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Purpose – In response to food scares related to high levels of agro-chemical residues sometimes found on foods, consumers in China increasingly demand for organic foods. As little is known on consumer perceptions and attitudes toward organic food products, the purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the purchase of organic food products by consumers and to explore the main factors driving this process. Design/methodology/approach – Mixed (quantitative and qualitative) market survey approaches were used to provide a potentially deeper insight into consumer’s perspective and could help get a better picture of the complex factors involved. Findings – The main trigger for purchasing organic food products is that consumers expect them to be healthier and safer. The respondents who have bought organic food products tend to have a higher education level and disposable incomes, be families with children and be older than those who have not bought them. The main barriers to increasing the market share of organic food products are the consumers’ lack of knowledge, the relatively high price premium and the lack of availability of organic food products. Informing consumers about unique characteristics of organic production methods, the decline in the prices of and increasing the availability of organic food products to its customers might be a promising strategy to develop the market for organic food products. Originality/value – This paper provides a unique insight into buying behavior and attitudes of organic consumers in China. The results of the research could provide information for the organic food industry to expand its market and improve its profitability and reliability.

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Despite the absence of major Quaternary glaciations in arid Northwest China, significant climatic oscillations definitely impacted the evolution of the biota in situ. Phylogeography has grown as a discipline because it has provided explicit tools for the study of geographical subdivision among populations. But phylogeographical application for arid Northwest China has begun to blossom, which has provided evidence that aridification played a significant role in the increase of genetic diversity and species diversification. The time frame corresponds with Pleistocene climatic oscillations, which caused extreme aridity and the expansion of sandy deserts. In the Asian desert flora subkingdom and Eurasian forest subkingdom of Northwest China, the recurrent phylogeographical scenarios, identified by different case studies, broadly agree with longstanding biogeographic, floristic, and topographic concepts: (i) aridification promoted diversification and speciation of desert plants; (ii) desert expansion caused habitat fragmentation; (iii) the Altay-Tianshan Mountains included glacial refugia for plants; (iv) population expansion and recolonization from glacial refugia occurred during the postglacial period; and (v) desert plants persistence and alpine plants retreat during climate oscillations. We discuss the main phylogeographical findings in light of molecular and paleo-environmental evidence, emphasizing notable gaps in our knowledge and outlining future research perspectives for disentangling the evolutionary history of this arid region's flora.

Purpose -Thriving brand communities are inseparable from engaged members and their word-of-mouth behavior. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which customer experience elevates customer engagement and consequent word-of-mouth intention in online brand communities, and how. Design/methodology/approach -From the perspective of service ecosystem theory, a framework with several hypotheses was proposed. The model was verified with structural equation modeling based on questionnaire data collected from smartphone communities in China. Findings -Empirical results indicate that customer experience promotes community engagement, and further enhances word-of-mouth intention. Furthermore, the mediating effect of community engagement in the relation between customer experience (social support and flow) and word-of-mouth intention has been verified. Practical implications -This paper informs practitioners about the importance of experience co-creation with community members in brand and community promotion, and provides several implications to encourage more engaged customers with fostering pleasant customer experiences. Originality/value -This study contributes to the theory of service ecosystem by empirical examination of its several propositions in a brand community context. The paper extends the present theory with the discussion of the mediation effect of community engagement in the continuing value co-creation process.

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