european master in business studies universität kassel exposÉ€¦ · in the uk, "one third...
TRANSCRIPT
European Master in Business Studies Universität Kassel
EXPOSÉ Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries
Submitted by Luca Rocchetti Kassel, Germany 17/10/2015
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 1
List of Abbrevations
BMI Body Weight Index
FDA US Food & Drug Administration
HBM Health Belief Model
RFT Regulatory Focus Theory
TPB Theory of Planned Behaviour
TRA Theory of Reasoned Action
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 2
Abstract
Title: Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle between Sportsmen and Couch
Potatoes / Sedentaries
Key Words: Sportsmen; Sedentary; Consumer Behaviour; Lifestyle; Health; Healthy Food;
Lifestyle
Background
Nowadays, the rate of people overweight and obese is increasing worldwide. The main two
causes are shortage of the physical activity done and the bad quality of food consumed.
Although it is difficult to define exactly what a healthy lifestyle is, there are some guidelines
spread by the Countries and different authorities and agencies with the aim to help citizens
being health. Nevertheless, given the recent digits and trends, it seems that not many people
are aware of this problem or they just do not care.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to verify whether it exists and how sport activities influence the
behaviour of people in conducting a healthy lifestyle. Indeed, in the older literature, only few
studies have been done in this field and quite a long time ago and focusing on a particular group
of people (for instance children 9.10 Yo,), while the majority of the studies focus on whether
there is a correlation between sport activities and weight or diet.
Method
An online and paper survey will be spread among people living in Italy, Great Britain
(England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland) and German-speaking language (Germany, Austria)
in order to collect the data necessary in order to carry out a quantitative research. Data will be
analysed through the use of software such as Sphinx iQ and Declic.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 3
Introduction
Background
Health and healthy lifestyle
It is important to conduct a healthy lifestyle and, in particular, to be health because being
overweight and obese increase the risk of mortality. Indeed, they may lead to some chrome
disease such as diabetes and hypertension but also cancer, just to name a few.
Some of the most common suggestion for a healthy lifestyle are eat many fruits and vegetables,
avoid eating fat and sugary drinks, avoid deep fried foods, do some physical activity every day
as far as possible (i.e. do the stairs instead of using the elevator, if possible opt for walking
instead of using the car,..) etc. etc..
It is difficult to define exactly what a healthy lifestyle is but one short definition that better try
to explain is the following.
“A healthy lifestyle construct is operationalized as the level of physical activities an individual
undertakes, such as natural food consumption, health care, and life equilibrium” (Mei‐ Fang
Chen, 2009).
Nowadays, almost all the countries are facing problems related to health and obesity. Two main
causes, a part from natural factor affecting some cases, are lack of physical activity and bad
alimentation. According to the WHO statistics (‘WHO | Obesity and overweight’, 2015), the
“number of people obese has more than double since 1980 and in 2014 more than 1.9 billion
adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese”.
People are classified to be overweight when they have a body weight index (BMI), which is a
ratio of weight to height, of more than 25 and obese when it is more then 30.
“Europe faces an obesity crisis of "enormous proportions" as unhealthy diets and physical
inactivity inflate waistlines and health costs”, the World Health Organization claimed during
the European Congress on Obesity in Prague.
In the UK, "one third (33 percent) of women are forecast to be obese in 2030, compared with
over one quarter (26 percent) in 2010," the congress press statement said.
According to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (National Statistics, 2013), in
2011/12, 15.5 million adults participated in sport at least once a week for 30 minutes at
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 4
moderate intensity. This equated to 36% of adults (41% of men and 31% of women). This
percentage is low, especially for women.
According to Eurostat (Eurostat, 2014), the share of the population that was overweight or
obese generally increased with age.
That is due to different reasons linked to nowadays life. Indeed, modern life and the
environment in where we live highly influence people lifestyle.
Adults spend about six hours a day engaged in sedentary pursuits (watching TV and other
screen time, reading and other low-energy activities). On average, men and women spend 2.8
hours watching television per weekday and this rises to about three hours on weekends.
Due to the lack of green spaces and to changes of the conception of the city itself, the majority
of the activities done in the leisure time are indoors rather than outdoors.
Many people do not have breakfast in the morning and do not eat enough fruits and vegetables.
Longer working hours and more desk-job have double negative effect: they limit the
opportunities to do other sport activities during the working day and cause people to eat “out-
meal” at any time of the day.
Studies conducted led to the results that “in general, studies do not support the hypothesis that
obese people eat more, or are less physically active than nonobese people” (Baecke, van
Staveren, & Burema, 1983). However, that studies were done in 1983 or earlier, therefore their
validity today may not be true anymore.
Food
In the last years, it is increased the perceived importance of what we eat. That is caused, also,
by food crises, such as mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth epidemic, the Belgian dioxin scandal,
the use of pesticides and hormones. Those are only a few of the food incidents and scandal that
came out in the last years. At the same time, also the environmental awareness is increased.
Those two factors combined together brought an increase of demand for the healthy foods.
“Consumers’ increasing demand for organic food may also be attributable to socially-conscious
consumerism. More consumers are aware of the environmental, social, and economic impacts
their choices may incur” (OTA., 2010).
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 5
Consuming healthy food reassure individuals regarding their healthy situation. Therefore,
according to a national consumer survey conducted by Simmons Market Research Bureau,
more than one-third of consumers indicated that they are willing to pay more for
environmentally safe or ethical products than for conventional products.
It is quite difficult to define which foods are healthy and which are not. Indeed, every single
individual has different nutritional needs. In addition to this, a food may be healthy or not
according to how much of it we eat (portion size) and how often. Finally, other factors to
consider are the age, sex and whether an individual does sport activities or not.
According to (Mei‐ Fang Chen, 2009), “organic farming refers to a farming system which uses
organic manure and avoids or largely refrains from using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and
chemicals”. The aim of organic agriculture is to be environmental-friendly, for example
maintaining the fertility of the land and preserving the natural properties of foods produced.
Some countries try to give to citizens a food guides such as “Canada’s Food Guide” for Canada
or the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
FDA states that a food is considered healthy and therefore, it is possible to write so in the label,
when it is low in fat and saturated fat and when the quantity of cholesterol and sodium are not
more than a given edge. In addition to that, it also has to contain at least 10% of one or more
substance such as protein, iron, Vitamin A or C etc. etc. (www.fda.gov).
Health organizations, supermarkets, companies and governments have been trying to combat
diet-related disease, educating citizens, restricting the advertisement and providing them
guidelines and schemes in order to make them informed about what to eat and what do not.
Many different methods have been tried but each of them had a related drawback (Lobstein &
Davies, 2009). That’s because, as already said, it is difficult to define which food is healthy
and good and which is not because that vary person to person according to each’s own needs.
Organic Food
According to Cottingham (‘Soil Association Organic Market Report 2015’, 2015), the global
organic food market in 2013 reached the value of €45.8 billion. In 10 years, it faces an increase
of around 250%. The 47% of the global market was in Europe and Denmark, Switzerland and
Austria respectively have respectively the highest market share worldwide. From those digits,
it is understandable how important this market is becoming with years.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 6
Problem statement:
In the last period, it emerged the problem of overweight and obesity. That is due to the kind of
live we live nowadays. People are more and more under time pressure and do not have time to
eat properly, least of all to cook. Because of that, more and more people eats fast food or pre-
cooked meal and eat “out-meal” whenever they have a break. Many people do not have
breakfast in the morning, which is considered the most important meal of the day. In addiction
to that, there is the problem of the junk food and high caloric and/or food full of fat that are
normally preferred to fruit and vegetable.
In addition to that, many people do not do enough sport or do not do it at all. They spend a big
part of their time sitting (for work, for study, …) and too much time in front of the TV and/or
PC.
Purpose
The purpose is to study whether doing sport affect in health of people not only as a primary
cause but also as a secondary cause affecting the lifestyle of the person that therefore, will eat
more healthy foods. It is expected that the majority of the people that do sport, in order to
increase the gain they can get from it, try to inform themselves about nutrition and are more
careful about what they eat. At the same way, since fresh food and raw materials will be
preferred to pre-cooked food or fast-food, also the time they spend for cooking and for eating
is higher than people that do not sport.
In the other studies has been studied the attitude toward organic foods and/or healthy life style,
the relationship between sport and weight or between sport and diet (van Sluijs et al., 2008)
but just few of them studied the importance that sport may have in having a healthy lifestyle.
In addition to that, the few studies that have been done in this field, just focus on particular
subject, such as child 9-10 years old, and they are very old. Therefore, their results may have
lost their validity.
Theoretical Background
Several factors forge and influence actions and behaviours of individuals. There are many
theories about individuals’ behaviour decisions and about what are the motivation that lead
them to act in that way. In addition to that, there are also theories regarding the healthy
education, health promotion and health behaviour.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 7
It follows an explanation of some theories that have been studied in the years and that influence
the final choice and behaviour of individuals.
The choice of whether to buy or not a given food and which one to buy among the range of
offers is mostly driven by the information owned by the individual. A decision is considered
to be good when it brings either to a high outcome benefits (it is worthwhile) and/or has low
outcome costs (it is worth it) (Higgins, 2000).
When shopping, in order to evaluate a product, consumers evaluate it according to both their
knowledge and the information they got, whether before shopping or while doing so. According
to the Regulatory Focus Theory (Higgins, 1997), consumers react in different ways to different
types of information. There are two different motivational orientations that activate different
needs, according to each own type of self-regulation strategy. Those two orientations are:
promotion focus and prevention focus.
PROMOTION FOCUS PREVENTION FOCUS
Focus on: Hopes, wishes and
aspirations
Protection, responsibilities,
duties and obligations
Moved by Presence (or absence) of
outcomes
Absence (or presence) of
negative outcomes
Motivated by Meet desired end-states Avoid mismatches to desired
end-states or standards
Strategy (Kirmani & Zhu,
2007)
Apply eagerness-related
strategies
Prefer to use accuracy and
vigilance-related strategies
It is about: What to do during goal
pursuit
What not to do / what to
prevent during goal pursuit
Importance of cues Sensitive to presence /
absence of positive cues
Sensitive to presence /
absence of negative cues
Sensitive to (Aaker & Lee,
2006)
Gain / no-gain Losses / No-losses
Feedbacks Relevant to the goal and indicate whether the goal has been
reached or not
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 8
Related to the RFT are the cue-utilization theory and the Health Belief Model.
As already said, consumers evaluate products according to the information they have. Those
information used to make the assessment are commonly mentioned to as cues. Consumers in a
situation of indecision and with no information may use one or more cues as a basis for their
evaluation of product quality (Cox, D. F., 1967). In particularly, what they will look are
information about products’ remarkable attributes that they will use to shape their final
evaluation.
The Cue Utilization Theory states that it exists two separate dimensions (predictive and
confidence values) that evoke cues. The predictive value (PV) is “... the degree to which
consumers associate a given cue with product quality” (Richardson, Dick, & Jain, 1994) while
the Confidence value (CV) is “... the degree to which consumers have confidence in their ability
to use and judge that cue accurately” (Richardson et al., 1994).
The Health Belief Model is one of the most common, used and recognized model that try to
explain and predict health behaviours. It was developed in the 1950s by a group of social
psychologists and, at a later stage, extended by researchers with the addiction of other variables.
It is related to the prevention focus of the Regulatory Focus Theory because the key element
of the HBM is the avoidance of negative health consequences.
The Core assumption of the HBM is that a person take a health-related action if he/she:
1. Feels that a negative condition can be avoided;
2. Has the positive expectation of avoid a negative health-condition condition through
undertaking a recommended action;
3. Feel to be able to perform the health action successfully
The four main constructs of this model are perceived susceptibility, perceived severity,
perceived benefits and perceived barriers. Those four elements represent the perceived threats
and perceived benefits which, in turn, determine whether an individual is read or not to
undertake the action. Later, a fifth element, cue to action, has been added to the model and it
is need to push toward and to stimulate the action. Finally, in 1988, (Rosenstock, Strecher, &
Becker, 1988), added the self-efficacy, which is the consciousness of having the ability to
undertake the action successfully.
1. Perceived susceptibility is one’s opinion regarding the likelihood he/she has of getting
a condition. If a person believe that he/she is at risk, it is probable that he will take some
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 9
action to prevent himself from that to happen while, if this person do not feel himself
at risk, it is more probable that he will undertake unhealthy behaviours.
2. Perceived severity is one’s opinion about the seriousness of a disease and its
consequences.
3. Perceived benefits is one’s opinion about the effectiveness and efficacy of the suggested
behaviour in decreasing the risk or seriousness of the impact deriving from the disease.
4. Perceived barriers is one’s opinion about the obstacles that he run into for changing the
behaviour. Those barriers may be both tangible and psychological.
5. Cues to action are factors that help and support people taking action and change their
behaviour. They may be events, people or things. Examples may be media reports
(Graham, Liggons, & Hypolite, 2002), reminder from a health care institution (Ali,
2002), illness experience from friends, family members or relatives and mass media
campaigns.
6. Self-Efficacy is one’s belief in his own ability to take action. If someone feels he is not
able to do something correctly, he will not try at all to do it.
Two of the theories most used for studying the health-behaviour-related intentions are the
Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the related Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), which
study the relationship between behaviour and beliefs, attitude and intentions. At the basis of
those two theories is the postulate that the most important factor that influence behaviour is the
behavioural intention, which, in turn, is influenced by a person’s attitude toward that behaviour
and the so-called subjective norm. The latter is the beliefs that the most important person for
the individual, approve or not the behaviour.
TPB can be considered an expansion of the TRA because it includes an construct more,
perceived behavioural control, which had been added by (B. L. Driver & Ajzen I., 1991).
To resume the main concepts of the two theories are:
Behavioural intention: perceived probability to perform the behaviour;
Attitude: Personal thinking about the behaviour (it is good or bad?);
Subjective Norm: personal opinion about whether most people approve or not the
behaviour;
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 10
Perceived behaviour control (only for TPB): people’s belief they can control the
behaviour (it is up to the individual or not). The idea is that if people belief that the can
control the behaviour, they may commit themselves to perform it.
Nonetheless, “behavioural intentions do not reliably lead to changes in behaviour and the
“intentin-behaviour gap” remains a major focus of research in health psychology” (Allen,
2008).
Review of Literature
Food Perception and Choice
Perceptions of foods influence the food choice (Steptoe, Pollard, & Wardle, 1995). Many
dimensions influence the perception that individuals have about food. Some has been studied
and proved such as healthiness (Ross & Murphy, 1999), taste (Raghunathan, Naylor, & Hoyer,
2006), satiating capacity (Oakes, 2006) and freshness (Oakes & Slotterback, 2002).“Health is
secondary to taste in selecting food” (Raghunathan et al., 2006). The most important features
associated with health food are perceived freshness (Oakes & Slotterback, 2002) and perceived
fat content (Carels, Harper, & Konrad, 2006; Carels, Konrad, & Harper, 2007; Oakes &
Slotterback, 2001, 2002; Rizk & Treat, 2014).
“Consumers form perceptions about the physical and psychological features of a brand from
various information sources” (Cobb-Walgren, Ruble, & Donthu, 1995). Objective sources such
as Consumer Reports and subjective sources such as advertising and personal experience may
affect the perception of the physical product while, on the other hand, “psychological
distinctions come primarily through advertising”.
Taste is the most important reason for which a food is chosen, followed by health motives and
other considerations (Shepherd & Stockley, 1985; Shepherd & Towler, 1992; Towler &
Shepherd, 1992; Tuorila & Pangborn, 1988). The factors that influence the choice are many:
taste, perceived nutritional benefits, body image, family and cultural preferences, and prior
purchase habits (Shepherd, 1989).
Raghunathan, Naylor and Hoyer (2006) found out that the less healthy a food is thought, the
best is its related tasty, the more is enjoyable while eating it and the higher is the likelihood it
is chosen when the hedonic aim is the main one. In that case, even if a less fat product was
available, consumers may still prefer the food high in fat.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 11
However, “consumers no longer consider good taste and healthy as attributes for which making
a trade-off is expected or even obligatory” (Verbeke, 2006).
Moreover, those are not the only factors influencing the choice because also “consumers’
beliefs and expectations, shaped by their experiences in their daily lives, often influence their
judgment of products and services.” (Shiv, Carmon, & Ariely, 2005).
Among the different countries, there is a high level of agreement in ranking the importance of
the factors determining food choices. Consistent to the other studies mentioned above, the four
most important factors are, respectively, price, sensory appeal, natural content and health
(Markovina et al., 2015).
Finally, some of the factors that influence the perception of the healthiness of a food are type
and processing of raw materials, origin, production date, conserving method, packaging, use
of additives etc. (Bech-Larsen & Grunert, 2001; Jacoby, 1985).
Definition of Organic Foods
“By definition, organic foods are not genetically modified and are produced specifically
without the application of synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and fertilisers” (Carels et al.,
2007). “Specifically, organic foods include less harmful additives and more primary nutrients
(vitamin C, dry matter, minerals) and secondary nutrients (phyto-nutrients) than traditional
foods” (Hsu & Chen, 2014).
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes organic food as food ‘‘produced by
farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water
to enhance environmental quality for future generations’’ (USDA, 2007). Organic meat,
poultry, eggs, and dairy products are free of antibiotics or growth hormones. Also, organic food
is not grown or processed with conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, bioengineering, or
ionizing radiation (USDA, 2007).
Attitude toward Organic Foods
In general consumers have a positive attitude towards organic foods and they use to associate
with them benefits such as superior taste, environmental-friendliness, improved health, safer
food and more animal welfare (Hughner, McDonagh, Prothero, Shultz, & Stanton, 2007;
Marian, Chrysochou, Krystallis, & Thøgersen, 2014). They also realized that there were other
factors influencing negatively the willing to purchase organic food: unavailability, scepticism
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 12
toward certification bodies and organic labels, insufficient marketing efforts, satisfaction with
current food source and sensory defect. However, the biggest obstacle to purchase is the high
price (Hjelmar, 2011). Nonetheless, we cannot give for grant that, in case the price would be
lower, more people would buy organic food. This is shown in the results obtained in the study
in “Limits to Growth in Organic Sales” (Bunte, Galen, Kuiper, & Tacken, 2010).
In fact, price has an important role as a source in choosing food but a lower price not always is
better. Indeed, it is often perceived as a quality signal (Erickson & Johansson, 1985; Völckner
& Hofmann, 2007). The selling price has an important value and needs to be carefully set. In
fact, odd prices (non-zero ending in the cent digit) may be thought to boost the sales but,
actually, it also may make the products seen as low quality (Suri, Anderson, & Kotlov, 2004;
Wagner & Beinke, 2006). Nonetheless, this kind of operation is prevalent in Western
economies (Guéguen & Legoherel, 2004; Schindler, 2001). Price for organic products has a U-
shape (Ngobo, 2011). That means that price cannot be too low because it would affects the
perception of the quality but neither too high because, in that way, consumers would not be
willing to buy the product anymore. In the same study, Ngobo (2011) also found out that sales
promotion have a negative effect in sales. Therefore, price has a double value: it is not viewed
only has a cost but also as a cue to quality (Leibenstein, 1950; Völckner & Hofmann, 2007).
However, a high cost is more important for conventional food rather than organic food
(Zeithaml, 1988). In fact, for the former, it may assume a quality signal while, for the latter, it
is perceived more as a cost because they already have another quality cue then price (being
organic food).
It is believed that personal benefits, such as health and nutrition, or societal benefits, such as
environmental friendly are the two benefits that derives from the consumption of organic foods
(Klöckner & Ohms, 2009).
Organic Foods Evaluation
There are three different categories of product attributes: search, experience and credence
properties (Darby & Karni, 1973; Nelson, 1970). Products’ attributes relapse into one of those
three according to when consumers can evaluate them. In fact, according to their
characteristics, they can be evaluated before purchase, after purchase or not at all. Search
attributes are the easiest to evaluate and that can be done before purchasing simply by
physically checking products. Experience attributes are not directly noticeable and thus they
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 13
can be evaluated only after purchasing and use of the product. Finally, credence attributes
cannot be evaluated by the consumers even after purchase and use of the products (Ford, Smith,
& Swasy, 1988).
Examples of these three attributes for the organic foods are: search attributes are colour, size
and price; experience attributes are taste and texture and credence attributes are environment-
friendly, animal welfare and place of origin (Girard & Dion, 2010; Lee & Yun, 2015; Wirth,
Stanton, & Wiley, 2011).
Two attributes that are relevant for the evaluation of food quality of organic food are
observation and reflection traits (Torjusen, Lieblein, Wandel, & Francis, 2001). The former are
the ones that can be directly observable, such as freshness, touch and look; the latter are the
ones that can be experienced only after their consumption. They are related to health, nutrition
quality, environmental-friendly and animal welfare.
The concept of reflection traits and credence attributes are quite similar.
There also is a summary of the finding of all the studies about organic food that were been
done and published in the period between 1985 and 2005 (Hughner et al., 2007). They found
out nine key factors for purchasing organic foods:
1. Health and nutrition concern
2. Superior taste
3. Concern for environment
4. Food safety / lack of confidence in the conventional food industry
5. Concern over animal welfare
6. Support of the local economy
7. Wholesomeness
8. Nostalgia
9. Fashionableness / curiosity
Nevertheless, even if a consumer has positive attitudes toward organic foods, that does not
mean that he will ineludibly purchase them (in accordance to the intention-behaviour theory)
(Boulstridge & Carrigan, 2000; Moraes et al., 2012).
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 14
Hypotheses Development
This is the general scheme of hypothesis developed, to which it will follow a more detailed
explanation of how those hypothesis have been thought.
Explanation
“An active healthy lifestyle can be characterized by the activities in which people are engaged”
(Goetzke, Nitzko, & Spiller, 2014) and, lifestyle, influence in turn the choice of organic and
local foods (Nie & Zepeda, 2011) which are normally considered healthy foods. Therefore,
sportsmen may have a healthier lifestyle than other people do. Because of that, the first
hypothesis is
H1: sportsmen care more about their alimentation than other people
A healthy lifestyle essentially means two things: doing sport activities and eating healthy
(Goetzke et al., 2014). In order to satisfy the latter, sportsmen will tend to buy foods and raw
materials in places they feel they can trust. Same thing will occur with brands. Once they feel
Sportsmen care more about their
alimentation
They spend more
They are more loyal to brands
They are careless about price
They are less sensitive to promotion
Since they use raw materials and no
pre-cooked foods...
The spend more time in cooking
They have different purchase habits
They are more informed about
alimentation
If a person eat healthy food but do not have an
healty lifestyle
He is concern about environment
He is concern about animal-welfare
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 15
they can trust a brand or a seller, they probably keep buying those products unless they do not
get some negative and unexpected information. Therefore, the loyal for the brands and seller
will be higher if compared to other people that just look for the cheapest product with a
satisfying taste. Eating healthy also means buy and consume prime products or organic
products which are more expensive (Barratt, 1997; Jetter & Cassady, 2006). In fact, sometimes,
it is less expensive to eat in a fast-food then cooking for your own (Andreyeva, Long, &
Brownell, 2010; Powell & Han, 2011). It has been studied that eating foods and diet that are
recommended by the local Food Healthy Policy in London are more expensive and less
available than alternatives, especially in the suburbs (Liese, Weis, Pluto, Smith, & Lawson,
2007; Mooney, 1990). Those are the two hypotheses construing from that:
H2a: sportsmen spend more for food in a weekly basis than other people do
H2b: sportsmen are careless about the price
H3a: sportsmen are loyal to brands they purchase
H3b: sportsmen are more loyal to sellers they feel they can trust
As already said, sportsmen need to feel they can trust a brand and sellers, and that they are sure
to know that what they eat is not harmful for them (Wier, O’Doherty Jensen, Andersen, &
Millock, 2008). Therefore, they are less sensitive to price promotions made by other sellers
and/or brands that they do not use to purchase and consume. In fact, being willing to pay more
for the products, they will chose to purchase the products they use to purchase in the places in
which they use to. It follows that:
H4: sportsmen are less sensitive to price promotions
According to what said until now, sportsmen with a healthy eating habit, tend to cook for their
own rather than going to fast-food and/or eating pre-cooked meals. Because they do not opt for
pre-cooked meals, what they cook and eat are raw materials. Therefore, they prepare their
dishes from scratch and, in that way, they are sure that what they eat is a very health aliment.
However, doing so, take much longer than what it would take to prepare a pre-cooked meals.
This is another hypothesis:
H5: sportsmen spend more time in cooking than other people
Connected to the fact that sportsmen prefer eating fresh products and raw materials and that
they go to buy their food in places they trust, they probably also have different purchase habits
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 16
if compared to the one of the other people. Generically speaking, shopping has to be efficient
in order to fit into the daily schedule (Hjelmar, 2011). However, sportsmen, rather than going
to the big supermarket, in which the food they sell is produced in an huge amount and it is not
always sure the provenience and the healthiness, they probably rather go directly to the farmers
for buying milk, eggs and vegetables or to the butcher for buying meat. In fact, local shops are
normally considered to sell more healthy products than supermarkets and the majority of
customers go there with the specific intention of buying healthy fresh foods (Trobe, 2001).
More in general, sportsmen probably go to local shops instead of big supermarkets and discount
shops. In addition to this, since they use fresh raw materials, they will probably go to each
shops at least 2-3 times per week instead of going just once per week or once every two weeks
at the supermarket. In fact, healthy food normally last few days and it is not possible to buy
those products just once every week or 15 days and, moreover, eating healthy means eating
fresh. Because of that, the purchases done will not be just a big one buy they will be many and,
because the purchases places are not just once but many, the amount spent for each purchase
will be lower. In conclusion, sportsmen probably do many smaller and more frequent purchases
rather than a few (or once) big purchase. The following hypotheses are:
H6a: Sportsmen do not prefer purchasing from supermarkets
H6b: Sportsmen do not prefer purchasing from discount shops
H6c: The frequency of purchase per week of sportsmen is higher than the one of the
other people
H6d: The single amount spent for each purchase is lower than the single amount spent
for each purchase by the other people
Since a healthy lifestyle influences the consumers’ attitude toward organic foods and that
consumers can develop a positive attitude toward organic foods if they are enthusiastic of
undertaking healthy physical activities, such as natural food consumption and health care (Gil,
Gracia, & Sánchez, 2000; Mei‐ Fang Chen, 2009), it follows that
H7: Sportsmen are more informed about alimentation
Being more informed lead them to make choices that are more reasoned. Therefore, there is a
positive relationship with nutrition knowledge and healthy lifestyle. In addition to that, “the
level of organic food knowledge were associated with the likelihood of being a local or organic
food shoppers” (Nie & Zepeda, 2011).
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 17
Although some individuals may be interested in their own health and therefore in healthy foods,
that does not imply that they buy and/or consume them. The reasons beyond that may be
several. In nowadays society, for example, we are living more and more under time pressure
and that could be a reason for not consuming organic foods (Buzzell, 2009; Wajcman, 2015).
In fact, “how much time we have matters just as much as how much money we have” (Goodin,
Rice, Parpo, & Eriksson, 2008). An important factor that caused the enormous growth of fast-
food consumption in the last years is the lack in time we are undergoing. The same applies for
ready meals and pre-cooked food, which are ready in much less time then what it would require
to make and cook a meal from fresh raw materials. Another reason, as already said many times,
may be the premium price of those kinds of foods.
At the opposite side, there may be someone concerned in healthy foods but that do not do any
sport activities because of his laziness or because of a lack of time as well. For example, they
may be people that switch to a vegetarian diet but still do not have a healthy lifestyle. In fact,
for vegetarian the most important factors of being so are health (but not healthy life) (Baker,
Thompson, & Palmer-Barnes, 2002; MacNair, 2001). Other important reasons to change eating
style is the cruelties against animals (McDonald, 2000). Finally, there are people that adopted
a vegetarian diet for health reasons and others that did so for ethical reasons (Jabs, Devine, &
Sobal, 1998).
Therefore, some people still follow an unhealthy lifestyle even if they have health
consciousness and vice versa. Based upon this:
H8a: people that consume healthy foods without having a healthy lifestyle, do so
primarily because they are concern about the environment
H8b: people that consume healthy foods without having a healthy lifestyle, do so
primarily because they are concern about the animal-welfare
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 18
Map of correlations
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 19
Methodology
I will ask to submit a survey about food consumption habit, sport activities and lifestyle to
different people living in different countries. According to the data founded, the countries I
will investigate are Great Britain (UK and Ireland) that seems to be the ones with more
problem in that field; the German-speaking language (Germany and Austria) that seems to be
in the average among the European countries and Italy that seems to be the one with less
problem among 19 countries with more problem in Europe.
The following data are from Eurostat (Eurostat, 2014), unless differently specified.
Great Britain
England
Men: 43.7% overweight; 22.1% obese (3rd classified behind Malta and Slovenia)
Women: 32.8% overweigh; 23.9% obese. (1st classified)
Ireland
Nearly all adults in Ireland will be overweight by 2030, the European Congress on Obesity in
Prague was told (Yahoo News, 2015) .
According to the data collected in 1997-1999, 66.4% of males were overweight and 20.1%.
(The International Obesity Taskforce, 2015).
Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in men in the EU and the
seventh highest prevalence among women (International Obesity Taskforce and European
Association for the Study if Obesity, 2002).
German-speaking language
Germany
Men: 44.0% overweight; 16.1% obese (10th classified)
Women: 28.8% overweight; 15.6% obese. (10th classified)
Austria
Men: 44.0% overweight; 12.4% obese (16th classified)
Women: 29.5% overweight; 13.2% obese. (10th classified)
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 20
Italy
Men: 45.2% overweight; 11.3% obese (15th classified)
Women: 27.7% overweight; 9.3% are obese. (19th classified: last in the list)
Since it may be difficult to collect enough answers from GB to make the survey valid, the study
may be shift into other two countries: US and/or China.
The selection of those countries is due to the fact that it may be interesting to check whether
and how there is a different behaviour between European people and American and/or Asian
ones. In addition to that:
USA
They are facing the overweight and obesity problems much more than how GB is. Indeed,
according to the data collected in 2011-2012, 69% of American over 20 years old are
overweight and 35.1% of them are obese. Those figures are even higher than the GB’s ones
(National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014).
CHINA
“China had low rates of obesity in 2013; 3.8% of men and 5.0% of women were obese in 2013”
(Ng et al., 2014). However, among the all 188 countries studied, China was the fourth country
with the highest increase in overweight/obesity prevalence among children and the tenth for
the adults (20 years old or more). From 1980 to 2013, children overweight went from 5.7% to
18.8% and adults from 11.3% to 27.9%.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 21
Overview of Chapters
Abstract
Table of Content
Table of Abbrevation
1. Introduction
1.1 Importance of the Topic
1.2 Research Objectives
2. Literature Review
2.1 Food Perception and Choice
2.2 Definition of Organic Foods
2.3 Attitude toward Organic Foods
2.4 Organic Foods Evaluation
3. Hypotheses
4. Research Methodology
5. Analysis of Results
5.1 Results
5.2 Discussion
6. Implications
6.1 Managerial
6.2 Theoretical Implications
7. Conclusions
Bibliography
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 22
Work Plan
Period Phase Description
1 Now – 01.10 Exposé Complete and refine exposé
2 02.10-20.10 Questionnaire –
Experiment – Pre-test
Create the survey in the first half of the
month, refine it and test if it works
3 21.10-30.11 Gather the responses,
analysis
Collect all the responses I need for having
a valid sample and analyse the answers
4 01.12-31.12 Results Find out the implications and write the
conclusions
5 01.01-
deadline
Finalize Review and correct the work, prepare the
final presentation and
Work plan displayed according to the Gantt chart:
Now – 01.10 02.10 – 30.10 30.10 – 30.11 01.12-31.12 01.01 - deadline
1
2
3
4
5
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 23
Reference List
Aaker, J. L., & Lee, A. Y. (2006). Understanding Regulatory Fit. Journal of Marketing
Research, 43(1), 15–19. http://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.1.15
Ali, N. S. (2002). Prediction of coronary heart disease preventive behaviors in women: a test
of the health belief model. Women & Health, 35(1), 83–96.
http://doi.org/10.1300/J013v35n01_06
Allen, J. (2008). The intention-behavior gap - it’s all under control (executive control).
European Health Psychologist, 10(3), 62–64.
Andreyeva, T., Long, M. W., & Brownell, K. D. (2010). The impact of food prices on
consumption: a systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for
food. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 216–222.
http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.151415
Baecke, J. A., van Staveren, W. A., & Burema, J. (1983). Food consumption, habitual
physical activity, and body fatness in young Dutch adults. The American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 37(2), 278–286.
Baker, S., Thompson, K. E., & Palmer-Barnes, D. (2002). Crisis in the meat industry: a
values-based approach to communications strategy. Journal of Marketing
Communications, 8(1), 19–30. http://doi.org/10.1080/13527260110108319
Barratt, J. (1997). The cost and availability of healthy food choices in southern Derbyshire.
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 10(1), 63–69.
http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-277X.1997.00487.x
Bech-Larsen, T., & Grunert, K. G. (2001). Konsumentscheidungen bei
Vertrauenseigenschaften: Eine Untersuchung am Beispiel des Kaufes von
ökologischen Lebensmitteln in Deutschland und Dänemark. Marketing, 23(3), 188–
197.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 24
B. L. Driver, & Ajzen I. (1991). Prediction of Leisure Participation from Behavioral,
Normative, and Control Beliefs: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.
Leisure Sciences, 13(3), 185–204. http://doi.org/10.1080/01490409109513137
Boulstridge Emma, & Carrigan Marylyn. (2000). Do consumers really care about corporate
responsibility? Highlighting the attitude—behaviour gap. Journal of Communication
Management, 4(4), 355–368. http://doi.org/10.1108/eb023532
Bunte, F. H. J., Galen, M. A. van, Kuiper, W. E., & Tacken, G. (2010). Limits to Growth in
Organic Sales. De Economist, 158(4), 387–410. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10645-010-
9152-3
Buzzell, L. (2009, July 1). Slow Down: How Our Fast-Paced World Is Making Us Sick.
AlterNet. Retrieved from
http://www.alternet.org/story/140994/slow_down%3A_how_our_fast-
paced_world_is_making_us_sick
Carels, R. A., Harper, J., & Konrad, K. (2006). Qualitative perceptions and caloric
estimations of healthy and unhealthy foods by behavioral weight loss participants.
Appetite, 46(2), 199–206. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2005.12.002
Carels, R. A., Konrad, K., & Harper, J. (2007). Individual differences in food perceptions and
calorie estimation: An examination of dieting status, weight, and gender. Appetite,
49(2), 450–458. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2007.02.009
Christian A. Klöckner, & Silvia Ohms. (2009). The importance of personal norms for
purchasing organic milk. British Food Journal, 111(11), 1173–1187.
http://doi.org/10.1108/00070700911001013
Cobb-Walgren, C. J., Ruble, C. A., & Donthu, N. (1995). Brand Equity, Brand Preference,
and Purchase Intent. Journal of Advertising, 24(3), 25–40.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 25
Cox, D. F. (1967). The Sorting Rule Model of the Consumer - CAS - 101. Retrieved 9
October 2015, from https://www.coursehero.com/file/p3c4lfq/Cox-D-F-1967-The-
Sorting-Rule-Model-of-the-Consumer-Product-Evaluation-Process/
Darby, M. R., & Karni, E. (1973). Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud.
Journal of Law and Economics, 16(1), 67–88.
Erickson, G. M., & Johansson, J. K. (1985). The Role of Price in Multi-Attribute Product
Evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(2), 195–199.
Eurostat. (2014). Eurostat. Retrieved from http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do
Ford, G. T., Smith, D. B., & Swasy, J. L. (1988). An Empirical Test of the Search,
Experience and Credence Attributes Framework. Advances in Consumer Research,
15(1), 239–243.
Gil, J. M., Gracia, A., & Sánchez, M. (2000). Market segmentation and willingness to pay for
organic products in Spain. The International Food and Agribusiness Management
Review, 3(2), 207–226. http://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7508(01)00040-4
Girard, T., & Dion, P. (2010). Validating the search, experience, and credence product
classification framework. Journal of Business Research, 63(9–10), 1079–1087.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.12.011
Goetzke, B., Nitzko, S., & Spiller, A. (2014). Consumption of organic and functional food. A
matter of well-being and health? Appetite, 77, 96–105.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.02.012
Goodin, R. E., Rice, J. M., Parpo, A., & Eriksson, L. (2008, February). Discretionary Time:
A New Measure of Freedom. Retrieved 19 October 2015, from
http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-
relations/comparative-politics/discretionary-time-new-measure-freedom
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 26
Graham, M. E., Liggons, Y., & Hypolite, M. (2002). Health beliefs and self breast
examination in black women. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 9(2), 49–54.
Guéguen, N., & Legoherel, P. (2004). Numerical encoding and odd‐ending prices: The effect
of a contrast in discount perception. European Journal of Marketing, 38(1/2), 194–
208. http://doi.org/10.1108/03090560410511186
Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: value from fit. The American Psychologist,
55(11), 1217–1230.
Hjelmar, U. (2011). Consumers’ purchase of organic food products. A matter of convenience
and reflexive practices. Appetite, 56(2), 336–344.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.12.019
Hsu, C.-L., & Chen, M.-C. (2014). Explaining consumer attitudes and purchase intentions
toward organic food: Contributions from regulatory fit and consumer characteristics.
Food Quality and Preference, 35, 6–13.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.01.005
Hughner, R. S., McDonagh, P., Prothero, A., Shultz, C. J., & Stanton, J. (2007). Who are
organic food consumers? A compilation and review of why people purchase organic
food. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6(2-3), 94–110. http://doi.org/10.1002/cb.210
International Obesity Taskforce and European Association for the Study if Obesity. (2002).
Obesity in Europe – The Case for Action.
Jabs, J., Devine, C. M., & Sobal, J. (1998). Model of the Process of Adopting Vegetarian
Diets: Health Vegetarians and Ethical Vegetarians. Journal of Nutrition Education,
30(4), 196–202. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3182(98)70319-X
Jacoby, J. (1985). Perceived quality: how consumers view stores and merchandise.
LexingtonBooks.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 27
Jetter, K. M., & Cassady, D. L. (2006). The Availability and Cost of Healthier Food
Alternatives. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(1), 38–44.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.08.039
Kirmani, A., & Zhu, R. (Juliet). (2007). Vigilant Against Manipulation: The Effect of
Regulatory Focus on the Use of Persuasion Knowledge. Journal of Marketing
Research, 44(4), 688–701. http://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.44.4.688
Lee, H.-J., & Yun, Z.-S. (2015). Consumers’ perceptions of organic food attributes and
cognitive and affective attitudes as determinants of their purchase intentions toward
organic food. Food Quality and Preference, 39, 259–267.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.06.002
Leibenstein, H. (1950). Bandwagon, Snob, and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumers’
Demand. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 64(2), 183–207.
http://doi.org/10.2307/1882692
Liese, A. D., Weis, K. E., Pluto, D., Smith, E., & Lawson, A. (2007). Food Store Types,
Availability, and Cost of Foods in a Rural Environment. Journal of the American
Dietetic Association, 107(11), 1916–1923. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2007.08.012
Lobstein, T., & Davies, S. (2009). Defining and labelling ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ food.
Public Health Nutrition, 12(3), 331–340. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980008002541
MacNair, R. M. (2001). McDonald’s ‘Empirical look at becoming vegan’ - Commentary.
Society & Animals, 9(1), 63–69.
Marian, L., Chrysochou, P., Krystallis, A., & Thøgersen, J. (2014). The role of price as a
product attribute in the organic food context: An exploration based on actual purchase
data. Food Quality and Preference, 37, 52–60.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.05.001
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 28
Markovina, J., Stewart-Knox, B. J., Rankin, A., Gibney, M., de Almeida, M. D. V., Fischer,
A., … Frewer, L. J. (2015). Food4Me study: Validity and reliability of Food Choice
Questionnaire in 9 European countries. Food Quality and Preference, 45, 26–32.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2015.05.002
McDonald, B. (2000). ‘Once You Know Something, You Can’t Not Know It’ An Empirical
Look at Becoming Vegan. Society and Animals, 8(1), 1–23.
Mei‐Fang Chen. (2009). Attitude toward organic foods among Taiwanese as related to health
consciousness, environmental attitudes, and the mediating effects of a healthy
lifestyle. British Food Journal, 111(2), 165–178.
http://doi.org/10.1108/00070700910931986
Mooney, C. (1990). Cost and availability of healthy food choices in a London health district.
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 3(2), 111–120.
http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-277X.1990.tb00058.x
Moraes, C., Carrigan, M., & Szmigin, I. (2012). The coherence of inconsistencies: Attitude–
behaviour gaps and new consumption communities. Journal of Marketing
Management, 28(1-2), 103–128. http://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2011.615482
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2014). National
Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014.
National Statistics. (2013). Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England, 2013.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Nelson, P. (1970). Information and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Political Economy, 78(2),
311–329.
Ng, M., Fleming, T., Robinson, M., Thomson, B., Graetz, N., Margono, C., … Gakidou, E.
(2014). Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in
children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 29
Disease Study 2013. Lancet (London, England), 384(9945), 766–781.
http://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60460-8
Ngobo, P. V. (2011). What Drives Household Choice of Organic Products in Grocery Stores?
Journal of Retailing, 87(1), 90–100. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2010.08.001
Nie, C., & Zepeda, L. (2011). Lifestyle segmentation of US food shoppers to examine
organic and local food consumption. Appetite, 57(1), 28–37.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2011.03.012
Oakes, M. E. (2006). Filling yet fattening: Stereotypical beliefs about the weight gain
potential and satiation of foods. Appetite, 46(2), 224–233.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2006.01.004
Oakes, M. E., & Slotterback, C. S. (2001). Gender differences in perceptions of the
healthiness of foods. Psychology & Health, 16(1), 57–65.
http://doi.org/10.1080/08870440108405489
Oakes, M. E., & Slotterback, C. S. (2002). The good, the bad, and the ugly: characteristics
used by young, middle-aged, and older men and women, dieters and non-dieters to
judge healthfulness of foods. Appetite, 38(2), 91–97.
http://doi.org/10.1006/appe.2001.0444
Powell, L. M., & Han, E. (2011). The Costs of Food at Home and Away From Home and
Consumption Patterns Among U.S. Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(1),
20–26. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.06.006
Raghunathan, R., Naylor, R. W., & Hoyer, W. D. (2006). The Unhealthy = Tasty Intuition
and Its Effects on Taste Inferences, Enjoyment, and Choice of Food Products. Journal
of Marketing, 70(4), 170–184.
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 30
Richardson, P. S., Dick, A. S., & Jain, A. K. (1994). Extrinsic and Intrinsic Cue Effects on
Perceptions of Store Brand Quality. Journal of Marketing, 58(4), 28–36.
http://doi.org/10.2307/1251914
Rizk, M. T., & Treat, T. A. (2014). An indirect approach to the measurement of nutrient-
specific perceptions of food healthiness. Annals of Behavioral Medicine: A
Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 48(1), 17–25.
http://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9569-4
Rosenstock, I. M., Strecher, V. J., & Becker, M. H. (1988). Social learning theory and the
Health Belief Model. Health Education Quarterly, 15(2), 175–183.
Ross, B. H., & Murphy, G. L. (1999). Food for Thought: Cross-Classification and Category
Organization in a Complex Real-World Domain. Cognitive Psychology, 38(4), 495–
553. http://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1998.0712
Schindler, R. M. (2001). Relative Price Level of 99-Ending Prices: Image Versus Reality.
Marketing Letters, 12(3), 239–247. http://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011116827790
Shepherd, R. (1989). Handbook of the Psychophysiology of Human Eating. John Wiley &
Sons.
Shepherd, R., & Stockley, L. (1985). Fat consumption and attitudes towards food with a high
fat content. Human Nutrition. Applied Nutrition, 39(6), 431–442.
Shepherd, R., & Towler, G. (1992). Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and fat intake: application
of the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 5(6),
387–397. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-277X.1992.tb00178.x
Shiv, B., Carmon, Z., & Ariely, D. (2005). Placebo Effects of Marketing Actions: Consumers
May Get What They Pay For. Journal of Marketing Research, 42(4), 383–393.
http://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.2005.42.4.383
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 31
Soil Association Organic Market Report 2015. (2015). Retrieved 9 October 2015, from
http://www.soilassociation.org/marketreport
Steptoe, A., Pollard, T. M., & Wardle, J. (1995). Development of a measure of the motives
underlying the selection of food: the food choice questionnaire. Appetite, 25(3), 267–
284. http://doi.org/10.1006/appe.1995.0061
Suri, R., Anderson, R. E., & Kotlov, V. (2004). The use of 9‐ending prices: contrasting the
USA with Poland. European Journal of Marketing, 38(1/2), 56–72.
http://doi.org/10.1108/03090560410511122
The International Obesity Taskforce. (2015). International Obesity Task Force - EU Platform
Briefing Paper. Retrieved from
http://ec.europa.eu/health/nutrition_physical_activity/docs/eu_platform_2011frep_en.
Torjusen, H., Lieblein, G., Wandel, M., & Francis, C. A. (2001). Food system orientation and
quality perception among consumers and producers of organic food in Hedmark
County, Norway. Food Quality and Preference, 12(3), 207–216.
http://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-3293(00)00047-1
Towler, G., & Shepherd, R. (1992). Application of Fishbein and Ajzen’s expectancy-value
model to understanding fat intake. Appetite, 18(1), 15–27.
Trobe, H. L. (2001). Farmers’ markets: consuming local rural produce. International Journal
of Consumer Studies, 25(3), 181–192. http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1470-
6431.2001.00171.x
Tuorila, H., & Pangborn, R. M. (1988). Prediction of reported consumption of selected fat-
containing foods. Appetite, 11(2), 81–95. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-
6663(88)80008-4
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 32
USDA. (2007). Organic production/organic food: Information Access Tools. Retrieved from
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml
van Sluijs, E. M. F., Skidmore, P. M. L., Mwanza, K., Jones, A. P., Callaghan, A. M.,
Ekelund, U., … Griffin, S. J. (2008). Physical activity and dietary behaviour in a
population-based sample of British 10-year old children: the SPEEDY study (Sport,
Physical activity and Eating behaviour: environmental Determinants in Young
people). BMC Public Health, 8, 388. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-388
Verbeke, W. (2006). Functional foods: Consumer willingness to compromise on taste for
health? Food Quality and Preference, 17(1–2), 126–131.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2005.03.003
Völckner, F., & Hofmann, J. (2007). The price-perceived quality relationship: A meta-
analytic review and assessment of its determinants. Marketing Letters, 18(3), 181–
196. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-007-9013-2
Wagner, R., & Beinke, K. (2006). Identifying patterns of customer response to price endings.
Journal of Product & Brand Management, 15(5), 341–351.
http://doi.org/10.1108/10610420610685730
Wajcman, J. (2015). Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism.
WHO | Obesity and overweight. (2015). Retrieved 9 October 2015, from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
Wier, M., O’Doherty Jensen, K., Andersen, L. M., & Millock, K. (2008). The character of
demand in mature organic food markets: Great Britain and Denmark compared. Food
Policy, 33(5), 406–421. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2008.01.002
Wirth, F. F., Stanton, J. L., & Wiley, J. (2011). The Relative Importance of Search versus
Credence Product Attributes: Organic and Locally Grown. Agricultural and Resource
Explaining Differences in Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle: Comparison of Sportsmen and
Couch Potatoes / Sedentaries | 33
Economics Review, 40(1). Retrieved from
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/agsarerjl/106064.htm
Yahoo News. (2015, May 6). Europe’s obesity crisis expands to ‘enormous proportions’.
Retrieved 9 October 2015, from http://news.yahoo.com/europe-faces-massive-
obesity-problem-study-222035428.html
Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End
Model and Synthesis of Evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2–22.
http://doi.org/10.2307/1251446