Fresh produce has rich sensory attributes, and consumers generally prefer examining physically these sensory attributes prior to purchase. The nature of e-commerce, however, limits consumers’ ability to examine products’ sensory attributes while buying online. Customers receive very limited intrinsic cues of fresh produce (such as color) when buying online and thus use only extrinsic cues to assess the quality of fresh produce. This study investigates the effects of extrinsic cues on online shopping for fresh produce, with a particular focus on the effect of geographical indication (GI), which often assumes the role of brand names among producers of fresh groceries. We used data from an online South Korean marketplace for fresh produce to conduct a linear regression analysis. The results show that products linked to GIs sold more and were ordered more frequently; other control variables had somewhat significant effects. The volume of online product reviews was found to have a significant positive effect on the amount of orders and sales, but the product rating itself did not have an effect. The price had a negative effect on the amount of orders, while the number of certifications (e.g. “organic agriculture”) had a significant positive effect on the number of orders.

As sodium and sugar intake in South Korea exceed recommended levels, the government and food industry have been attempting to reduce the amount of sodium and sugar in the food products. In line with these efforts, this study sought to examine how the purchase intention for low-sodium/low-sugar products vary based on consumers’ previous choices of low-sodium/low-sugar products and other consumer-related factors. For this study, two online survey-based experiments were conducted: one using soy sauce to represent a sodium-based product and the other using yogurt to represent a sugar-based product. The significant variables that influenced the purchase intention for both were the consumers’ previous low-sodium/low-sugar product choices and their propensity for food neophobia. Consumers who had previously selected regular products showed a lower intention to purchase low-sodium soy sauce or low-sugar yogurt. In addition, those who had a strong tendency toward food neophobia also had a significantly lower purchase intention for these products. Moreover, the lower the consumer′s unhealthy = tasty intuition (UTI), the higher the purchase intention for the low-sodium soy sauce, but UTI did not act as a significant variable for the low-sugar yogurt. These results demonstrate that government interventions for low-sodium products and low-sugar products should be differentiated.

Background : The consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dietary supplements correlate. Most previous studies have aimed to identify the determinants of supplement uses or the distinct features of supplement users; this literature lacks a discussion on dietary supplement consumption as a predictor of fruit and vegetable consumption. Objective : This study examines how dietary supplement consumption correlates with fruit and vegetable consumption by combining scanner data and surveys of Korean household grocery shopping. Methods : Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to identify the relationship between dietary supplement consumption and fruit and vegetable consumption in a household. A logit regression using supplement consumption as the dependent variable is used. Then, the supplement takers (the treatment group) are matched with non-takers (the control group) based on the propensity scores estimated in the logit regression. The fruit and vegetable consumption levels of the groups are then compared. Results : We found that dietary supplement use is associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption. This supports the health consciousness hypothesis based on attention bias, availability heuristics, the focusing effect, and the consumption episode effect. It rejects the health substitute hypothesis based on economic substitutes and mental accounting. Conclusions : Future research on the health benefits of dietary supplements should address the complementary consumption of fruits/vegetables and their health benefits to avoid misstating the health effects of supplements.

Alternative food networks (AFNs) have emerged in response to the conventional industrial food system, which distances and detaches food production from food consumption. Food cooperatives are representative of AFNs where relationships between food producers and consumers are reconfigured. This study examines household food cooperative membership and changes in food purchase behavior using household panel data gathered by the Rural Development Administration of Korea. In particular, it aims to provide insight into the effect of AFNs on consumer food purchase behavior, including expenditure per food category and visit frequency ratio per store format. The ordinary least squares regression model was used. The findings show that depending on the ownership of AFNs, expenditure per food category and visit frequency ratio per store format vary. Food cooperative members tend to purchase less processed food and more fresh vegetables and fruits than nonmembers. Moreover, food cooperative membership significantly influences the decrease in visits to small supermarkets and traditional markets when purchasing groceries.

The variety of socially responsible corporate activities employed in the agrifood industry has been broadening. An increasing number of agrifood companies have been employing strategic approaches to socially responsible activities, reinforced by Porter and Kramer’s concept of creating shared value (CSV). This study compares the effects on corporate evaluations of two socially responsible corporate activities: philanthropic giving and CSV. Because prior studies concerning the effects of corporate prosocial behaviors on consumer responses have yielded mixed results, the present study examines the effects of a priori perceptions of companies by using corporate stereotypes as moderators. The results show that the type of socially responsible corporate activity (CSV vs. philanthropic giving) does not influence corporate evaluations. However, in cases of CSV (vs. philanthropic giving), consumers evaluate an unwarm but competent company more attractively and place higher value on an incompetent but warm company. This research is important not only for enriching existing literature, but also for providing guidelines to practitioners with respect to selecting appropriate corporate initiatives based on perceived consumer stereotypes.