The differential susceptibility model states that a given genetic variant is associated with an increased risk of pathology in negative environments but greater than average resilience in enriched ones. While this theory was first implemented in psychiatric-genetic research, it may also help us to unravel the complex ways that genes and environments interact to influence feeding behavior and obesity. We reviewed evidence on gene vs. environment interactions that influence obesity development, aiming to support the applicability of the differential susceptibility model for this condition, and propose that various environmental “layers” relevant for human development should be considered when bearing the differential susceptibility model in mind. Mother-child relationship, socioeconomic status and individual's response are important modifiers of BMI and food intake when interacting with gene variants, “for better and for worse”. While only a few studies to date have investigated obesity outcomes using this approach, we propose that the differential susceptibility hypothesis is in fact highly applicable to the study of genetic and environmental influences on feeding behavior and obesity risk.
Present research compares food beliefs associated with a naturally nutritious agricultural product (namely pulses) in Western and Eastern cultures (namely the US and India). Specifically, this paper focuses on the perception of healthiness and tastefulness of the food and their relationship. Two studies tested the effect of processing level, cultural differences, and branding strategies. In contrast to the well-established inverse relationship between healthiness and tastefulness beliefs observed in the West with industrial food products, the results of both studies revealed a positive association between health and taste for pulses in both West and East. Study 1 shows that this positive association is stronger with lower processing, suggesting the role of naturalness as bridge between health and taste. Focusing on cultural differences, results show that while both West and East hold positive association of health and taste for pulses, this association is stronger for East. However, the role of processing level is significantly stronger in West. Study 2 looks at branding strategies for pulse products with different processing levels in West and East. Results confirm the findings of study 1 on positive association of taste and healthiness and cross-cultural differences. Moreover, study 2 shows that cultural difference between West and East changes the effect of branding strategies on food-related belief and attitude toward food. For American consumers, a future-oriented branding is associated with an enhanced positive healthiness–taste association, whereas a brand image emphasizing tradition leads to increased perception of the taste of product but not necessarily on the healthiness. Current paper has theoretical and practical implications in public policy, health, and marketing.
PurposeThis paper examines user generated social media content bearing on consumers’ attitude and belief systems taking the domain of natural food product as illustrative case. This research sheds light on how consumers think and talk about natural food within the context of food well-being and health.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a keyword-based approach to extract user generated content from Twitter and used both food as well-being and food as health frameworks for analysis of more than two million tweets.FindingsThe authors found that consumers mostly discuss food marketing and less frequently discuss food policy. Their results show that tweets regarding naturalness were significantly less frequent in food categories that feature naturalness to an extent, e.g. fruits and vegetables, compared to food categories dominated by technologies, processing and man-made innovation, such as proteins, seasonings and snacks.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides numerous implications and contributions to the literature on consumer behavior, marketing and public policy in the domain of natural food.Practical implicationsThe authors’ exploratory findings can be used to guide food system stakeholders, farmers and food processors to obtain insights into consumers' mindset on food products, novel concepts, systems and diets through social media analytics.Originality/valueThe authors’ results contribute to the literature on the use of social media in food marketing on understanding consumers' attitudes and beliefs toward natural food, food as the well-being literature and food as the health literature, by examining the way consumers think about natural (versus man-made) food using user generated content of Twitter, which has not been previously used.
Purpose This paper aims to study the unexplored possibility that priming firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity in consumers’ minds may impact consumers’ preference for non-firm related consumption and lifestyle choice options with intertemporal trade-offs. Design/methodology/approach Across four experimental studies, the authors looked at the impact of CSR priming on the preference of participants for later larger versus sooner smaller money (Study 1), saving versus spending (Study 2) and healthy versus unhealthy food choices (Studies 3 and 4). These choice options were not related to the focal firm that practiced CSR. The authors measured the changes in participants’ consideration of future consequences (CFC) as a potential mediator for the results. Findings The participants in the CSR condition showed a higher CFC and a higher preference for the options with long-term benefits and immediate costs over the ones with long-term costs and immediate benefits, i.e. later larger over sooner smaller money, saving over spending and healthy over unhealthy food. The authors documented a mediation role for CFC. Research limitations/implications All the participants in the studies were from the USA. Looking at the cultural differences can enrich the understanding of the impact of CSR on preference for the options with intertemporal trade-offs. Furthermore, this paper builds its theoretical justification based on the assumption of individuals’ acceptance of CSR activities. Nevertheless, consumers may have skepticism about these activities. Future studies may investigate the effect of CSR skepticism of individuals on the proposed effects. Additionally, investigating the moderating roles of individuals’ characteristics like their prosocial concern or their knowledge about choice options might be an avenue for future research. Practical implications The findings highlight the benefits of CSR priming on consumers’ welfare and normative behavior. Firms may use the findings to understand and manage the impact of other firms’ CSR communications on the evaluation of their own products. Originality/value This research is the first to highlight the impact of CSR priming on consumers’ non-firm-related consumption and lifestyle choices with intertemporal trade-offs. The results showed the positive effect of priming firms’ CSR activities on consumers’ CFC and the mediating role of CFC.
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