This paper presents a rapid assessment of current and likely future impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on rural economies given their socio-economic characteristics. Drawing principally on current evidence for the UK, as well as lessons from the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and the 2007/8 financial crises, it outlines the likely key demand and supply effects, paying attention to the situation for agriculture as well as discussing the implications for rural communities. A distinction is made between the effects on businesses offering goods and services for out-of-home as opposed to in-home consumption. Gendered dimensions are also noted as likely business and household strategies for coping and adaptation. The paper concludes with a brief mapping of a research agenda for studying the longer-term effects of COVID-19 on rural economies.

The study of consumers’ motivations, attitudes and preferences are of great importance for marketing strategy definitions when considering protected designation of origin (PDO) cheeses. Previous research, a survey on PDO cheese retailers, and in depth interviews with PDO cheese producers showed that: “price per kilo”, “cheese texture”, “unit of sale size” and “recognition as PDO” were the main attributes affecting preferences for cheeses in Greater Lisbon’s market. Conjoint analysis was used to estimate utilities for those attributes and to determine the existence of consumer groups with similar preference profiles. Results show that recognition as PDO is the most important attribute for the choice of traditional cheeses, followed by price, texture and unit of sale. Three groups of consumers were identified. The first accounts for 28 per cent of respondents who prefer creamy cheese and are not price‐sensitive. A second group is particularly price‐sensitive: it sums up to 16 per cent of respondents. Finally, representing 56 per cent, are those who value certification quality labels but are not willing to pay a premium price for it. The results found may encourage producers to adjust their marketing efforts to consider the different PDO cheese consumer segments.

In this article, we employ a hypothetical discrete choice experiment to examine how much consumers are willing to pay to use technology to customize their food shopping. We conjecture that customized information provision can aid in the composition of a healthier shop. Our results reveal that consumers are prepared to pay relatively more for specific information as opposed to the generic nutritional information that is typically provided on food labels. In arriving at these results, we have examined various model specifications including those that useex postde‐briefing questions on attribute non‐attendance and attribute‐ranking information, and those that consider the time taken to complete the survey. Our main results are robust to the various model specifications we examine.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how socio-economic and institutional factors impact UK food retailers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies as revealed in corporate communications and product marketing. Building on institutional theory, the authors empirically examine whether discourse in CSR reports aligns with commercial strategies. Design/methodology/approach: Employing a mixed method approach the authors quantify quotes related to key CSR themes in annual reports and claims on new private label products launched in nine key product categories using information from Mintel’s Global New Products Database. These measures are grouped into eight distinct CSR themes across seven retailers and seven years (2006-2012). Findings: Health and safety and environment are the leading themes in both data sets. Animal welfare, community and biotechnology and novel foods take the middle ground with differing use across reports and products. Fair trade, labor and human resources and procurement and purchasing are the least commonly described themes in reports and on products. Retailers focus on different CSR themes in reports and new products, which may be evidence of competitive rather than pre-competitive strategies. Research limitations/implications: This research shows that UK food retailers CSR strategies between 2006 and 2012 were more competitive than pre-competitive, which is in line with theory that suggests economic pressures decrease incentives to cooperate. However, this research is limited to innovation data and analysis of CSR reports. A more complete analysis would need to consider sales or consumption data, wider sources of corporate communications and independent measures of social, environmental and economic impact. The authors’ findings caution policy makers to be wary of retailers commitments to voluntary agreement pledges, particularly when the competitive environment and economic conditions are more challenging. Practical implications: Firms are increasingly pressured to contribute to social and environmental domestic and international commitments. Business should enhance coordination between CSR offices and commercial divisions to develop more consistent and effective social responsibility programs. Originality/value: This is the first attempt to compare the evolution of CSR discourse and marketing strategy over time and across businesses in a key retail market.