Although public interest in sustainability increases and consumer attitudes are mainly positive, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes. This study investigates the presumed gap between favorable attitude towards sustainable behavior and behavioral intention to purchase sustainable food products. The impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), values, and social norms on consumers' attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analyzed. The empirical research builds on a survey with a sample of 456 young consumers, using a questionnaire and an experimental design with manipulation of key constructs through showing advertisements for sustainable dairy. Involvement with sustainability, certainty, and PCE have a significant positive impact on attitude towards buying sustainable dairy products, which in turn correlates strongly with intention to buy. Low perceived availability of sustainable products explains why intentions to buy remain low, although attitudes might be positive. On the reverse side, experiencing social pressure from peers (social norm) explains intentions to buy, despite rather negative personal attitudes. This study shows that more sustainable and ethical food consumption can be stimulated through raising involvement, PCE, certainty, social norms, and perceived availability.

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Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within a Muslim migration population using the theory of planned behaviour as a conceptual framework. The role of self-identity as a Muslim and dietary acculturation in the host culture is explored. Design/methodology/approach - Cross-sectional data were collected through a survey with 576 Muslims mainly originating from North Africa and currently living in France. Data were analysed by means of independent samples' t-tests, correlations and stepwise multiple regression. Findings - A positive personal attitude towards the consumption of halal meat, the influence of peers and the perceived control over consuming halal meat predict the intention to eat halal meat among Muslims. Research implications/limitations - Limitations include the use of a convenience sample and the focus on only two individual characteristics related to religious food consumption, namely self-identity and dietary acculturation. Additional individual characteristics such as trust, values or involvement could improve the predictive power of the model. Practical implications - Practical implications extend to food policy decision-makers and food marketers who might pursue identity - and/or acculturation-related strategies in their distribution and communication efforts targeted at the growing halal food market segment in Western Europe. Originality/value - This study is one of the first studies investigating the determinants of halal meat consumption in general and a first application of the theory of planned behaviour within a food, religion and migration context, i.e. halal meat consumption decisions in a Muslim migration population in France. In general, this study indicates that the predictive power of the classic TPB in this very specific context is limited

When they experience service failures, customers look for causes. They seek to understand whether the service firm could have prevented the failure (controllability attribution) and whether the cause of the failure is temporary or constant over time (stability attribution). To understand such attributions, we perform a meta-analysis. We find that causal attributions are related to emotional and cognitive reactions in several ways. First, controllability attributions elicit stronger negative emotions than do stability attributions. Second, controllability attributions directly affect only transaction-specific satisfaction, whereas stability attributions directly affect customers’ transaction-specific and overall satisfaction. Third, both attributions affect loyalty and negative word of mouth through negative emotions, overall satisfaction, and transaction-specific satisfaction. Finally, contextual (i.e., cultural values), methodological (i.e., type of failure), and measurement factors (i.e., measurement scale) partly explain studywise variation in the effects of attributions on customer outcomes. We recommend that companies manage reactions to service failure thrice: before customers formulate attributional beliefs, using fast and accurate communication; when the attributional beliefs are formed, offering employee assistance and compensations; and well after the attributional beliefs are established, providing feedback on process improvements by the company.

The last few decades testify that consumers’ concerns for healthier lifestyles and environment care are driving forces for reshaping food buying intentions and their perspectives on food quality. The present study identifies the importance that consumers attach to quality, health, and environment selected cues of purchased food products. More precisely, to elicit preferences for social, environmental, and qualitative food cues, a survey instrument was developed and applied on 797 Belgian and Romanian consumers. Our findings suggest that investigated consumers most frequently use freshness, taste, and appearance to evaluate food quality. The use frequency of food quality cues related to health is primarily influenced by the attention paid to food quality. The most relevant cues of food healthiness are ingredients, nutrition facts, and additives and for food environmental impact are packaging, food origin, and production type. It is concluded that food quality receives high attention both from Belgian and Romanian consumers and health and environment related cues can be used as a means of improving consumer health and environmental protection.