Foot and mouth disease (FMD) has a long history in Sri Lanka and was found to be endemic in various parts of the country and constitutes a constant threat to farmers. In Sri Lanka, currently there is no regular, nationwide vaccination programme devised to control FMD. Therefore, improving farmers’ knowledge regarding distinguishing FMD from other diseases and ensuring prompt reporting of any suspicion of FMD as well as restricting movement of animals are critical activities for an effective FMD response effort. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between farmers’ knowledge levels and their behaviors to establish a strategy to control FMD. In our study, item count technique was applied to estimate the number of farmers that under-report and sell FMD-infected animals, although to do so is prohibited by law. The following findings were observed: about 63% of farmers have very poor knowledge of routes of FMD transmission; ‘under-reporting’ was found to be a sensitive behavior and nearly 23% of the farmers were reluctant to report FMD-infected animals; and ‘selling FMD-infected animals’ is a sensitive behavior among high-level knowledge group while it is a non-sensitive behavior among the low-level knowledge group. If farmers would understand the importance of prompt reporting, they may report any suspected cases of FMD to veterinary officials. However, even if farmers report honestly, they do not want to cull FMD-infected animals. Thus, education programs should be conducted not only on FMD introduction and transmission, but also its impact. Furthermore, consumers may criticize the farmers for culling their infected animals. Hence, not only farmers, but also consumers need to be educated on the economic impact of FMD and the importance of controlling an outbreak. If farmers have a high knowledge of FMD transmission, they consider selling FMD-infected animals as a sensitive behavior. Therefore, severe punishment should be levied for selling FMD-infected animals.

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AbstractFrequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been linked to a greater risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dental caries and coronary heart disease. SSBs are an ideal target for public health intervention to help control the type 2 diabetes mellitus epidemics since they have absolutely no nutritional value, and do not protect against disease. However, successful implementation of policies to reduce consumption of SSBs depends on public acceptability and support. Therefore, determining the public acceptability of government interventions to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages is critical for effectiveness as well as implementation. The aim of the present study was to conduct an empirical investigation of how different policy-related factors (namely perceived policy effectiveness, perceived policy fairness, policy trust and political ideology) link to public support. Policy options included low, medium and high intensity versions of: imposing a tax (10%, 20% and 30%); adding a warning label (with and without graphic warning label); reducing number of SSB retail outlets (schools only and all public institutions); and regulating SSB advertising (ban advertising aimed at children and ban all SSB advertising). Data were collected from a representative sample of 948 consumers (age range from 18 to 69) through an online survey, which was carried out in February 2019. Sample quotas were set for age, gender and income. The partial least squares approach of the structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to investigate direct effects of the proposed factors on public acceptance. Importantly, the results indicate that perceived fairness and perceived effectiveness of the political interventions had a significantly positive correlation with public acceptance (β = 0.518, p-value < 0.001 and β = 0.299, p-value < 0.001, respectively). Meanwhile, those who have a greater trust in government are more likely to support (β = 0.049, p-value < 0.05). Also, public acceptance is positively associated with liberal policy strains. This is in line with social cognitive motives such as openness to new experiences and desire for equality in society. Moreover, higher trust in government is positively associated with perceived fairness as well as perceived effectiveness. These findings reflect that those who trust government believe that the government policy is fair in terms of the policy itself, how it is established as well as its specific distributive effects. Therefore, participatory policymaking that involves the public in the decision-making process can enhance citizens’ trust and overall acceptance in policy interventions with regard to SSBs.

Purpose This paper aims to empirically identify foodie features and examine their relevance in segmenting German consumers. Furthermore, this study explored potential differences between foodie segments in terms of food involvement and food knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 500 German respondents in October 2015 by means of two online surveys using a newly developed version of the foodie instrument based on existing literature. Confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance and post hoc tests were applied to analyse the data. Findings Six distinct consumer segments were identified: passionate foodies (12.0%), interested foodies (21.5%); moderate foodies (21.7%), traditional foodies (17.1%), light foodies (18.2%) and non-foodies (9.5%). The nutritional knowledge questionnaire suggests that passionate foodies have only an average level of food literacy compared to other segments. Research limitations/implications Behavioural traits and socio-demographic characteristics of foodies and other culinary consumer segments could be time-sensitive, thus future research should take a longitudinal approach so that subsequent decision-making is appropriately dynamic. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is a first step towards the development of a new foodie lifestyle scale which will be useful to identify, characterise and develop effective marketing strategies for targeting highly involved food consumers.

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