ALBERT

Notizen: The study aims to provide a critical review of the literature on the consumer interest in the UK in organic food, with a particular focus on organic meat. Given that people are more likely to purchase products if they have faith in them, the regulation of organic food standards is reviewed to explore issues affecting consumers. This is followed by a review of the organic meat sector. Aspects of the consumer interest considered in this paper include consumer information, consumer access, consumer safety, consumer choice and consumer representation. As the literature on organic food/meat in the UK is extensive, it was therefore necessary to be selective with regard to the publications suitable for this review. Most of the literature selected for this paper has been drawn from UK publications, although several European and international sources have also been used. The review found that there is a considerable level of interest in the UK organic meat sector. As the regulation of organic food produced is set at varying standards across the European Union, this could lead to consumers being misled regarding the quality of products offered. It was also found that, although consumers perceive organic foods as healthier, more nutritious and tasting better than non-organic products, the literature shows that this may have only a limited basis on fact. Contamination of organic products with pesticides and even genetically modified ingredients is always possible. Organic farmers are permitted to use other ingredients in organic meat products that may be harmful to health. Escherichia coli and Salmonella risks associated with conventional meat also appear to affect organic meat. Consumers need clear, accurate and reliable information about organic meat. They also need to be provided with safe products, a choice of organic products, access to organic products and to be represented effectively.

Notizen: Many researchers have studied and documented the financial literacy of youth. Even more have developed educational programs or curricula to teach financial and consumer issues to youth; however, few have actually evaluated the effectiveness of their programs. The Money Talks: Should I be Listening? curriculum, developed by a University of California Cooperative Extension team, was created to appeal to teenagers as it increased their financial literacy. In order to develop a program that young people would readily use, and from which they would learn, teenagers were surveyed prior to program development to determine the topics that were relevant to them, the educational format that appealed to them, and when and where they preferred to receive the information (Varcoe, Peterson, Garrett, Martin, Rene, & Costello, 2001).This paper discusses the effectiveness of The Money Talks: Should I be Listening? curriculum on the financial knowledge and behaviour of participants using the series. The curriculum was designed for use as a part of school curriculum as well as for presentation in other venues.The findings indicate that using the curriculum did improve the financial literacy of high school students with significant positive changes in both knowledge and behaviour. They have a better understanding of the value of savings and have changed behaviours. It is interesting to note that the males demonstrated a significantly greater increase in knowledge from pre-test to post-test than females. Perhaps the females have more interest in or knowledge of financial issues prior to participation in this project?Overall the results of this study are consistent with the findings of others. Research based curricula in personal finance seem to yield results. This age group has specific requirements for method of delivery and location of the seminars suggesting that it is important to keep the materials interactive. To address this issue, a web-site was added to the program. Included on the web-site are interactive games and a video on the importance of saving. The teens are naturally more interested in learning about the consumer and financial issues they perceive as salient in their lives at that particular time. Educators should identify topics of interest to the teens and develop, or use existing, interactive methodology to present the information.

Notizen: In a world where the role of women in decision-making is seldom adequately appreciated, they make a remarkable contribution due to their hard work and sense of confidence. It is observed that women are mostly involved in repetitive and monotonous household work irrespective of the fact that they share most of family responsibilities and perform a wide range of duties in and outside home. On the other hand men perform activities, which require skills, but there is sufficient evidence, which show a clear, although slow shift of stereotype sex roles.In early societies, decision-making was predominantly done by menfolk being the breadwinner of the family. With modernization and education women have been empowered to make the best use of human and non-human resources in management of the family with respect to efficient use of time and energy. So, a study was undertaken to know how far the working women of Faridkot district participate in the decision-making process with the following objectives:〈list style="custom"〉(a) to find out the level of participation of working women in the decision-making process as consumer.(b) to find out the level of difficulty among working women at different steps of the decision-making process.The present investigation pertaining to Faridkot district of Punjab state of India was exploratory in nature. A sample of 100 working women was selected by simple random sampling procedure. The responses were recorded through a well structured and pretested questionnaire including an index developed to measure level of participation and difficulty as realized by working women in the decision-making process. After collecting the data, it was analysed by employing simple statistical tests like frequency percentagesThe important findings emanated out of the present investigation are as follows:〈list style="custom"〉• Most of the respondents were middle aged, educated up to graduation level, having nuclear family, small size of family with monthly income more than Rs.5000.00. It was also observed that majority of the respondents were in the teaching and medical professions.• Working women were found to be involved more in the case of food items (79.0–93.0%) as compared to non-food items (6.0–46.0%) with an exception of their major participation (78.0%) at the stage of identifying the problem in case of non-food items.• The study revealed that the time consumed at various steps of consumer decision-making process is minimum for most of the steps in case of food items but moderate to maximum in case of non-food items. But for analysing the alternatives the time consumed was moderate to maximum for both the categories.• Findings also revealed that difficulty level was from moderate to high (32.0–98.0%) in most of the steps in case of food items whereas, in case of non-food items it was from low to high (11.0–78.0%)

Notizen: The   main   criteria   that   consumers   use   during   the   decision making process when purchasing food has traditionally been a combination of prices, incomes, taste and social attitudes, with price being seen as the main determinant. However in the past 10 years risk has become a ‘new’ criterion that can affect the consumer's decision whether or not to purchase a particular food item. The effect of the increased awareness of risk has been observed during the numerous food scares in the last decade and in trends for the demand for foods that connote a healthy image.This research, carried out in Northern Ireland, looked at how consumers quantified and managed risk. The research involved 202 primary food consumers and identified the factors that were perceived to be important from both a societal and a personal perspective.Using principal component and cluster analysis societal food risks were seen as either processing or dietary and personal food risks were seen as either extrinsic or intrinsic. Further investigation into the attributes of the personal risk revealed a three-factor solution described as fear, involvement and newness.Although these factors cannot be used as predictors of the risk associated with a particular food, they help to describe and explain how the risk may be managed. The relationship between two of the factors, involvement and fear, provides a framework for understanding the way consumers manage their perception of the risk, particularly of high-risk items. Consumer and scientific knowledge of the risk in question, and the degree of control over the risk were seen as important. The conceptualisation of the mechanism by which risks are processed and acted upon provides information regarding risk management and communication strategies that should be employed by educators, food retailers and government policy makers.

Notizen: People are becoming more health conscious nowadays, but most of them are not able to adopt a lifestyle with adequate physical exercise and a healthier eating pattern. Many attempt to compensate by taking ‘health foods’. Despite the recent economic recession, the functional food market expands rapidly in Asian countries. Recent statistics indicate a huge increase in weight loss and functional food product advertising expenditure in Hong Kong and other Asian countries. In a massive survey conducted by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, it was found that 85% of the medicines, health food and therapies sampled contain questionable claims and misleading messages (Consumer Council, 1999). In fact, young people do not understand much about modern food processing, in particular those present in low energy and functional foods, and they know very little about the modern food marketing strategies. The situation is detrimental to consumer welfare especially to the younger generation.This study attempts to reflect critically on the implications of these issues for the health and well-being of young people in Hong Kong. It explores directions for designing relevant and effective education programmes to empower young people in understanding food advertising strategies and making informed decisions on food choice. The paper will begin with a critical review on the current situation in Hong Kong. An interview survey on preservice and in-service teachers’ perception towards misleading food advertising and labelling will then be reported. The situations at schools will be defined and problems faced by teachers in providing relevant consumer education programmes to students will be identified. Finally, the study will look to the future, with a view to developing students’ critical skills in evaluating claims offered in food advertisements.

Notizen: The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 76 million people get sick, more than 300 000 are hospitalised, and 5000 Americans die each year from food-borne illness. Research over the past 40 years has shown, however, that food irradiation can decrease the incidence of food-borne illness and disease. Despite this benefit, food irradiation has been the focus of much controversy for years. Proponents of irradiation claim that it will improve food product safety by reducing harmful bacteria. Opponents, on the other hand, raise concerns about its long-term health effects, nutrient loss, and worker safety at irradiation facilities. The debate intensified recently when the US government approved the use of irradiation to kill E. coli 0157:H7 and other harmful bacteria in ground beef and other raw meat. The US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration are also expected to decide soon whether to allow the process to be used on sandwich meats, hot dogs, and similar packaged food products.This study examines consumer willingness to pay for irradiated beef products. About 58% of the respondents are willing to pay a premium for irradiated beef. An ordered probit with sample selection model was estimated. Our findings suggest that females and those who think that improper handling contributes to food poisoning are more likely to pay a premium of 50 cents per pound of irradiated beef than others. Those who trust the irradiation technology are more likely to pay a premium of between 5 and 25 cents per pound for irradiated beef.

Notizen: A recent application of biotechnology to food is genetic modification. Genetically modified (GM) plants, animals and processed foods have been introduced to the international marketplace in the 1990s. As scientific and technological progress in modern biotechnology continues at a breakthrough pace, the consumers are presented with different types and levels of information that is potentially relevant for making choices.Findings from studies of consumer attitudes and awareness towards GM products have varied greatly. Many studies, however, have indicated that public opinions about GM products are not fully formed and the task of informing the public is far from over. This study expands on previous research by examining the factors that influence the search for information about GM products. Utilizing the theory of consumer behaviour and information search, we analyse consumers’ information search patterns about GM products. Specifically, we estimate the probability that consumers search for information actively, passively or do not search for information at all, and the factors influencing this search.An ordered probit model is formulated to measure the factors, both economic and behavioural, that influence in-formation search by consumers for GM products. Variables representing the informational attitudes and behaviour related to GM products have the greatest impact on the probability of searching for information about GM products. With the exception of age, demographic factors are not significant. The results point to information search, not, for the genetically modified characteristic, but instead for the absence of the characteristic.

Notizen: Advertisers use social marketing to inform and convince consumers of the available products. The most casual apparel like jeans also comes in several brands ranging from designer names with status appeal to economical choices. Labels and hangtags serve as the first connection between the consumers and the apparel product. They address both intrinsic and extrinsic traits. Consumers use labels for social identification, information acquisition and care instructions. The threefold purpose of the reported study was (1) to determine the compliance of the information on the labels of men's jeans with the federal requirements of permanent care labelling; (2) to examine the content and significance of information on the hangtags; and (3) to determine if the weight/unit of the men's jeans varied across various brands used for the study.A content analysis of the information on the labels and hangtags of 26 men's jeans was conducted. The information was tabulated and examined for compliance with federal regulations as well as additional information provided to convince the consumer of the products’ authenticity and performance for the intended use.The findings revealed that labels and hangtags had useful information for persuading the consumer of the longevity of the company and authenticity of the product. The analysed jeans varied for price, style, and weight to meet the satisfaction of a broad spectrum of consumers who could be price conscious, status-driven, and/or just information-seekers. The results support the role of social marketing in reaching a variety of consumers by offering choices. This work can be further extended to determine the impact of labels and hangtags on decision-making across various consumer markets for jeans as well as other apparel categories.