PurposeThis study analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of locally produced food. In particular, it examines an extended model of the theory of planned behavior, with the addition of the perceived risk of becoming infected with the disease, locavorism and internal locus of control.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs data collected from an online panel of consumers from the five largest cities in Spain (n = 1,000). It uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test and validate the proposed theoretical model.FindingsThe results indicate that the perceived risk of COVID-19 drives consumers to embrace locavorism more and, although locavorism is a strong predictor of attitude, internal locus of control also has a strong impact on attitude and switching intentions. Subjective norm and attitude are strong predictors of switching intentions and purchase intentions, and switching intentions also have a powerful impact on purchase intentions.Originality/valueThis study extends previous research on locally produced food consumption in that it has proposed and tested a new conceptual model with the inclusion of the perceived risk of COVID-19, locavorism, internal locus of control and switching intentions, which were found to have an influence on purchasing behavior.

No abstract

Despite growing applications of social and healthcare marketing to enhance public well-being through anti-stigma campaigns, little research investigates how public stigma surrounding health conditions might limit the outcomes of these campaigns. By drawing on the theory of implicit worldviews, this study identifies reasons for public stigma as well as associated message frames to address these reasons. Study 1a provides evidence that implicit worldviews are relevant to campaign results. Study 1b and Study 2 demonstrate that fitting consumers' implicit worldview with suitable (i.e., biomedical or biopsychosocial) health frames reduces stigma endorsement. Study 3 identifies the perceived severity of a mental illness as a boundary condition; marketing communications have the greatest impact when they refer to an illness with lower perceived severity. Finally, Study 4 expands understanding of the phenomenon by extending the findings to physical health conditions (i.e., obesity). The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for policy and future applications. Keywords Social marketing. Mental illness. Stigma. Healthcare marketing. Message framing. Implicit worldviews. Biomedical model. Biopsychosocial model Marketers can develop solutions to challenging societal problems (Andreasen et al. 2005; Lee and Kotler 2011), including wellbeing. For example, social marketing campaigns can target attitudes and behaviors related to schizophrenia, depression, suicide, smoking, alcohol abuse, and obesity (Kotler 2011). Most prior efforts have focused on individual behavioral changes, such Jan-Hinrich Meyer was part of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara, Mexico during the submission process of this paper. The first author collected and analyzed the data. Martin Mende served as Area Editor for this article.

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link 2 ABSTRACTThe long-term relationship between the general economy and healthcare expenditures has been extensively researched, to explain differences in healthcare spending between countries, but the mid-term (i.e., business-cycle) perspective has been overlooked. This study explores business-cycle sensitivity in both public and private parts of the healthcare sector across 32countries. Responses to the business cycle vary notably, both across spending sources and across countries. Whereas in some countries, consumers and/or governments cut back, in others, private and/or public healthcare buyers tend to spend more. We also asses long-term consequences of business-cycle sensitivity, and show that public cost cutting during economic downturns deflates the mortality rates, whereas private cut backs increase the long-term growth in total healthcare expenditures. Finally, multiple factors help explain variability in cyclical sensitivity. Private cost cuts during economic downturns are smaller in countries with a predominantly publicly funded healthcare system and more preventive public activities.Public cut backs during contractions are smaller in countries that rely more on tax-based resources rather than social health insurances.3

No abstract