Beyond information seeking: Consumers’ online deliberation about the risks and benefits of red meat

Successfully engaging consumers in a dialogue may provide opportunities for better tailored and more effective communication about food-related risks and benefits. Using an online deliberation concept and software, VIZZATA™, we explored the validity of a behavioral measure of deliberation in an online environment in the context of consumers’ perceptions and information seeking about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom (n = 150) were given the opportunity to engage in an asynchronous interaction with the research team about the information provided. Online deliberation was operationalized as an individual metric based on the number of questions asked in relation to the information, the number of comments left, the number of glossary terms accessed, and the time spent on deliberative activity. This operationalization provided a coherent measure of deliberation which was positively correlated with information recall about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants who perceived the information about red meat risks and benefits as too complex engaged less with the information. The study herewith presents a novel method of investigating consumers’ deliberation about food issues that conceptualizes consumer engagement as more than just information seeking.     

Beer choice and consumption determinants when craft beers are tasted: An exploratory study of consumer preferences

The aim of this paper is to study the emerging craft beer industry from a consumer preference perspective. The craft beer industry is one of the growing segments in the beverage industry and its increasing popularity also affects individuals’ commercial beer preferences and consumption trends, although no empirical study has yet been carried out in Europe on this topic. Our exploratory study is aimed at comparing the “purely” commercial beer consumer profile with that of commercial beer consumers who have already tasted craft beers. It was observed that aroma and perceived quality, as well as the preference for draft beer, drinking beer frequently or by oneself are all factors that explain the propensity of “purely” commercial beer drinkers to taste craft beer. It was also found that beer consumers’ evaluations of characteristics and brands differed depending on whether they had previously tasted craft beer or not. Moreover, craft beer is chosen according to different flavor preferences compared to commercial beer, it is mainly drunk by frequent beer drinkers in pubs and with family members and it is perceived to be of higher quality than commercial beer due to the raw materials used for brewing and its overall quality. These results can help both new entrepreneurs in the craft beer segment as well as big manufacturing firms in trying to better understand this new consumption trend in order to meet the new needs and preferences of beer consumers.     

The Customer Forum: Customer engagement in the Scottish water sector

The Customer Forum was set up in 2011 to carry out customer research, represent the interests of customers to Scottish Water and the economic regulator WICS, and to seek to agree a business plan with the company. It was set up with the agreement of all parties. The aims were to improve on previous price control approach, to find a new way of challenging the company and to bring greater customer input to bear. The constitution, expectations and timetable of the Forum were specified in some detail. WICS also provided many Guidance Notes about its own expectations. Financial tramlines were established to monitor performance during the forthcoming price control period. The process worked well, all parties worked constructively and agreement was reached on a business plan upon which the regulator subsequently proposed a price control. There is scope to apply the process in future and in other sectors.     

Consumer perception of boar meat as affected by labelling information,malodorous compounds and sensitivity to androstenone

This study aimed to assess the influence of two label conditions on the acceptance of boar meat. A central location test was conducted with 145 consumers each assessing 4 pieces of pork loin.     

当代城市空间的符号价值

随着中国发达地区城市由生产社会向消费社会的转型,空间呈现商品化的发展态势,空间符号价值的重要性也日益突显出来。一方面,城市空间所象征的个性和品位、身份和地位、生活方式等符号意义逐渐成为大众空间消费过程中所关注的重点;另一方面,空间符号的消费强化了空间的社会属性,并为城市带来新的发展契机。     

Limits and potentials to deliberative engagement in highly regulated planning systems: Norm development within fixed rules

Planning practice requires ongoing interaction between regulatory “facts” and deliberative “norms”. Played out in local and strategic developments, “norms” are the agreed values and positions developed by advancing deliberative engagement of residents; while “facts” are the more rigid statutory procedures through which planning decisions are typically made. However, conflict arises between residents' groups and local government decision-makers when deliberative norms, now a key tenet of strategic planning processes, struggle to gain traction in the factual spaces provided by statutory planning regulations. A contentious planning process in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia (concerning the redevelopment of a car park into a commercial and public space) highlights the challenges to deliberative engagement in highly-regulatory planning systems. Drawing on this contested case, this paper examines how the broader formal and relatively fixed framework of regulatory-based decision-making fails to support participatory principles, undermining both the desired communicative ethos and enduring collaborative outcomes and norm development. Specifically, the paper problematises tensions between residents' growing expectations for greater transparency and participation in planning, arising from a growing regard for deliberation in strategic planning, and the hegemonic nature of statutory planning that preserves planning control within the formal domain of government and the private sector.     

Examining Open Data at the Urban Level: An Exploration of “Wellbeing Toronto”

This paper examines how Wellbeing Toronto (WT)—a free, open data, GIS tool that allows users to map information—has evolved into an extensive data repository with robust data analysis capabilities. Explored is the progress of open data scholarship in relation to municipal government and civic participation. Based on this, the authors note the following: (1) as open data becomes increasingly prevalent, a more varied understanding of the organization and structure of municipal government may emerge. (2) There is a need for measures of civic engagement to move beyond data co-production towards an organization-based interactive approach.     

寻找物品的社会意义关于消费文化的理论研究

对消费文化的研究,马克思主义、符号学以及人类学和社会学构成了三种主要的方向。马克思主义从“生产主义的视角”研究消费;符号学认为消费是“符号的系统性操作活动;”当代人类学和社会学则努力寻找物品(商品)的社会意义。消费是文化的,消费文化又与具体的社会实践和历史紧密相连。