INTRODUCTION:The availability of no- and low-alcohol (NOLO) products could lead to reduced consumption of full-strength alcohol, although concerns exist about their marketing and links to full-strength alcohol brands. This study examines how NOLO beer and cider products are structured, categorised and presented, relative to their full-strength alcohol counterparts, within online alcohol retailers in New Zealand. METHODS:Between July-September 2024 an observational audit was conducted of three nationwide online alcohol retailers (two supermarkets, one liquor retailer). Retailer websites were assessed under relevant search and browsing conditions, examining the availability, visibility and co-presentation of NOLO and full-strength alcohol products, the proportion of NOLO brands with a full-strength alcohol variant and the visibility of information about alcohol content. RESULTS:Full-strength alcohol products appeared on two of the three retailers' home pages, whereas NOLOs were absent. NOLOs comprised 7%-9% of beers/ciders offered. Between 2% and 11% of full-strength alcohol beers/ciders were miscategorised as NOLOs. Searches using NOLO-related terms returned 11%-100% full-strength alcohol products. NOLO products were less prominent than full-strength alcohol products across browsing and search conditions, and usually lower cost. Most NOLOs (83%-92%) were line extensions of full-strength alcohol brands. Between 14% and 33% of NOLO products lacked clear alcohol content information. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:Inconsistencies in the categorisation, presentation and labelling of NOLO and full-strength alcohols were observed in all three online alcohol retailers. These features shape how consumers will encounter alcohol products online and may contribute to consumer confusion. Policy measures to improve the clarity and consistency of online alcohol retail presentation are warranted.

Gene editing technologies could address critical challenges in the food system by producing gene edited foods (GEFs) with enhanced nutrition and climate resilient traits. Despite this potential, support for novel GEFs from stakeholders involved in their development, commercialisation, and marketing, remains uncertain. This research investigates the role of country of origin (COO) branding in promoting GEFs as sustainable food products. Through 28 interviews with New Zealand (NZ) agri-food industry stakeholders, we identify three key themes, 1) Perceptions of GEFs and NZ's COO brand, 2) Inconsistency and incoherency in COO, and 3) Co-creating an adapted and repositioned COO. Findings reveal that stakeholders viewed the misalignment of New Zealand's COO brand, often associated with 'natural' and 'sustainable', as a threat (brand damage) or as an opportunity (brand repositioning). This study provides new insights into branding dynamics by uncovering responses to incoherences created by GEFs within a well-established COO brand. It also offers valuable insights for stakeholders and marketing practitioners on the use of COO branding for sustainable foods.

Grounded in social network theory, this article explores differences in sponsored content across two types of social media influencers. The researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis to compare influencers' content across follower counts. Micro-influencers had lower sponsorship rates and more two-sided messaging. Mega-influencers were more likely to use explicit disclosures and self-revelation. Micro-influencers had higher engagement rates overall, but not for sponsored content. The authors linked these findings to influencers' different social network positions. This article contributes to the conceptualization of micro and mega-influencers as not just a trade-off between popularity and authenticity, but between network centrality and tie strength.

INTRODUCTION:In New Zealand (NZ) vapes (e-cigarettes) are a government-endorsed strategy to help people stop smoking, as well as being used recreationally by people who have never smoked. Nicotine vapes are addictive and many users want to quit. We surveyed current and past users of nicotine vapes to gather insights about their vaping cessation reasons and strategies. METHODS:In December 2022, we undertook a web-based survey in NZ using market research survey panels. Eligible panellists were aged ≥16 years, did not currently smoke and had vaped nicotine. Questions focused on demographics, smoking and vaping status, vaping dependence, strategies used to quit vaping, and triggers for vaping relapse. RESULTS:One thousand one hundred nineteen participants completed the survey: 144 had never smoked; 975 used to smoke, 401 currently vaped nicotine, and 718 used to vape nicotine. Participants were predominantly aged ≥25 years (89%); 63% were female, and 21% were Indigenous Māori and/or Pacific. Predictors of vaping dependence were having smoked or vaped for ≥2 years and vaping >3% nicotine. Reasons for trying to quit vaping included health concerns, disliking feeling dependent, and cost. Quitting strategies included stopping abruptly, nicotine tapering and family/friend support. Triggers for relapse were stress, being around others who vaped and nicotine withdrawal. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:In NZ reasons to quit and triggers to return to vaping are similar to quitting smoking. Until more research is available, it seems appropriate to support people who wish to stop vaping with similar strategies used to support people to quit smoking.

Globally, approximately 30% of food is wasted, leading to severe social, environmental, and financial consequences. Household interventions are crucial, given that most waste occurs at this level. Despite various message trials for waste reduction, the impact of incorporating religious appeals into general messages and their relation to hope remains underexplored due to the complexities of the food waste context. This research fills this void by conducting four experiments to investigate the impact of religious (vs. general) and communal (vs. agentic) appeals on consumers' intention to reduce food waste. Participants were randomly exposed to various appeals to assess how the appeals should be matched to increase intention to reduce food waste. Results show that religious appeals are less effective than general appeals in increasing behavioral intention, and that in order for food waste to be reduced, general appeals should be paired with communal (vs. agentic) appeals. The study also shows that state hope is the underlying mechanism of this effect. This research contributes to the literature on religious appeals, communal (vs. agentic) appeals, and hope theory.

Despite the promise of new gene editing technologies (GETs) (e.g., CRISPR) in accelerating sustainable agri-food production, the social acceptability of these technologies remains unclear. Prior literature has primarily addressed the regulatory and economic issues impacting GETs ongoing acceptability, while little work has examined socio-cultural impacts despite evolving food policies and product commercialisation demanding input from various actors in the food system. Our systematic review across four databases addresses this gap by synthesising recent research on food system actors’ perspectives to identify the key socio-cultural factors influencing GET acceptability. This review extends prior literature by including views from a more diverse range of actors (e.g., farmers and NGOs) and provides a better understanding of their perceived social benefits and concerns. We find food system actors perceive positive and negative impacts of using GETs in agriculture. These perspectives are often entangled in broader debates regarding sustainability and food systems issues (e.g., social justice). We discuss practical recommendations for policymakers, agri-food industry managers, and scientists to better align gene edited foods (GEFs) with food system actors’ values. GEF policy, development, and commercialisation must reflect social values such as collective wellbeing and transparency to improve actors’ acceptability. More research is required among marginalised food actors such as Indigenous and smallholder farmers.

Aims This study explores perspectives of on-pack alcohol warning labels, and how they might influence alcohol purchase and/or consumption behavior to inform culturally appropriate label design for effective behavior change.Methods New Zealand participants >= 18 years, who reported having purchased and consumed alcoholic beverages in the last month were recruited via a market research panel and grouped into 10 focus groups (n = 53) by ethnicity (general population, M & amacr;ori, and Pacific peoples), age group, and level of alcohol consumption. Participants were shown six potential alcohol health warning labels, with design informed by relevant literature, label framework, and stakeholder feedback. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed via qualitative (directed) content analysis.Results Effective alcohol labels should be prominent, featuring large red and/or black text with a red border, combining text with visuals, and words like "WARNING" in capitals. Labels should contrast with bottle color, be easily understood, and avoid excessive text and confusing imagery. Participants preferred specific health outcomes, such as heart disease and cancer, increasing message urgency and relevance. Anticipated behavior change included reduced drinking and increased awareness of harms, but some may attempt to mitigate warnings by covering or removing labels. Contextual factors, including consistent design and targeted labels for different beverages and populations, are crucial. There was a strong emphasis on collective health impacts, particularly among M & amacr;ori and Pacific participants.Conclusions Our findings indicate that implementing alcohol warning labels, combined with comprehensive strategies like retail and social marketing campaigns, could effectively inform and influence the behavior of New Zealand's varied drinkers. Short Summary: Focus groups demonstrate that alcohol warning labels need to be eye-catching, colorful, and contain imagery. Labels must be understandable, with the use of specific and concrete information, avoiding excessive text, ambiguous imagery, and abstract information. Careful label design is important to ensure individuals connect with the messaging of the labels.

A growing literature is examining the potential of grotesque advertising. The aim of this study is to examine whether curiosity or boredom cues in a grotesque advertisement are more effective at enhancing brand attitude and how this effect is moderated by consumers’ construal level. Across three experimental studies, this research shows that a curiosity cue will be more effective among consumers with a high construal level, whereas a boredom cue will be more effective among consumers with a low construal level (Study 1 and an ancillary study, Study 2). Further, perceived fit (based on construal level) mediates these effects (Study 2). This study thus offers a fresh theoretical viewpoint on the efficacy of emotional advertising cues in enhancing consumer evaluations of grotesque advertising by investigating the moderating role of consumers’ construal level. These findings benefit marketers in developing effective advertising strategies featuring grotesque imagery.

More than 50% of New Zealand (NZ) children, which equates to more than 135,000 kids, are overdue for their dental checkups. Of these children, 2,157 are awaiting specialist care which is likely to require general anaesthetic.1,2 Already, more than 8,400 children require a general anaesthetic for multiple tooth extractions each year, costing our health system over $32 million for the general anaesthetic costs alone. Our dental system is failing to keep up with ever-increasing demand, and unfortunately, demand is predicted to become worse.

Food waste is a major global issue. Annually, more than 40% of all food produced for human consumption is sent to landfill, resulting in significant environmental, financial, and social consequences. Importantly, most of this waste happens at the household level. Hence, effective ways to influence intentions and behaviors to reduce household food waste must be identified. This paper investigates the impact of hope elicited by message framing on intentions and behavior relating to food waste reduction, and conditions under which such emotion is more effective. Results show hope elicited by gain (vs. loss) messages mediates the relationship between messages and behavior and intentions, and participants feeling hope show greater intention not to waste food when reading how (vs. why) messages. This research builds on current theory involving hope theory and message framing, presents avenues for future research and discusses managerial implications of message framing relating to behavior change campaigns.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore why and how sharing economy users switch from consumer (e.g. Airbnb guest) to provider (e.g. Airbnb host), and how this helps enrich self-determination theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an exploratory study with users who had been consumers (i.e. Airbnb guests) and had switched to being providers (i.e. Airbnb hosts).FindingsConsumers switch to being providers across four phases: “catalysts”, “enablers”, “drivers” and “glue”. The authors identify various extrinsic and intrinsic motivations unique to the switch and map these against motivators postulated by self-determination theory.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors propose a four-phase process through which consumers become providers. The present study enriches self-determination theory by showing how users' psychosocial needs are addressed through a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that are unique to the role switch. The authors further show how the importance of the three key psychosocial self-determination needs varies through the switch process, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of users' drive for self-determination.Practical implicationsThis study offers several recommendations to help sharing economy platforms improve their processes and communication to encourage a greater number of consumers to switch roles and become providers. These recommendations address two aspects: (1) encouraging consumers to switch roles and become providers (i.e. acquisition) and following this (2) encouraging providers to continue to perform that role (i.e. retention).Originality/valueMuch research has investigated why users become consumers (e.g. Airbnb guests) or providers (e.g. Airbnb hosts) in the sharing economy. However, research to date has not fully embraced the two-sided nature of the sharing economy. Therefore, this is the first paper to explore why and how consumers switch roles and become providers in the sharing economy, and how this helps enrich self-determination theory.

Introduction Alcohol beverages in many countries are required to display health information and warnings on all product packaging, given the individual and societal harm caused by alcohol. It is unclear whether consumers purchasing alcohol online are able to easily view such information. This study examines the presence, type and location of mandatory and voluntary health information and warnings consumers are exposed to when entering online alcohol retail shopping environments in the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand (NZ). Methods Using an observational study design, 1407 randomly sampled alcoholic beverages from 14 online alcohol retailers (7 per country) were reviewed to ascertain the visual presence or absence of mandatory and voluntary health information and warnings. Results UK online alcohol retailers were more compliant than NZ retailers in showing mandatory health information (e.g., alcohol by volume percentage was visible on 92% of alcoholic beverages sold online in the UK, compared to 31% in NZ, p < 0.001). A similar pattern was noted for voluntary health warnings. Online retailers in both countries had a low proportion of alcohol products with the viewable mandatory information, and voluntary health warnings were rarely present and/or viewable. Discussion and Conclusions Mandatory health information and warnings for alcoholic beverages are not fully adhered to within the UK and NZ online retail environments, impacting the ability of consumers to make informed purchase decisions. In both countries, alcohol policy needs to stipulate that mandatory health information and warnings should be clearly viewable on the product page and product imagery of online alcohol retailers.

Food quality certifications have been widely promoted for sustainable goals and addressing consumers' increasing concern for food safety. However, these mechanisms have achieved varied success in practice. Prior research notes the importance of certification and certifying agencies in making tangible an invisible process to build consumer trust in certified food. What we have yet to understand is if and how perceived trustworthiness of food actors, such as growers and retailers in that process, influences consumers' trust in food certification and their food choices. To extend the literature on food certification in a complex network environment, we examined consumer trust in three food certification schemes which represent two types (community-based versus third-party), two certification origins (international versus domestic), and two certification standards (organic versus Good Agricultural Practice or GAP). Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 27 participants in Vietnam. These participants have similar awareness of, access to and capability to afford organic food but differ in their food choice. This is the first study exploring consumers' perceptions of community-based certification in comparison with other third-party certifications in the same market. Our study shows that the variation in consumer trust in certifications depends on their perceived trustworthiness of the food system and its actors to deliver certified food. Findings reveal that the higher the level of trust in the certification, the lower the need for trust in food actors. Conversely, the lower the level of trust in the system, the higher the need for trust in food actors. Importantly, food chain governance, the mechanisms linking growers to retailers, increase consumers' trust in certified food. The study proposes two food governance frameworks to improve consumer trust in certification schemes in developing countries.

PurposeThis paper defines prosumers in light of the COVID-19 crisis and other contexts. It addresses how prosumers helped overcome challenges caused by COVID-19 and is the first paper to develop a taxonomy of prosumers, their differentiating characteristics and the degree to which they are useful in overcoming the challenges of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a literature search of the prosumer literature using the Web of Science and Scopus databases.FindingsThis study solves a definitional dilemma of prosumers and develops six prosumer archetypes displaying the nuances of prosumers. The study shows that the six prosumer archetypes vary in their usefulness in addressing challenges caused by COVID-19. The findings demonstrate the micro (individual), meso (organizational) and macro (societal) benefits offered by prosumers in times of crises.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some clear implications for the prosumer literature, the services literature and the crisis literature by clarifying the role of prosumers in times of crisis.Practical implicationsThis paper offers several implications at the micro (individual), meso (organizational), and macro (societal) levels that are offered by prosumers in times of crises. The benefits of prosumers afford individuals, service practitioners and other organizations ways to remain resilient and strong in the face of significant crises such as COVID-19.Originality/valueThis paper makes three specific contributions. First, it contributes to the service literature by highlighting the role and value of prosumers in crises, an area currently under-researched. Secondly, it developed six prosumer archetypes displaying the nuances of prosumers, contributing to the prosumer literature by sharpening the focus of this versatile phenomenon and demonstrating the differential value of each type of prosumer in times of crises. Lastly, the study advances the prosumer literature by resolving the definitional dilemma of prosumers and by providing a broad, yet specific definition of prosumers that captures the different perspectives evident in the prosumer literature.

Although many countries have promoted organic farming for its benefits, organic food remains a niche market. This study investigates the drivers of purchasing organic food by examining if and how consumers' consumption values influence the food choices of regular buyers, occasional buyers, and non-buyers of organic food. We use consumption values as a theoretical lens for classifying different motives for purchasing organic food. Data were collected using in-depth interviews with 27 Vietnamese participants who were comparable in terms of their awareness of, their ability to afford, and their access to, organic food. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The study advances research in organic food consumption by showing that trust and distrust in the food system, a much wider concept than trust in food labelling, is a determinant of consumption values of organic food, and therefore a determinant of organic food choice. It also makes a valuable contribution to the organic consumption values literature by showing a clear difference in the importance of perceived consumption values across regular buyers, occasional buyers, and non-buyers of organic food. Furthermore, the study advances Sheth's (1991) theory of consumption values by providing a more nuanced understanding of how consumption values can be interrelated.

Trust is a key consideration when purchasing and consuming foods. Food certification is an aspect of food labelling, and is used by policymakers and marketers to increase consumers’ trust in food. Equally important, consumers’ trust in the food system and actors in its supply chain influences their overall perceptions of food safety, and which foods they choose and consume. However, the interaction between consumers’ trust in food chain actors, and consumers’ trust in food certification, has yet to be explored. This study addresses this gap by examining consumers’ perception of food certification, two examples of which are organic, and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), and consumers’ trust in food chain actors. In doing so, we extend the literature on trust in food labelling through the inclusion of social-institutional factors in order to understand variations in trust in food. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and the study employed the social theory of trust as a theoretical framework to guide the analysis. Results show that organic, and GAP food certifications are perceived as a representation of the entire food system. Therefore, its trustworthiness is dependent on consumer perceptions of the food system’s capacity to guarantee organic standards along the entire food chain, which is a manifestation of abstract trust. This study contributes to the trust in food literature by showing that interpersonal trust in food actors, such as retailers or growers, can compensate for a lack of abstract trust in certification. Interpersonal trust is predominantly used to guide consumers’ food choices, particularly in the case where abstract trust in the wider institutional system’s integrity and competence is low.

Food waste has become a pressing problem in the world, leading to a range of economic, social, and environmental issues. As a result, there are increasing calls to develop effective messages that can increase consumer awareness of food waste and its negative impacts. Drawing upon a recent research on the influences of numerical precision on consumer decision making, the present research tests the ‘match-up’ effects between numerical precision and message framing on consumer awareness of food waste issues. Two experimental studies (Ntotal = 799) show that more (vs. less) precise numerical information can increase consumer awareness of food waste issues when combined with a loss message framing, whereas less (vs. more) precise numerical information is more effective when combined with a gain message framing. This research also examines the role of time availability as a boundary condition, such that when perceptions of time availability is heightened or reduced, the predicted effects are attenuated. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The aim of this study was to investigate a social marketing-gamification intervention to reduce sugary drink intake drawing on popular culture of Pasifika secondary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. Students aged 11 to 14 years from one coeducational high school participated in the 11-week pilot study. The 9-week intervention was undertaken in assemblies and classrooms. Baseline and follow-up measures were completed by 227 and 220 students, respectively, of 298 enrolled students. Retention of the "3-6-9" teaching related to maximum daily sugar intake increased from 9% at baseline to 97% at follow-up (P < .0001). Significant increases were observed of students who correctly answered sugar content of drinks. Overall consumption of sugary drink decreased at follow-up by 0.46 glasses per day. The main conclusion from this study was that this school-based gamification educational package to convey messages about sugar content of drinks using popular modes of engagement is a promising intervention that was acceptable and well supported by school staff and students.