Jeanette Klink-Lehmann

Supermarkets and related environments are not just places to buy groceries; they are complex environments filled with diverse stimuli that shape consumer behavior and decision‐making processes. Despite their increasing use as study settings, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding which supermarket‐type settings are currently utilized in consumer research and how they are employed to explore consumer behavior. In this systematic mapping review, we aim to address this gap by mapping and characterizing studies that used supermarket‐type settings to investigate consumer behavior in the food domain. We searched Web of Science, Scopus, and Medline using the PRISMA framework, identifying and analyzing 305 scientific articles. We identified the following settings: (a) physical real‐life supermarkets, (b) experimental online supermarkets, (c) real‐life online supermarkets, (d) laboratory supermarkets, (e) laboratory shelves, (f) virtual‐reality supermarkets, and (g) proxies for a supermarket. We report on several variables: study topics, observed behaviors, integrated surveys and technical tools, participants' awareness of being observed and the bindingness of consumer decisions, among others. Additionally, we identify key knowledge gaps, offering insights for guiding future investigations. They relate to study participation effects, the potential of virtual settings, the use of available technologies, the identification of unexplored research topics, how to improve the monitoring of decision effort and other hidden behaviors, and the importance of comparing supermarket settings. This mapping review thus serves as a valuable resource for researchers seeking to conduct intervention, observation, and meta‐analytical studies in consumer behavior within the food sector.

This study investigates consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for dairy products from a production system with cow-calf-contact (CCC) based calf management. Our results provide insights into the extent to which consumer-driven change towards such a more animal friendly production practice is viable in Germany. We test the influence of three communication strategies on the WTP for dairy products from a CCC-based calf management production system using a hypothetical contingent valuation survey on a sample of the German internet-using population. We apply a between-subject design with random exposure to one of the communication strategies. Results indicate that consumers are willing to pay an average 20% markup for dairy products from a CCC-based production with a minimum of three months of suckling. Additional information on the benefits of cow-calf interaction for the calf increases the probability of consumers expressing a positive WTP by 8 percentage points and, given a positive WTP, increases stated markups by 16% on average. Information on other consumers’ purchase behaviour or the innovativeness of the production system did not affect stated WTP in our sample. The results offer a potential upper bound for other CCC production systems, e.g., using foster cows. We conclude that information on livestock benefits in consumer communication could raise acceptance and support transitions towards more animal friendly production systems.

It is evident that sustainable meat consumption and production require shared responsibility for actions and consequences by consumers and producers. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the relevant focus areas within the meat food value chain that consumers attach relevance to. Furthermore, the study provides an understanding of potential actions of consumer social responsibility (C_NSR) and reasons for not taking responsibility. The study is based on an online consumer survey (n = 1003) including standardized and open-ended questions. Data were analyzed via content analysis using a combination of inductive and deductive analyses in an iterative process. Results reveal that consumers consider animal husbandry as the core area where there is a need to take responsibility. This is followed by food safety, slaughtering, and transport, while environment and social issues related to the working conditions of employees are judged to have lower relevance. In most focus areas, the large majority of respondents attribute responsibility to one or several of the other stakeholder groups but not to consumers of meat products. Recommendations for the meat sector as well as for policymakers are derived in this paper to further encourage meat consumers to take their part of the overall responsibility.

Purpose: While research shows that organic labels are perceived positively for most food products, the findings are more ambiguous for wine. This may be due to the complexity of the product. Accordingly, the labelling effect might be influenced by people's prior knowledge of wines and their attitudes towards organic wines and thus be more pronounced for certain consumer groups. Providing insights into those moderators could help to steer people towards sustainable wine consumption. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the effect of organic labelling on consumers' liking of, and their willingness to pay (WTP) for white wine, and the role of potential moderators.Design/methodology/approach: A wine tasting experiment was conducted using a within-subjects design (n = 214). The mediating role of expected liking and the moderating roles of subjective knowledge and attitude towards organic wine were analysed using the MEMORE macro in SPSS.Findings: The results do not confirm an overall positive halo effect of labelling on liking of organic wine. Nevertheless, a positive halo effect on actual liking was observed for those respondents who have a positive attitude towards organic wine. Furthermore, an overall positive effect of organic labelling on WTP was found. Mediation effects could not be confirmed.Originality/value: This study used an experimental design that considers not only expected liking but also actual liking and WTP for organic wines. Using a moderation-mediation framework helps to better understand consumers' quality evaluation and WTP for organic wine. Finally, it could be shown that the organic halo is more complex for the product category of wine than others have previously stated.

Previous studies have identified health, the environment and animal welfare as key motivations for becoming and remaining vegetarian/vegan. However, the idea of vegetarianism/veganism appears to have interesting facets that go beyond those drivers. This paper describes and examines this attraction. Twenty-six in depth interviews and two group discussions were conducted using the Morphological Psychology approach, which allows the revelation of conscious as well as unconscious drivers based on the detailed narrations of the interviewees. We conclude that the attractiveness of vegetarianism/veganism cannot only be explained by the classical and conscious motivations of a meatless or animal-free diet such as improving health and animal welfare. It also comprises less conscious or unconscious drivers of vegetarianism/veganism such as empowerment and enrichment, regaining autonomy and creating identity and superiority in addition to and partly through liberation from a meat production system which is perceived as destructive and threatening.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding about the determinants of consumer food leftovers in out-of-home settings by taking a decomposed perspective on attitudes. Design/methodology/approach: Data on 307 guests in a university canteen composing of stated measures for 12 beliefs, general attitude and behavioral intention and of visually estimated food leftovers are analyzed using exploratory factor and path analyses. Findings: A factor analysis for belief statements derives three distinctive and potentially conflicting attitude dimensions: “Environment,” “Self-Interest” and “Resources.” Path analyses on their interrelation with general attitude, intention and behavior indicate that the dimensions have distinctive effects. Moreover, “Self-Interest” in contrast to the other two dimensions is correlated with situational perceptions about portion size and taste when these are included as direct determinants of leftovers. Research limitations/implications: It is recommended to consider different dimensions of attitude when addressing food leftover behavior since these dimensions may not be well represented in a classical summary construct and since their relevance may differ depending on situational factors. Additional research is recommended to validate the results for more representative samples of consumers and to elaborate on the interaction of different attitude dimensions as potential source of attitude ambivalence which cannot clearly be determined from the existing data. Originality/value: Past research on consumer food waste behavior models attitudes exclusively as a summary construct. This contradicts qualitative findings that individuals may hold conflicting beliefs about food leftovers.