Trade Products Research Articles

The role of brand utilities: application to buying intention of fair trade products

The authors focus on the ethical consumption and propose a model of buying intention of fair trade products, including the utilities of the fair trade generic brand as direct determinants. The authors measure the functional and symbolic utilities provided by this brand, together with the attitude towards the commercialising organisations, consumer concern and perceived knowledge about fair trade issues. The model is tested through a structural equation model on a sample of members (students, lecturers and staff) of a ‘Fair trade University’. The results confirm that perceived functional utility is the most important antecedent of the buying intention, while the symbolic dimension has a significant but weaker explanatory power. Conversely, the consumer attitude towards the organisation has no influence. The authors also highlight the importance of communication and concern to stimulate consumer behaviour.

'Economic Development and Language: A Journey Through India'

If we read economic history of India, the country is having trade relations with many countries since ancient time. Commodities and products in trade might have changed with passage of time, but products and skilled labour of India has remained so important at global level that world has invested resources to search new ways to reach to India. Now, it is trend in modern economic discussions to compare India with China on issues of population and economic growth rate. Trade relation with economies at global level has brought cultural and linguistic diversity in India. This diversity has become identity of the country. Albeit, society is now at the stage of development, where regional and focal dialects are getting extinct as a result of interaction between cultures and languages. Here, English language is now in wide use in practice and in education, which is international language. It is believed that knowledge of English and knowledge by English language leads to development. Parents are facing a giant question in front of them about whether to give education in mother tongue or in international language? On the other hand, as we have mentioned earlier comparison of Indian economy with that of China, India has larger number of international language speakers, even though Chinese economy is growing at higher rate. Economic history of India describes country’s trade relation with European countries and impact of British rule. Modern time will be witness of comparison with the China, once a communist economy. When India has established trade relation with world countries, it has interchanged not only commodities but also cultures. Language is indivisible part of culture. Even for profit motive, it is important to know, understand and adapt language of counterpart. Knowledge of language and multilingualism increases labours’ employability and mobility, which is crucial for economic development. Economic development too affects language. Importance of some language increases, and some other languages need support to sustain. Few dialects disappear in development and globalization. Also government considers this thing and includes language development in planning. India is not just a country; it is an entity that can’t be ignored at cultural and economic aspects. India is bestowed natural as well as cultural diversity. It will be interesting to know relation between economic development and language. This article reviews relation between economic development and language in reference of India.

A multiplex PCR mini-barcode assay to identify processed shark products in the global trade

Protecting sharks from overexploitation has become global priority after widespread population declines have occurred. Tracking catches and trade on a species-specific basis has proven challenging, in part due to difficulties in identifying processed shark products such as fins, meat, and liver oil. This has hindered efforts to implement regulations aimed at promoting sustainable use of commercially important species and protection of imperiled species. Genetic approaches to identify shark products exist but are typically based on sequencing or amplifying large DNA regions and may fail to work on heavily processed products in which DNA is degraded. Here, we describe a novel multiplex PCR mini-barcode assay based on two short fragments of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. This assay can identify to species all sharks currently listed on the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and most shark species present in the international trade. It achieves species diagnosis based on a single PCR and one to two downstream DNA sequencing reactions. The assay is capable of identifying highly processed shark products including fins, cooked shark fin soup, and skin-care products containing liver oil. This is a straightforward and reliable identification method for data collection and enforcement of regulations implemented for certain species at all governance levels.

The effect of consumption propensity and fashion product consumption attitude on fair trade fashion product purchase intension

Fair trade implies honest wages and eco-friendly products in keeping with the demands of ethical consumerism. Although consumers are presently more interested in fair trade products, it is hard to find aggressive marketing strategies for fair trade fashion products. Therefore, the purpose of this study investigates the effect of consumption propensity on fast and slow fashion goods consumption attitudes and purchase intention on fair trade fashion products. For method of this study, 229 questionnaires were distributed to consumers residing in Seoul, South Korea. The data from the 219 returned usable questionnaires was analyzed by Cronbach’s alpha, factor analysis, regression analysis using SPSS 22.0. The results of this study were as follows: First, consumption propensities of spontaneity, histrionics, and imitative nature in descending order positively affect consumption attitude for fast fashion products. And green consumerism negatively affects consumption attitude for fast fashion products. Second, consumption propensity such as donation & sharing consumerism, ethical consumerism, green consumerism, histrionics, and imitative nature in descending order positively affect consumption attitude for slow fashion products. Third, slow and fast fashion products consumption attitude in descending order positively affect purchase intention on fair trade fashion products. Fourth, consumption propensities such as ethical consumerism, green consumerism, and donation & sharing consumerism in descending order positively affect purchase intention on fair trade fashion products. Therefore fair trade fashion products with various usages and sustainable high quality are promoted by differentiated marketing strategies.

The Historical Slave Trade and Firm Access to Finance in Africa

Access to finance helps explain the link between the historical African slave trade and current gross domestic product. We first present mistrust, weakened institutions, and ethnic fractionalization as plausible historical channels linking the slave trade to modern finance and development. We then show (i) the slave trade is consistently linked to reduced access to the formal and trade credit needed by modern firms, (ii) this shortage particularly reduces capital investment in smaller firms not in business groups, and (iii) the slave trade cannot explain most other business obstacles, suggesting that long-term societal shocks are exceptionally important for finance. Received December 16, 2014; editorial decision June 29, 2017 by Editor Philip Strahan.

Re-dating the Ingombe Ilede burials

Several burials excavated during 1960 at Ingombe Ilede in southern Africa were accompanied by exceptional quantities of gold and glass beads, bronze trade wire and bangles. The burials were indirectly dated to the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries AD, prior to the arrival of the Portuguese on the East Coast of Africa. New AMS dates on cotton fabric from two of the burials now relocate them in the sixteenth century. This was a dynamic period when the Portuguese were establishing market settlements along the Zambezi, generating new demands for trade products from the interior, and establishing trade networks with the Mwene Mutapa confederacy. These new dates invite a reconsideration of Ingombe Ilede's relationship to Swahili and Portuguese trade in the middle Zambezi. This article is followed by four responses and a final comment by the authors.

Values, socially conscious behaviour and consumption emotions as predictors of Canadians’ intent to buy fair trade products

AbstractOver the last two decades, a growing concern about ethical behaviour has been observed among consumers. Ethically minded consumers are more inclined towards the consumption of ethical goods, such as green products and fair trade (hereafter, ‘FT’) products, organic products and local products. Establishing the motives that predict FT consumption behaviour provides ground for understanding how consumers make purchase decisions. This research postulates that the intention of buying FT products is influenced by socially conscious behaviour, consumers’ values and emotions. The study, conducted among 268 Canadian consumers, shows that the high intention of buying FT products is linked to high levels of pride, enthusiasm, satisfaction, happiness and joy related to FT product consumption. The FT consumption experience provides consumers with hedonic gratification. It shows that the higher the levels of self‐centred, equality and social justice values are, the higher the intention of buying FT products. An increase in socially conscious behaviour generates an increase in intention of purchasing FT products. The research contributes to a preliminary analysis of the role of emotions in this field and calls for the development of cognitive‐affective models of purchase and consumption behaviour. Understanding the dimensions of hedonic values and the significance of pleasure experience is essential to the development of the theory and practices of FT consumption.

Application of high-resolution melting analysis for authenticity testing of valuable Dendrobium commercial products.

The accurate identification of botanical origin in commercial products is important to ensure food authenticity and safety for consumers. The Dendrobium species have long been commercialised as functional food supplements and herbal medicines in Asia. Three valuable Dendrobium species, namely Dendrobium officinale, D. huoshanense and D. moniliforme, are often mutually adulterated in trade products in pursuit of higher profit. In this paper, a rapid and reliable semi-quantitative method for identifying the botanical origin of Dendrobium products in terminal markets was developed using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis with specific primer pairs to target the trnL-F region. The HRM analysis method detected amounts of D. moniliforme adulterants as low as 1% in D. huoshanense or D. officinale products. The results have demonstrated that HRM analysis is a fast and effective tool for the differentiation of these Dendrobium species both for their authenticity as well as for the semi-quantitative determination of the purity of their processed products. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Does fair trade matter to consumers? A study of African cultural products

ABSTRACTThis study uses an adapted S-O-R framework to investigate the influence of fair trade (FT) product information for African cultural products. Consumer’s internal state (affective and cognitive) and purchase intention towards a FT African cultural product is examined while considering previous FT knowledge and concern. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed on social media sites employing a snowballing technique. It was determined that FT knowledge and concern, especially the dimension of concern, was a significant indicator of consumer’s internal states and purchase intention. Consumers’ affective and cognitive state also significantly influence purchase intention consistent with previous studies using the S-O-R model. Following these findings, it is important for FT retailers, policy-makers, and socially responsible organisations to understand and evoke a consumer’s concern for FT as a way to ensure higher levels of purchase intention towards unique African cultural products.

Analysis of Genetically Modified Food Induced International Trade Law Issues

The advantages of genetically modified food are gradually highlighted because of the rapid development of modern transgenic technology. The trade proportion of genetically modified food in international trade products is increasing. Till now, legal regulations concerning the international trade of genetically modified food are still contradictory and conflicting, and a series of initiated legal issues about the international trade of genetically modified food becomes more acute. As a great power of transgenic crops planting, China should fully learn from the trade disputes of genetically modified food, perfect laws such as the safety management, approval and identification of import and export, accelerate the development of transgenic technology, and strengthen the mutual benefit and collaboration of the developing countries, thus to gain a strong competitive position in international trade and maintain the fundamental interests of China better.

How consumer mindsets in ethnic Chinese societies affect the intention to buy Fair Trade products

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological antecedents (i.e. consumer mindsets) and individual difference characteristics (i.e. moral identity) affect the intention to purchase Fair Trade products based on the triadic reciprocal causation model in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). The primary factors that influence ethical consumption decisions in ethnic Chinese societies were explored by integrating the unique cultural environment of the Chinese.Design/methodology/approachThe study effective sample comprised university students and professors. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses and indirect effects. Results showed that moral identity internalization had a mediating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products.FindingsA high moral identity symbolization had a moderating effect on the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products. This demonstrated that the two dimensions of moral identity, internalization and symbolization, play different roles and have different functions in regards to the intention to purchase Fair Trade products.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies are urged to examine this issue at a cultural level by performing a cross-cultural comparison and to integrate consumer heterogeneity for a deeper examination of the interaction between demographic factors and psychological traits on consumer behaviours regarding Fair Trade products.Originality/valueThis study indicates that moral identity internalization is the primary factor that influences ethical consumption decisions in Chinese societies. In terms of the moderating effect of moral identity symbolization, results showed that the higher an individual’s moral identity symbolization, the stronger the relationship between a collectivistic mindset and the intention to purchase Fair Trade products is. These results can serve as a reference for marketing communications and market segmentation policies in the business world.

Review: Utilization of Waste From Coffee Production

Abstract Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade, and also a central and popular part of our culture. However, coffees production generate a lot of coffee wastes and by-products, which, on the one hand, could be used for more applications (sorbent for the removal of heavy metals and dyes from aqueous solutions, production of fuel pellets or briquettes, substrate for biogas, bioethanol or biodiesel production, composting material, production of reusable cups, substrat for mushroom production, source of natural phenolic antioxidants etc.), but, on the other hand, it could be a source of severe contamination posing a serious environmental problem. In this paper, we present an overview of utilising the waste from coffee production.

Relationship between Consumer Self-Determined Psychological Needs and Brand Equity for Fair Trade Products

Relationship between Consumer Self-Determined Psychological Needs and Brand Equity for Fair Trade Products

Ethical food choices: Examining people’s Fair Trade purchasing decisions

Fair Trade is a product certification system and social movement that aims to address global supply-chain issues such as forced labour, unsafe working conditions, and unfair pay for workers. The potential for Fair Trade to benefit producers relies directly on consumers’ decisions to support these products in their food purchasing choices. An extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to investigate Fair Trade purchasing among a university student and community sample (N=178). First, the reliability of the extended TPB measures was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis. Second, a proposed model predicting people’s Fair Trade purchasing behaviour showed a good fit via structural equation modelling. The model indicated that attitude, perceived behavioural control, self-identity, and moral norm predicted intentions which, in turn, predicted fair trade purchasing behaviour. The model explained 62.6% and 40.5% of the variance in intention and behaviour, respectively. Finally, a series of MANOVAs established that the underlying TPB beliefs of ‘making me feel good’; ‘reflecting my values’, and ‘being unable to afford Fair Trade products’ distinguished between people who did and did not purchase Fair Trade products. These salient beliefs, in conjunction with the identified predictors of people’s intentions and behaviour, can be used in persuasive campaigns by those advocating socially-motivated behaviour changes in our food choices.

Antecedents of Intention and Behavior Towards Fair Trade Products: A Study on Values and Attitudes in Italy

The current study investigates the significance and power of direct and indirect effects of values and attitudes on intention to buy fair trade products and on self-reported behaviors. Drawing on previous research, we selected three attitudinal measures – Consciousness for Fair Consumption, Environmental Concern, Moral Reasoning – and two categories of human values, Power and Universalism. Through a web-based survey conducted in Italy we collected data analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results showed that Universalism exerted a positive indirect effect on buying fair traded products while Power exerted a negative effect. Therefore, according to Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the intention was the only direct antecedent of behavior.

Attitude of Indian Consumer towards Environmental Fair Consumption of Products

Abstract- Available literature review suggested that perception and consciousness of consumers has been related to all the aspect of environmentally friendly consumption and existing construct for measurement usually misperceived social and ecological issues. The aim of present research is to study the social issues and fair labour conditions in trading and manufacturing process of India.It is important to understand the difference between liking of service or product due to it being less harmful and less damaging to the environment or due to its abiding with international labour standards and social justice. Objective of this study was also to propose a scale for Consciousness of Fair Consumption, Moral and other oriented reasoning (MR), Environmental concern (EC), Intention to buy Fair-Trade Products, Purchase of Fair Trade products which would be unidimensional in nature. Secondary objective of this study was to assess reliability, validity and construct model fit in consumer durable products. Researchers used descriptive research design by selecting 240 respondents from Indian consumer product industry through multi stage sampling methods. Structured questionnaire has been developed based on the literature review and filled by face to face personal interview methods through mall intercept method of data collection. The result explained that Consumer Fair Consumption scale is unidimentional, reliable and valid as a proposed scale for fair consumption.

Causality nexus between trade, political instability, FDI and economic growth: Nigeria experience

The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between FDI inflow, volume of trade, political instability, and gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria using time series data from 1981 to 2014. The ADF and Phillips Perron (PP) tests were used to see whether all variables are stationary. Consequently, the Johansen and Juselius cointegration tests were employed to investigate the existence of long-run relationship among the variables. The findings indicated that there was a long-run relationship among the variables used in this study. The multivariate Granger causality test was carried out using the VECM approach to analyse the causal links among all the variables. A bidirectional causality was discovered between the FDI inflow and economic growth (GDP), but there was one-way direction between political instability and FDI, as well as between political instability and GDP. Apart from that, there was also one-way relationship between FDI and volume of trade within the stated period. The results from this study can be used as a guidance for policymakers on FDI, where the government can pay more attention on the issue of political instability and insecurity. The government needs to review and implement a strong, vibrant policy to ensure maximum security and peace in the country with the purpose of attracting more foreign investors.

Innovative Positioning as a Marketing Tool of Retailers on the Food Market

Objective : The aim of the paper is to develop the theory of retail business positioning as a part of marketing innovation-based strategy. It is proposed that innovative retail formats and business models should be included in it. Research Design & Methods : The critical literature review on the existing dimensions of business positioning as well as the new, suggested dimensions is made. General trends in food retailers’ positioning in Poland and the positioning strategy development of Carrefour are analysed in the form of examples and a short case study. They are based on the secondary sources like academic papers, retail magazines and companies’ web sites. Findings: On the fragmented food markets retailers position themselves by introducing format innovations and stressing low price. Then they have to reposition themselves by attributes other than price. Big mass merchandisers are now segmenters. Implications & Recommendations: In Poland the tendencies for buying natural, Fair Trade, diabetics, organic or functional products, as well as the focus on the elderly segment are opportunities for retailers. Yet, trading up creates new opportunities for discounters. Contribution & Value Added: The paper contributes to the theory of retail positioning by linking elements of the marketing and the entrepreneurship approaches. It also develops knowledge about the Polish retail food market.

Foreign Direct Investments In Bangladesh: Some Recent Trends And Implications

For many developing nations, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been viewed as a powerful instrument for economic development. In particular, FDI has become a major source of capital formation and an instrument for facilitating knowledge transfer. Expansion of FDI has led countries to build physical capital, increase employment, trade, and gross domestic product, and consequently helped to eradicate poverty. Using secondary data for Bangladesh, this paper investigates the effect of FDI on some major economic indicators of growth and examines the functional relationship between FDI and indicators.

Forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS) for the first time authentication of Indian Varanus species: implication in wildlife forensics and conservation

Monitor lizards are Varanus species widely distributed, endangered reptile in the IUCN red data list. In India, based on the morphological and ecological characteristic, it is divided into four species viz. Bengal monitor lizard, Yellow monitor lizard, Desert monitor lizard and Water monitor lizard. These four species listed as Schedule I species in Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. This paper first attempt to present Forensically Informative Nucleotide Sequencing (FINS) for the Indian Varanus based on three mitochondrial genes. The molecular framework will be useful for the identification of Indian Varanus species and trade products derived from monitors and as such, have important applications for wildlife management and conservation. Here, we used known 14 individual skin pieces of four species of monitor lizards; the partial fragment of three mitochondrial genes (Cyt b, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) were amplified for genetic study. In Cyt b, 12S rRNA and 16s rRNA, we observed, 5, 5 and 4 Haplotypes; 71, 69, and 43 Variables sites; 90, 89, and 50 Parsimony Informative sites within four species of Indian monitor lizards, respectively. Despite it, the nucleotide composition was T 26.4, C 32.8, A 29.2 and G11.6; T 18.8, C 29.7, A 34.0 and G 17.5; T 21.7, C 27.3, A 32.5 and G 18.5 in Cyt b, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA, respectively. The neighbor joining phylogenetic tree and maximum parsimony tree of three mitochondrial genes, showed similar results and reveal that, there are two major clades are present in Indian monitor lizards.