driven strategies, particularly frugal innovation, to provide affordable, optimized processes and high-value solutions. However, understanding the mechanisms behind developing frugal innovation capability (FIC) at the firm level in diverse EMs remains limited. From the perspective of the resource-based view, this study added to the existing body of knowledge by exploring how strategic orientation (entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO)) and organizational ambidexterity (OA) impact the development of FIC in EMs. To empirically validate our theoretical predictions, this study used a cross-sectional survey to collect data from 386 valid respondents from Tanzanian manufacturing firms. The results demonstrate that both EO and MO have a strong and positive relationship with OA and the development of FIC in EMs. In addition, OA partially mediates the relationship of both EO and MO with the development of FIC. Furthermore, our results indicate that MO exerts a more significant impact on the development of FIC than EO in EMs. Managers of manufacturing firms in EMs can use these findings to review their strategic decisions and their exploitative and exploratory approaches to enhance supply chains, develop cost-effective technologies, and produce affordable offerings that cater to the preferences of price-conscious consumers in the digital age.

Food delivery platform and food waste: Deciphering the role of promotions, knowledge, and subjective norms among Indonesian generation Z

With the popularity of food delivery applications in Indonesia, there is a need to promote responsible consumption habits, specifically in mitigating food waste. This study examined the influence of promotion, knowledge, and subjective norms on sustainable food waste behaviour among Generation Z individuals in Indonesia. The study involved an online survey of 561 Generation Z users of meal delivery platforms, with data analysis conducted using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) through SMART-PLS 4 software. The study contradicted that promotion and knowledge directly affect food waste reduction behaviour. Promotion can positively impact responsible food waste behaviour when mediated by price consciousness and perceived behavioural control. Knowledge requires attitude and perceived behavioural control to influence responsible food-wasting. It became apparent that subjective norms directly affected responsible food waste and were mediated by attitude. The antecedent variables examined in this study explained a 63.7% variance of sustainable behaviour towards food waste, indicating moderate explanatory power. Promotion conducted by food delivery service applications, accompanied by information and practical strategies to enhance consumers' perceived behavioural control, can increase the likelihood of sustainable food waste behaviour among Generation Z consumers, particularly price-conscious consumers. To foster positive attitudes and subjective norms towards sustainable food waste behaviour, policymakers can incentivize academic institutions, culinary businesses, and influencers to promote food waste reduction.

Indonesian Consumers’ Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Certified Vegetables: A Choice-Based Conjoint Approach

With the increasing demand for safe vegetables in Indonesia, the government issued certification labels to protect consumers from bad practices. However, much research has not focused on consumers’ responses toward the certified fresh vegetables in emerging countries. This study identifies consumers’ segments and preferences for fresh produce by using three attributes. The choice-based conjoint through a national online survey (N = 1027) indicates that most consumers prefer certified products. Meanwhile, the latent class analysis indicates the following segments: quality-minded, safety-conscious, appearance-focused, and price-conscious—each with distinct preferences. Quality-minded and safety-conscious consumers prefer certified labels but have different attention to the price. Appearance-focused consumers more consider on leaves’ appearance. Price-conscious consumers choose the lowest price possible regardless of the other attributes. This paper provides practical implications for marketers and policymakers.

A consumer perspective on Corporate Digital Responsibility: an empirical evaluation of consumer preferences

While digitalization offers numerous new possibilities for value creation, managers have to overcome a number of threats and obstacles that it harbors. In this context, the concept of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) is of increasing interest to practitioners. Drawing on the well-established paradigm of Corporate Social Responsibility, CDR comprises a set of principles designed to encourage the ethical and conscientious development, adoption, and utilization of digital technologies. This work aims at contributing to the evolving research base by empirically assessing consumer preferences and a consumer segmentation approach with regard to companies’ concrete CDR activities, thus supporting the operationalization of CDR. Hence, this work provides concrete guidance for firms’ CDR activities in practice. To this end, a series of Best–Worst Scaling and dual response studies with a representative sample of 663 German-speaking participants assesses consumers’ perspectives on firms’ concrete (possible) activities within several CDR dimensions. Both DURE studies reveal the potential halo effect of data privacy and security activities on the perception of the CDR engagement at large, suggesting a more holistic approach to digital responsibilities. Besides, the findings reveal that in case of CDR one size does not fit all. Especially in terms of informational approaches, consumer preferences are rather heterogeneous suggesting that consumer segmentation is beneficial for companies. Additionally, the high importance of price for the consumers’ evaluation shows that it can be useful to offer a slimmed-down version in terms of CDR activities for more price-conscious consumers.

Southeast Brazilian Consumers’ Involvement and Willingness to Pay for Quality Cues in Fresh and Cooked Beef

ABSTRACT This study evaluates consumer Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) according to preferences for quality-cue attributes offered in two different purchase modes: fresh and cooked meat. The questionnaire was applied and answered by 534 Brazilian meat consumers. Three clusters were defined: Group 1- price conscious consumers; Group 2- quality cues conscious consumers; and Group 3- consumers who were neither price nor quality cues conscious. Different levels of consumer involvement are related to different levels of a purchase intention regarding breed and flavor. Using a logit regression model, the probabilities regarding individual choice and WTP were then calculated. Results indicate significant differences (p < .01) between attributes and for both fresh and cooked beef. For fresh meat, the most important quality cue was its bright red color and the least important its marbling. Interestingly, the lowest product price level does not appear to motivate purchase intention. For cooked beef purchase, consumers highly valued tender meat with flavor and aroma. When a consumer evaluates the purchase of fresh meat, WTP starts at a low level, and then increases with the introduction of positive quality-cue attributes. The opposite is true for cooked meat, where WTP starts at a high level and then decreases as negative quality cues are introduced.

Choice of non-monetary incentives and coupon redemption intention: Monetary saving and price consciousness as moderators

Coupon promotion is widespread in the fast casual restaurant sector. As monetary saving offered in the coupons is costly to suppliers, this study examines: (1) if the provision of choice of non-monetary incentive can substitute high monetary saving in their positive influences on consumers’ redemption intention; and (2) if the substitution effect is contingent on consumers’ level of price consciousness. Drawing from three experimental studies, the results consistently showed that offering choice of non-monetary incentive was effective in increasing consumers’ redemption intention through enhancing their attitude towards the coupon promotion. The effect of offering choice of non-monetary incentive substituted that of high monetary saving, but the substitution effect was merely salient among low price-conscious consumers while the floodlight analysis revealed the point that bifurcates high (versus low) level of price consciousness. The findings add knowledge to the sales promotion and hospitality literature. Meaningful implications are recommended for fast casual restauranteurs.

Reaching the price conscious consumer: The impact of personality, generational cohort and social media use

AbstractThis research examines the impact of the Big Five personality traits and social media usage on price consciousness and determines if this impact is influenced by generational cohort by comparing 215 millennials with 300 baby boomers. The survey research with a national panel of U.S. consumers utilizes established scales along with asking about hours per week spent on social media. While the study found no generational differences in price consciousness, it did find differences in the Big Five personality traits as millennials are more open, but baby boomers are more conscientious, agreeable, and neurotic. The results suggest for millennials, extroverts are more price conscious and open individuals are less price conscious. The amount of social media usage does impact the level of price consciousness with those spending more time on social media being more price conscious. When comparing social media usage by cohort, there is no significant difference in terms of time spent on Facebook, but there are significant differences in time spent on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as millennials use all three of these sites more. Marketers can utilize social media to reach price conscious consumers and encourage extroverts to share/repost their business' price deals so their reference groups are aware of them. If businesses are trying to reach a broad target market including millennials and baby boomers, Facebook would be the best option, given its popularity across the cohort groups. If marketers are focusing on millennials, they may also want to have a presence on Instagram and Snapchat.

Integrated product and packaging decisions with secondary packaging returns and protective packaging management

The generation of packaging waste has fast become a supply chain management concern, especially with the growth of e-commerce. This calls for an integrated understanding of the product-packaging-supply chain system, which is currently nascent in the research literature. The present study considers a two-stage, profit-oriented supply chain that employs disposable primary packaging, disposable protective packaging, and returnable secondary packaging in supplying the product to a price-conscious consumer. With a special emphasis on the return of last-mile packaging, an analytical model is developed to examine the integrated lot-sizing and pricing decisions for the product and its secondary packaging. The model is developed for a decentralized channel with a Retailer-Stackelberg power structure and a centralized channel. In both the channels, it is shown that the retail price not only drives the equilibrium decisions and profits but also the total waste generated across different packaging types. It is found that the decentralized channel produces lower channel profits, however, it also generates lesser packaging waste when compared to a centralized channel. The study identifies the economic improvements in reverse channel operations that can encourage channels to adopt the take-back of secondary packaging in the last-mile for reuse. The findings also support the intuitive understanding that channels that adopt larger sized products can reduce packaging waste. Additionally, penalizing protective packaging in the last-mile is shown to have the potential to reduce total packaging waste by inducing the channels to supply larger products. Scope for contracts and regulatory mechanisms are identified, along with future research directions.

Why do consumers procrastinate and what happens next?

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the factors leading to and resulting from procrastination under high price uncertainty and provide recommendations for how managers can reduce consumer procrastination, thus decreasing consumer regret, anger and retaliatory behaviors.Design/methodology/approachHypothesized relationships were tested through two scenario-based experiments using student samples. Data was analyzed using general linear model, path analysis and Wald chi-square test.FindingsLong time limits, price uncertainty and price consciousness, all increase the likelihood of procrastination. Prestige seeking reduces procrastination, but only when time limits are short. When one delays a purchase and later the price of the item gets increased or one makes a purchase and later the price gets further reduced, procrastination and purchase decision both equally can lead to anger, which then increases the probability of exit, voice or word of mouth (WOM); however, procrastination has a much stronger impact than deciding to purchase on self-responsibility and regret, which in turn increases negative WOM.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides a greater understanding of antecedents and consequences of procrastination as well as the drivers of retaliatory behavior. Further, the findings highlight differential consequences of consumer regret and anger on consumption behaviors.Practical implicationsThis paper provides practical suggestions for reducing consumers’ procrastination through leveraging the effects of purchase time limit and price uncertainty in general, and more specifically, for prestige-seeker and price conscious consumers. The findings provide evidence for a silent path from procrastination to retaliation and highlight the importance of possible remedies or interventions by the companies to mitigate consumer emotions resulting from procrastination.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to apply temporal motivation theory in the context of consumer behavior under price uncertainty, and examine consequences of consumer procrastination in terms of thoughts, feelings and retaliatory behavior.

Tomato attributes and consumer preferences – a consumer segmentation approach

PurposeVegetables are an important component of a healthy diet. Given that tomatoes are the most purchased vegetable in Germany, the purpose of this paper is to focus on how consumers evaluate tomatoes during their food choice. Each consumer has different preferences and, in order to target them, it is necessary to identify consumer groups. The study segments tomato consumers into homogenous target groups.Design/methodology/approachA choice experiment was used to simulate the buying situation in a supermarket. The data were analysed using latent class analysis, as well as principal component factor analysis to measure food-related lifestyles. The sample consisted of 1,027 consumers and was representative of the characteristics of gender, age, educational level and income for the German population.FindingsConsumers perceive air transportation and plastic wrapping as most climate damaging in tomato production. Six different tomato consumer groups were identified and named according to the attribute they found most important, i.e. “Balanced consumers”, “Price-conscious consumers”, “Taste enthusiasts”, “Colour-sensitive consumers”, “Price-conscious consumers with a taste preference” and “Colour- and price-sensitive consumers”. In three clusters, colour was the most important attribute. However, green and yellow tomatoes were rejected by all segments, indicating communication problems.Originality/valueThe results of this study provide breeders and marketers with valuable insights into the factors driving tomato choice. The information was based on a large sample and will help breeders to select the types of tomatoes that are in demand by consumers.

Influence of culture, price perception and mall promotions on Indian consumers’ commitment towards malls

PurposeThe exponential growth of organised retail has led to competition among mall retailers with the use of promotions to increase traffic to the stores. The footfall in the malls is dependent on the sales generated by various retail stores located in the malls. The current research analyses the role of promotions used by the retailers located in Indian malls in improving consumers’ commitment towards the mall. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of culture, personality traits like value consciousness, price consciousness and coupon proneness, and promotions used by retailers in malls on consumers’ commitment towards the malls.Design/methodology/approachEight malls from six cities were selected by popularity and footfall. Mall-intercept technique along with systematic sampling was used to collect data from 453 mall shoppers using a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.FindingsRetailer promotions were categorised under discounts, promotional offers and loyalty cards. The findings suggest that cultural values of long-term orientation and masculinity have an impact on consumers’ perceptions towards discounts, promotional offers and loyalty programmes. Different promotional strategies had varied responses from consumers.Practical implicationsMall retailers can use the findings to design promotions according to the cultural values of masculinity and long-term orientation. Loyalty programmes can symbolise status and long-term relationship with retailer. Commitment towards retailers and consequently malls could be enhanced through discounts and promotional offers. Different promotional strategies can be used to target price-conscious consumers and increase footfall in the stores. The linkages between cultural dimensions and promotional techniques would be helpful in targeting different consumer groups by designing promotions which are in line with cultural values.Originality/valueThe research extends the existing literature on mall retailing by analysing the importance of cultural dimensions on sales promotions strategies used by retailers in malls. The study establishes that perceptions towards retailer promotions differ across cultures. Different promotions offered by retailers generate varied response from consumers across different cultures which would influence their commitment towards malls.

Discount venture brands: Self-congruity and perceived value-for-money?

Grocery retailers have begun to target price conscious consumers with a new type of budget brand, called discount venture brands. These brands are exclusive to the retailer. Sharing the same price point as economy private-label brands, the aim of discount venture brands is to attract customers with an overall look-and-feel that is not explicitly premium, yet is more attractive than that of conventional budget brands. Drawing on the self-congruity literature, the authors explore two questions: (1) whether customers perceive discount venture brands to offer greater value-for-money than conventional budget brands; and (2) whether such perceptions translate to customer impressions about the retailer brand? Results from a scenario-based experiment involving 505 participants suggest that, in comparison with conventional budget brands, discount venture brands may be less conducive to engendering favorable value-for-money perceptions; in short, discount venture brands may be less effective than conventional budget brands. This finding can be explained with a concept called self-congruity. Overall, we show that self-congruity acts as an indirect-only mediator of the path between the type of a brand and value-for-money perceptions of the brand. Particular findings are that self-congruity has a positive effect on value-for-money perceptions associated with conventional budget brands, discount venture brands, and the retailers selling those brands. However, for consumers with a preference for brands with a budget price point, self-congruity appears to be higher for conventional budget brands than discount venture brands; and this difference in self-congruity is more pronounced when shopping for others than when shopping for oneself.

Understanding Heterogeneous Consumer Preferences in Chinese Milk Markets: A Latent Class Approach

AbstractWe examine heterogeneous consumer preferences in Chinese milk markets. Using a discrete choice experiment, we examine how the brand, quality certification, traceability label and price influence consumers' milk choices. We identify four consumer segments using a latent class model: price conscious (9.8%), balanced thinking (19.8%), health conscious (57.5%), and environment conscious (12.9%) consumers. These four segments have distinct preferences: price conscious consumers prefer green certification; balanced thinking consumers have the highest willingness to pay for traceability labels; health conscious consumers have strong brand awareness; and environment conscious consumers prefer organic certification and traceability labels and use price as a quality signal. Such diversity of consumer preference can be explained by four psychological factors: price consciousness, food safety concerns, health consciousness and environmental concerns.

Effect of decision-making style on travel intention of religious tourism (Qom as religious tourism destination in Iran)

Marketing experts are interested in travel intention since it enables them to analyse tourists' consumer behaviour. In order to understand the behaviour of religious tourists, this study concentrates on the effect of decision-making styles on travel intention of tourists travelling to Qom (a religious city in Iran). Data were collected through a field survey among 350 people who visited Qom City and data was analysed using partial least square (PLS) modelling. The results show that brand-conscious consumer style, recreational and hedonistic consumer style and confused-by-overchoice consumer style are the main controllers of religious tourists' travel intention. Also, perfectionist conscious consumer style, novelty and fashion-conscious consumer style, price-conscious consumer style, habitual and brand-loyal consumer style, impulsive and careless consumer styles did not affect travel intention of religious tourists. This is the first study that investigates decision-making styles of religious tourists.

Just: Positioned to Target Mainstream Tastes? (A)

Well suited for MBA and undergraduate marketing programs, this case uses product positioning and placement during the early growth stages of a start-up's brand in the food industry to unfold circumstances that allow for an analysis of the firm's positioning and food marketing decisions. All products are plant-based foods distributed nationally in the United States. Seeking to target mainstream tastes and low price, tensions among the three pillars of the brand's marketing strategy, which are quality, accessibility, and sustainability, leave the case open to explore uncertainty, positioning, marketing mix, and consumer behavior. The A case opens with Josh Tetrick, Just's founder and CEO, facing an obstacle to the brand around accessibility. Target delisted all Just products in its stores after receiving an unverified, anonymous letter claiming that some of the products were unsafe and mislabeled. Although it only accounted for a small percentage of sales, losing Target affected Just's ability to meet its distribution goal to reach price-conscious consumers where they shopped and its greater goal to build a food system where everyone could eat well. Excerpt UVA-M-0956 Rev. Aug. 20, 2019 Just: Positioned to Target Mainstream Tastes? (A) Just CEO Josh Tetrick founded his food innovation start-up in San Francisco in 2011. Six years later, he was running the multi-million-dollar company based on “things he knew to be true.” The truth that had set Tetrick in motion was that the the arconventional food system left billions of people eating poorly or not at all. Another truth that guided Just was that many mainstream consumers rejected veganism, which ran counter to their identities. As such, Tetrick and his team were dead set on positioning the Just brand in such a way that it would appeal to mainstream consumers—not because Just products happened to be plant based or because they aimed to cause no unnecessary harm to the planet or to animals—but because Just products were high quality, accessible, and affordable. Indeed, the three pillars of the brand's marketing strategy were quality, accessibility, and sustainability. Just's mantra was that humankind had a system problem, not a people problem: it was too easy for mainstream consumers to do the wrong thing. In Tetrick's estimation, “The only way the good thing wins is when the good thing is so radically better than the not-so-good thing that you cannot help but do it. If it's not affordable and delicious, it's completely irrelevant to solving the problem.” . . .

Effect of decision-making style on travel intention of religious tourism (Qom as religious tourism destination in Iran)

Marketing experts are interested in travel intention since it enables them to analyse tourists' consumer behaviour. In order to understand the behaviour of religious tourists, this study concentrates on the effect of decision-making styles on travel intention of tourists travelling to Qom (a religious city in Iran). Data were collected through a field survey among 350 people who visited Qom City and data was analysed using partial least square (PLS) modelling. The results show that brand-conscious consumer style, recreational and hedonistic consumer style and confused-by-overchoice consumer style are the main controllers of religious tourists' travel intention. Also, perfectionist conscious consumer style, novelty and fashion-conscious consumer style, price-conscious consumer style, habitual and brand-loyal consumer style, impulsive and careless consumer styles did not affect travel intention of religious tourists. This is the first study that investigates decision-making styles of religious tourists.

Advertising for consideration

We analyze markets where firms competing on price advertise to increase the probability of entering consumers’ consideration sets. We find that moderately costly advertising allows firms to raise prices and possibly profits by reducing the fraction of price-conscious consumers, and by segmenting the market according to whether or not consumers consider the lower priced firm. However, when the cost of advertising is sufficiently low, advertising leads to a prisoners’ dilemma that adversely impacts profits without affecting expected prices.

Assessing Purchase Patterns of Price Conscious Consumers

Price greatly influences consumers’ purchasing decisions. Individuals whose decisions are primarily driven by price are said to be ‘price conscious’. To date, studies have focused on defining price consciousness and identifying factors that contribute to price-conscious behavior. However, research using visual attention to assess how price conscious consumers use in-store stimuli is limited. Here, consumers’ purchasing decisions are assessed using a rating-based conjoint analysis paired with eye tracking technology when shopping for ornamental plants. An ordered logit model is employed to understand price conscious consumers’ purchase patterns and choice outcomes. Overall, price conscious consumers are less attentive to price information. Being price conscious tends to reduce purchase likelihood, ceteris paribus. Increasing visual attention to price decreases consumers’ purchase likelihood, which is amplified for price conscious consumers. Price conscious consumers tend to be quicker decision makers than non-price conscious consumers. Results are beneficial to retailers interested in targeting or primarily catering to price conscious consumers.