Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify consumers' attitudes and behaviour towards organic products in Greece.Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on a non‐probability quota sample of 660 respondents to explore the attitudes and behaviour of Greek consumers towards organic food products.Findings: Greek consumers seem to be informed about environmental and health issues. They seek information about the nutritional value of food and demand more products free from chemical residues. The results show that most consumers associate organic consumption mainly with fruit and vegetables. Although demographics seem to affect attitudes towards organics, their value in explaining actual behaviour is minimal.Research limitations/implications: It is recognized that the data gathered in this study focus on the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki, Greece. The specific area though, is considered to be representative of the total Greek population. The results confirm that health, concern for the environment, animal welfare and support of the local economy are drivers of organic consumption. However, there is an indication that the importance of motives and barriers may vary for different product categories and perhaps future research should focus on product segmentation.Practical implications: Although certain similarities in consumers' attitudes towards organic food products have been identified, this paper records the variation in behaviour towards organics among the various consumer groups examined in Greece, and highlights the gap between attitudes and actual behaviour. Given the complexity of consumer decision making, future research should explore the other value trade‐offs that consumers make.Originality/value: This paper attempts to provide evidence on the relatively under researched area of organics attitudes and behaviour in Greece.

Today, consumers consider food packaging to be as equally important as a product brand. In addition, the increase in smartphone usage by consumers has led marketers to design new forms of packaging. Among the latest marketing trends, smart packaging with the use of QR Codes is emerging as one of the most promising technologies to enhance the information provided to consumers and influence their buying behavior. This study evaluates the use of a QR Code on bottled milk and more specifically on milk produced by one of the most well-known “boutique” Greek dairy producers. It consists of two phases. In the first one, data was gathered from 537 consumers of the product to capture and analyze their (i) buying behavior, (ii) perception of the product’s package, and (iii) knowledge about the product. In the second phase, a Quick Response (QR) Code was placed on the bottle’s label. Consumers who scanned it were linked to a web page containing information on the product. A total of 308 from the 537 initial respondents scanned the code, accessed the site, and answered the second questionnaire. Similar to the first stage, (i) the consumers’ buying behavior, (ii) their perception of the product’s package, and (iii) their knowledge about the product were examined, following their visit to the above-mentioned website through the QR Code. The objective was to evaluate the use of web applications using enriched text information. The results show that a QR Code on the packaging of food products, which directs consumers to entertaining and enriched content, results in an increased level of usage intention. Moreover, they proved that comprehension and self-confidence are higher with the adoption of the QR Code. In addition, the use of QR Codes enables businesses to provide timely and accurate information and positively influence consumers′ buying behavior.

Purpose – The present study aims to discuss the role of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism, on the use of various humor types in print advertising, across culturally diverse countries. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 12,351 ads (3,828 humorous) from the largest circulated UK and Greek magazines was content-analyzed in light of Speck's humorous message taxonomy, emphasizing humor types and intentional relatedness. Findings – The results indicate that cultural diversity is reflected in the types of humorous devices that tend to be used in the UK and Greece. British advertisements incorporate not only sentimental but also disparaging humor types such as sentimental humor and full comedy, providing a great deal of pure entertainment. On the contrary, Greek print ads emphasize cognitive humorous appeals, in an attempt to provide credible information to the uncertainty-avoiding Greek audience. Practical implications – The findings of this study highlight some key aspects of UK and Greek print advertising that can be extended in other homogeneous cultures. In individualistic countries with low uncertainty avoidance, it seems that consumers prefer humor-dominant messages. On the contrary, in collectivistic countries with high uncertainty-aversion attitudes, humor can be used as a Trojan horse to convey the required information to the target group. Originality/value – The present study points out how advertisers' intentions to entertain or to inform the target audience are expressed in the use of various humor types in advertising, underlining, also, the effect of cultural values on these communication decisions.

Recent advancements in research on green marketing indicate that green marketing strategies have a notable impact on consumers’ attitudes, intentions, and behavior. However, despite consumers expressing environmental concerns and holding positive attitudes toward green initiatives, their enthusiasm is not consistently translated into actual purchase intentions and green purchases, revealing a noticeable gap between attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. To date, the drivers contributing to this gap have been narrowly investigated, particularly focusing on consumers’ growing apprehensions about greenwashing. Based on an integrated framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and green purchase behavior (GPB), the present study probes the conditional indirect effect of consumers’ attitudes toward green purchases on green purchase behavior through their purchase intentions that are moderated by greenwashing concerns. An online survey with 364 participants indicates that purchase intentions mediate the relationship between attitudes and green product purchase behavior. Attitude toward green products in high (compared to low) levels of greenwashing concerns seems to have a significantly less positive effect on green purchase intention and in turn on green purchase behavior.

Consumer interest in environmental protection has grown in recent decades, alongside a shift in companies’ strategies to embrace a greener way of doing business. Green advertising is rapidly expanding and gaining popularity. With more and more consumers being actively involved in social media searching and purchasing products, social media advertising is transformed into a principal way of communication. Although prior research has addressed green marketing and advertising, their presence in social media has been largely neglected. Based on a systematic review approach, the present study addresses recent trends and developments in green advertising on social media. We used PRISMA for the systematic review of eighty-one articles published between 2011 and 2022. Green advertising content, and greenwashing in particular have attracted significant research interest. Green skepticism and the role of generations are gaining popularity. The descriptive analysis provides article, author, and journal-related information (i.e., citations, year of publications, journals, etc.). This systematic literature review reports the trends in the topic, highlights existing research gaps, and suggests future research avenues. Research and managerial implications are discussed.

Purpose: Clustering is a highly popular and widely used tool for identifying data-based market segments. The purpose of this paper is to apply cluster analysis to identify homogeneous subgroups among impulse buyers based on their demographic characteristics and their preference of atmospheric elements. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a survey approach with 480 fashion consumers, the study discusses impulse purchases during financial crisis. SPSS process is used to determine the effect of atmospherics on impulse purchases as well as the moderating role of demographics. Cluster analysis (k-means method) is used to determine specific segments of impulsive consumption. Findings: Despite a significant effect of atmospherics on consumers’ impulsiveness, the frequency of purchases is not significantly affected indicating that the economic environment may shape impulsive behavior. Gender, age and education seem to moderate the above relationship. Demographics and store atmospherics define specific segments of impulse buyers. Research limitations/implications: The study identifies the clusters formed through the interaction of atmospherics with demographics. It further identifies the impact of atmospheric factors in the case of an economy in crisis. In times of financial hardship, store atmospherics, although appealing, do not seem to adequately promote impulse buying behavior. Understanding consumer’s impulsive behavior based on distinctive profiles is of outmost importance to retailers seeking to increase consumption, in particular under conditions of financial hardship. Originality/value: The present study explores the role of environmental characteristics on consumers’ impulse behavior amidst a financial crisis and identifies the characteristics of specific segments of consumption.