This study extends previous research by exploring perceptions of healthiness in the international food marketplace. To this end, it aims to fill an important gap by shedding light on the role of country of origin in shaping perceptions of healthiness. The authors provide evidence that domestic and foreign food products elicit different perceptions of healthiness. Consumers choose domestic products because they perceive them as healthier and more natural. The effect holds across different samples and product categories (apples, tomatoes, bread, and yogurt). However, this healthiness bias vanishes when products are presented as posing health risks and when products are introduced with a dual identity (i.e., both foreign and domestic). Researching these health-related effects helps provide a better understanding of consumer attitudes toward domestic- versus foreign-made food products.

Prior research on the use of scent in advertising has shown that scent can enhance the memorability of and engagement with an ad. However, can scenting an ad also change the way consumers perceive and react to the advertised product? This research provides new insights for this question and demonstrates an additional facet of scent: its ability to physically represent the essence of a target product and thus induce a sense of proximity. Through six studies, the authors show that scented ads enhance consumers’ sense of proximity of the advertised product and consequently increase product appeal. In line with the proposed visceral nature of the effect, this effect holds even for unpleasant scents but is contingent on the scent’s ability to represent the advertised product. The effect is weakened when the product is physically close. The findings of this research have implications for when and why firms should use scented ads.

No abstract

What type of reward attracts customers to loyalty programs? Given the increasing importance of loyalty programs, this question matters. Six sequential studies investigated whether monetary rewards universally attract people more than nonmonetary rewards. Results suggest that monetary rewards elicit a very robust attractiveness premium both on the level of individual rewards as well as on the level of entire reward programs. Across different industries, the more monetary loyalty program was consistently perceived as more attractive, and it was more likely to inspire intentions to join the program. Even in light of variations in consumption goals (hedonic vs. utilitarian), the effect persisted. The effect is not only consistent; it is also nonnegligible with medium effect sizes emerging in most settings. We discuss ensuing variations in effect sizes and conclude that monetarism holds a pervasive temptation for consumers that managers cannot ignore.

The aim of this paper is to discuss existing consumption culture approaches and to analyse various consumption patterns determined by national, ethnic and religious differences. The current consumer culture is usually approached from two major positions: consumption homogeneity and consumption heterogeneity. Although globalisation has penetrated a number of areas in the modern world, one can see that consumption patterns have not become universal. The differences exist not just among the countries, but in some cases even within countries. The migration and population trends make these differences even higher. Even though the tendency of using the same products could be noticed all over the world, the reasons for consumption are different due to various national, religious or ethnical values. Paper type: general review.