We compared and contrasted 11 European case studies to identify challenges and opportunities toward the operationalization of marine and coastal ecosystem service (MCES) assessments in Europe. This work is the output of a panel convened by the Marine Working Group of the Ecosystem Services Partnership in September 2016. The MCES assessments were used to (1) address multiple policy objectives simultaneously, (2) interpret EU-wide policies to smaller scales and (3) inform local decision-making. Most of the studies did inform decision makers, but only in a few cases, the outputs were applied or informed decision-making. Significant limitations among the 11 assessments were the absence of shared understanding of the ES concept, data and knowledge gaps, difficulties in accounting for marine social–ecological systems complexity and partial stakeholder involvement. The findings of the expert panel call for continuous involvement of MCES ‘end users’, integrated knowledge on marine social–ecological systems, defining thresholds to MCES use and raising awareness to the general public. Such improvements at the intersection of science, policy and practice are essential starting points toward building a stronger science foundation supporting management of European marine ecosystems.

Consumer perceptions of the effectiveness of precise prices in communicating good value are compared to that of just-below prices in a retail context. Two studies demonstrate that a retailer employing a precise pricing strategy is seen as offering lower prices relative to one using just-below prices. The likelihood of consumers going to a competitor in hope of finding a better deal was also lower with precise compared to just-below prices. However, this precision effect disappeared when two prices—an original and a discount one—were displayed as part of a promotional discount.

This article investigates the differential impact of promoting added versus subtracted ingredients in products on consumer response. It proposes a new counterinferencing process that leads to a subtracted ingredient effect such that the promotion of a subtracted relative to an added ingredient results in a more favorable response. It also suggests that the regulatory orientation cued by the host product's category moderates this effect such that a match between the ingredient strategy and the host category characteristics improve the response. Last, it posits that the counterinferencing process results in a spillover effect which affects the evaluation of a competing product that does not deploy any ingredient-based strategy. The results from a series of studies provide evidence for the subtracted ingredient effect, the moderating role of the host product category, and the spillover effect on competing products. Based on these findings, the current research provides guidelines for selecting category-specific ingredient strategies, and raises a call for regulating not only added but also subtracted ingredients to prevent consumer deception from ingredient promotion on packaging and in advertising.

Given the widespread acceptance of extensions-led brand strategies on the one hand, and a reduction in the size of brand portfolios by marketers and retailers on the other, many product categories now consist largely of extensions of brands from other categories. This paper examines consumers’ evaluation of a brand extension when its competitive context consists of other extensions. The results from two studies show that consumers’ perceptions of the fit of a focal extension with its brand’s core category and their acceptance of the focal extension are conditional on the relationship of the competing extensions with their respective parent categories. This ‘backdrop effect’ is mediated by consumers’ perceptions of fit between the competing extensions’ parent and extension categories and moderated by consumers’ differentiation versus integration mindsets.