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Several research efforts have tried to explain the forces driving food-related decisions. In this article, we explore how individual attitude toward the environment could be a potential determinant of green behavior. This research offers an original methodological framework never adopted in the food consumption domain that is based on the contribution of Campbell Paradigm and the related advancements on attitude measures proposed by the environmental psychology literature. We also contribute to the literature by envisaging a two-dimensional environmental attitude, that distinguishes between attitude toward environmental protection and toward nature appreciation. The ultimate target is to explain consumer purchasing intentions, represented by Willingness to Pay, toward a hypothetical tomato with improved resource use efficiency taking into account consumer psycho-attitudinal propensity towards environmental issues. The analysis is conducted in Italy and in the UK, two countries characterized by different perceptions about tomato as a consumption good and about water related issues. Findings indicate that the two dimensions of consumer attitude affect differently the spending propensity for a sustainable tomato and these differences are also country-specific. The analysis suggests that policies aimed at promoting sustainable food products should also target the consumer type (naturalist or environmentalist) that is more sensible to environmental sustainability.
Lucia Baldi; Maria Teresa Trentinaglia; Teresina Mancuso; Massimo Peri. Attitude toward environmental protection and toward nature: How do they shape consumer behaviour for a sustainable tomato? Food Quality and Preference 2021, 90, 104175 .
AMA StyleLucia Baldi, Maria Teresa Trentinaglia, Teresina Mancuso, Massimo Peri. Attitude toward environmental protection and toward nature: How do they shape consumer behaviour for a sustainable tomato? Food Quality and Preference. 2021; 90 ():104175.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLucia Baldi; Maria Teresa Trentinaglia; Teresina Mancuso; Massimo Peri. 2021. "Attitude toward environmental protection and toward nature: How do they shape consumer behaviour for a sustainable tomato?" Food Quality and Preference 90, no. : 104175.
Climate change is threatening worldwide crop yields and varieties, and the desertification of Southern Europe and Mediterranean areas is endangering the cultivation of tomato, not only one of the most important cultivated crops, but also one of the main pillars of the global food industry. To minimize its environmental impact, current research efforts in Europe are selecting resilient tomato genotypes with reduced use of water and fertilizers. Still, its commercial acceptance depends on consumers’ reaction in terms of interests, attitudes, and willingness to buy and pay for this hypothetical resilient tomato. In our setting, a behavioural gap exists whenever despite an interest for the product, and regardless of a positive attitude towards it, consumers are not willing to pay a premium price for this tomato. This paper focuses on Italians, among the largest tomato consumers across the world, and for whom origin emerges as a relevant consumption driver. We carried out a web-survey, totalling 932 responses. We ran three different ordinal regressions, one for each level of involvement in the purchasing process, identifying the factors affecting consumers’ interest, attitude, and behaviour towards this hypothetical tomato. We prove the existence of a behavioural gap for Italian tomato consumers and observe that this gap widens as consumers’ preferences for origin increase. Hence, policies developing environmentally sustainable products should not forget how consumer preferences for non-strictly environmental attributes might ultimately affect their propensity to buy and pay.
Maria Trentinaglia De Daverio; Teresina Mancuso; Massimo Peri; Lucia Baldi. How Does Consumers’ Care for Origin Shape Their Behavioural Gap for Environmentally Friendly Products? Sustainability 2020, 13, 190 .
AMA StyleMaria Trentinaglia De Daverio, Teresina Mancuso, Massimo Peri, Lucia Baldi. How Does Consumers’ Care for Origin Shape Their Behavioural Gap for Environmentally Friendly Products? Sustainability. 2020; 13 (1):190.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaria Trentinaglia De Daverio; Teresina Mancuso; Massimo Peri; Lucia Baldi. 2020. "How Does Consumers’ Care for Origin Shape Their Behavioural Gap for Environmentally Friendly Products?" Sustainability 13, no. 1: 190.
The global honey market has witnessed constant growth over recent decades, especially in Asian regions. In recent years, the increase in export flows of this product throughout the world has raised the issue of the lack of international import standards and regulations, making trade susceptible to variables that are not only economic, but also social or political. The objective of this study is therefore to explore, using the econometric methodology of gravity models, what the determinants of the international honey trade are, both economic and socio-cultural, and to verify whether a niche market, such as the one being examined, is influenced by these covariates, in a similar manner to the main commodities of the agri-food sector, or if honey displays a unique behavior. The results show that honey market behavior is not statistically different from that of the main agri-food products already studied and that the cultural distance, introduced as a covariate, does not have a significant influence.
Liam Pippinato; Simone Blanc; Teresina Mancuso; Filippo Brun. A Sustainable Niche Market: How Does Honey Behave? Sustainability 2020, 12, 10678 .
AMA StyleLiam Pippinato, Simone Blanc, Teresina Mancuso, Filippo Brun. A Sustainable Niche Market: How Does Honey Behave? Sustainability. 2020; 12 (24):10678.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiam Pippinato; Simone Blanc; Teresina Mancuso; Filippo Brun. 2020. "A Sustainable Niche Market: How Does Honey Behave?" Sustainability 12, no. 24: 10678.
For beekeepers, the beehive stock represents a fundamental means of ensuring the continuity of their activity, whether they are professionals or hobbyists. The evaluation of this asset for economic purposes requires knowledge of the rhythms and adaptations of honey bee colonies during the annual seasons. As in any breeding activity, it is necessary to establish the numerical and economic size of the species bred. Beekeepers are interested in this evaluation to monitor beehive stock. For keeping economic accounts of stock, a specific tool has been developed and proposed, here called the “Honey Bee Colony Inventory (HBCI)”. The HBCI can be used as either a final or preventive scheme to assess the numbers of honey bee colonies and nuclei, and the mortality rate, in order to calculate the monetary value. This tool allows the strength of honey bee colony stocks to be monitored, including fluctuations throughout the year, and will prove useful for determining solutions to maintain or increase how long stocks last. Data can be registered in countries such as Italy where the veterinary authorities request data on the stock owned and its variations. Due to widespread Varroa mite infestations, in recent years, beekeepers have experimented with a range of different biotechniques that have included queen caging as well as drone and total brood removal. To verify its effectiveness for gathering honey bee colony data, the HBCI was used in nine beekeeping farms applying different biotechniques to control Varroa mites: chemical treatment, total brood removal, queen caging and old queen replacement by royal cell insertion. The results are compared and discussed. Out of the nine farms, seven showed negative monetary value according to the HBCI, as expected, due to multiple factors such as the unfavorable climate trend of 2017 in the studied area. The positive aspect is that the application of this tool will allow farmers to monitor, manage and maintain their beehive stocks.
Monica Vercelli; Luca Croce; Teresina Mancuso. An Economic Approach to Assess the Annual Stock in Beekeeping Farms: The Honey Bee Colony Inventory Tool. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9258 .
AMA StyleMonica Vercelli, Luca Croce, Teresina Mancuso. An Economic Approach to Assess the Annual Stock in Beekeeping Farms: The Honey Bee Colony Inventory Tool. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (21):9258.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonica Vercelli; Luca Croce; Teresina Mancuso. 2020. "An Economic Approach to Assess the Annual Stock in Beekeeping Farms: The Honey Bee Colony Inventory Tool." Sustainability 12, no. 21: 9258.
Honey bee colonies are affected by many threats, and the Varroa mite represents one of the most important causes of honey bee disease. The control of the Varroa population is managed by different methods, and in recent years, biotechnical practices are considered preferable to chemical approaches in order to safeguard honey bee health and avoid residues in bee products as well as the appearance of acaricide resistance. However, little is known about the economic performance of beekeeping exploitations in relation to the methods used for tackling Varroa. This study aims to investigate the economic impact of total brood removal (TBR) as a biotechnique to keep Varroa mites under control, and compare this to other common biotechniques and chemical Varroa control in numerous Italian beekeeping case studies. A pool of economic and technical indexes was proposed. The proposed index pool can be included in the development of an expert system (such as a decision support system) able to address the optimal management of this very complex activity, which requires natural resources, land protection, capital and high technical skills. The result showed that the adoption of the TBR biotechnique vs. other biotechniques led to an increase in terms of total revenue (increase values ranging from 11% to 28%) even though more labor is needed (increase values ranging from 43 to 83 min/hive) and a loss of honey production could be recorded in some cases. Additionally, the total expenses, represented mainly by supplemental nutrition and treatments with oxalic acid, affected the economic results of the biotechnical practices. The use of biotechniques vs. chemical control resulted in decreased treatment costs and increased feeding costs. The advantages resulting from not using synthetic acaricides (which are dangerous for honey bee and human health as well as the environment) as well as the advantages linked to the production of new nuclei (which are involved in the maintenance of bee stock and counteract the decline in honey bee population) and pollination ecosystem services could make beekeeping farms more resilient over time.
Teresina Mancuso; Luca Croce; Monica Vercelli. Total Brood Removal and Other Biotechniques for the Sustainable Control of Varroa Mites in Honey Bee Colonies: Economic Impact in Beekeeping Farm Case Studies in Northwestern Italy. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2302 .
AMA StyleTeresina Mancuso, Luca Croce, Monica Vercelli. Total Brood Removal and Other Biotechniques for the Sustainable Control of Varroa Mites in Honey Bee Colonies: Economic Impact in Beekeeping Farm Case Studies in Northwestern Italy. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (6):2302.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTeresina Mancuso; Luca Croce; Monica Vercelli. 2020. "Total Brood Removal and Other Biotechniques for the Sustainable Control of Varroa Mites in Honey Bee Colonies: Economic Impact in Beekeeping Farm Case Studies in Northwestern Italy." Sustainability 12, no. 6: 2302.
The consumption pattern of salami has been subjected to relatively widespread attention by academician, but few studies concerning the health implications of salami consumption have been published. Since additives and product origins represent important attributes for salami, the objective of this paper is twofold: (i) to explore the role of two additives, salt and nitrates, in addition to the Italian origin, in relation to consumer attitudes and preferences towards salami, (ii) to segment consumer behaviour by assessing their willingness-to-buy salami, in order to verify whether different purchasing patterns can be identified within the different social groups. The analysis was conducted on two different levels. The first was developed through a conjoint analysis, while the second implemented a frequency analysis based on a bivariate analysis. Results show the price as one of the most important variables in identifying the quality level of salami, in addition, certain socio-economic segments of consumers show a significant propensity to pay an additional price for salami with a low salt content and is nitrate-free.
Giuseppe Di Vita; Simone Blanc; Teresina Mancuso; Stefano Massaglia; Giovanni La Via; Mario D’Amico. Harmful Compounds and Willingness to Buy for Reduced-Additives Salami. An Outlook on Italian Consumers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 2605 .
AMA StyleGiuseppe Di Vita, Simone Blanc, Teresina Mancuso, Stefano Massaglia, Giovanni La Via, Mario D’Amico. Harmful Compounds and Willingness to Buy for Reduced-Additives Salami. An Outlook on Italian Consumers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (14):2605.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiuseppe Di Vita; Simone Blanc; Teresina Mancuso; Stefano Massaglia; Giovanni La Via; Mario D’Amico. 2019. "Harmful Compounds and Willingness to Buy for Reduced-Additives Salami. An Outlook on Italian Consumers." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 14: 2605.
Aquaculture is assuming ever more importance in diminishing the pressure on wild stocks in the seas and to satisfy the demand of fish worldwide. Prices of feed used in farming fish are increasing, due to the rise in demand. Research on sustainable sources of feed was recently intensified, and insects as meal to substitute soybean and fish meals and fish oils seems a promising field. In particular, only very few papers have explored consumer interest in fish feed. The objective of this study is to explore the attitude and behavior of Northern-Italian consumers of farmed fish fed on insects considering the different phases of the purchasing process: from a general claim to interest in sustainability about the use of marine resources to the attitude in to eating finfish products if fed on insect meals and finally to the decision to purchase. In particular, the study utilizes a quantitative research methodology to explore factors affecting the gap between consumer intention and consumer behavior. Results indicate almost 90 % of consumers have a positive attitude to insect meal as feed and most of the respondents intend to purchase and eat farmed fish even though fed with insect meals. Moreover, interest is mainly affected by socioeconomic variables, knowledge of the issue and the interest attributed to origin and certification. Positive attitude is mainly influenced by interest in this issue and variables linked to appearance and price, whereas the willingness to buy fish fed on insect meals is closely linked to the importance of price and expected price for this kind of fish.
T. Mancuso; L. Baldi; L. Gasco. An empirical study on consumer acceptance of farmed fish fed on insect meals: the Italian case. Aquaculture International 2016, 24, 1489 -1507.
AMA StyleT. Mancuso, L. Baldi, L. Gasco. An empirical study on consumer acceptance of farmed fish fed on insect meals: the Italian case. Aquaculture International. 2016; 24 (5):1489-1507.
Chicago/Turabian StyleT. Mancuso; L. Baldi; L. Gasco. 2016. "An empirical study on consumer acceptance of farmed fish fed on insect meals: the Italian case." Aquaculture International 24, no. 5: 1489-1507.
Worldwide, aquaculture is assuming ever more importance in diminishing the pressure on wild stocks in the seas. Prices of feed used in farming fish are increasing, due the rise in demand. Research on sustainable sources of feed was recently intensified and insects as meal to substitute soybean and fish meals and oils seems a promising field. Consequently we explored future consumer attitude toward the consumption of fish farmed on insect meals, as a mean of enhancing the sustainability of the farming system in aquaculture. We focused our attention on Italian consumers of fish and the results show a sensitive consumer, willing to try an innovative product, interested in research to improve the safe-guarding of marine resources.
L. Baldi; T. Mancuso. Aquaculture production and use of insects for feed: a consumer perspective. 2015, 1 .
AMA StyleL. Baldi, T. Mancuso. Aquaculture production and use of insects for feed: a consumer perspective. . 2015; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleL. Baldi; T. Mancuso. 2015. "Aquaculture production and use of insects for feed: a consumer perspective." , no. : 1.