The enchained potential of the local food market

There is a rising demand for local food which traveled only short distances and is marketed directly by the producer. With growing importance of local food also the amount of literature in this field increased. Yet, literature is lacking to examine the challenges and burdens consumers face while trying to purchase local food. Evidence is shown that a gap exists between the intention of consumers who would like to purchase local food and their actual behavior. However, reasons for this gap are only discovered as byproducts of other research objectives. Consequently, this study investigates the specific reasons for the intention-behavior gap of consumers in the local food market. The study makes use of semi-structured face-to-face interviews with rural and urban respondents. The interviews are analyzed by qualitative content analysis based on Elo and Kyngäs (2008). Revealed key drivers for the intention-behavior gap are (1) the lack of awareness where to purchase local food products, (2) the limited reachability of local food producers, (3) the assortment of the local producer in regard to size and composition and (4) the lack in transparency of the prices of local food. Consequently, it is the producers turn to eliminate the revealed barriers by proactively bringing their products closer to the consumer.

The antecedents of post-initial adoption behavior in a S-D logic context

Repercussions of innovation adoption and diffusion studies have long been imperative to the success of novel introductions. However, perceptions and deductions of current innovation understandings have been changing over time. The paradigm shift from the goods-dominant (G-D) logic to the service-dominant (S-D) logic potentially makes the distinction between product (goods) innovation and service innovation redundant as the S-D logic lens views all innovations as service innovations (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; 2008; Lusch and Nambisan, 2015). From this perspective, product innovations are in essence service innovations, as goods serve as mere distribution mechanisms to deliver service. Nonetheless, the transition to such a broadened and transcending view of service innovation necessitates concurrently a change in the underlying models used to investigate innovation and its subsequent adoption. The present research addresses this gap by engendering a novel model for the most crucial period of service diffusion within the S-D logic context – the post-initial adoption phase, which demarcates an individual’s behavior after the initial adoption decision of a service. As a wellfounded understanding of service diffusion and the complementary innovation adoption still lingers in its infancy, the current study develops a model based on interdisciplinary domains mapping. Here fore, knowledge of the relatively established viral source domain is mapped to the comparatively undetermined target domain of service innovation adoption. To assess the model and test the importance of the explanatory variables, survey data from 750 respondents of a bank in Northern Germany is scrutinized by means of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings reveal that the continuance intention of a customer, actual usage of the service and the customer influencer value all constitute important postinitial adoption behavior that have meaningful implications for a successful service adoption. Second, the four constructs customer influencer value, organizational commitment, perceived usefulness and service customization are evidenced to have a differential impact on a iv customer’s post-initial adoption behavior. Third, this study indicates that post-initial adoption behavior further underlies the influence of a user’s age and besides that is also provoked by the internal and external environments of service adoption. Finally, this research amalgamates the broad view of service innovation by Nambisan and Lusch (2015) with the findings ensuing this enquiry’s model to arrive at a framework that it both, generalizable and practically applicable. Implications for academia and practitioners are captured along with avenues for future research.

Young adult Brazilian beauty consumers perception of Lancôme and the effectiveness of social media relationhips with local celebrities on their purchase intention

The aim of this research is to evaluate if a premium beauty brand, in this case, Lancôme, can influence positively the purchase intention from Brazilian young adults, between 18 and 29 years old, consumers of beauty products, by initiating a relationship with a local celebrity or “it” girl on social media. This hypothesis has not been tested, and this research is a first attempt of evaluating it. Additionally, the consumer behavior, brand preferences and social media activeness of this age segment in Brazil are further studied as important insights for beauty brands to conquer these consumers. Results did not confirm the positive influence of local celebrities on this age segment’s purchase intention but several suggestions are made for future research to revisit this topic. Furthermore, there is a significant brand love for M.A.C., an international Lancôme competitor, amongst this target, as well as a probable price sensitivity facing premium beauty brands.