Svein Ottar Olsen

Comparative evaluation and the relationship between quality, satisfaction, and repurchase loyalty

This study evaluates alternative measurement approaches to examining the relationship between perceived quality performance, customer satisfaction, and repurchase loyalty. The authors define and measure the constructs within a relative attitudinal framework and compare these results to a noncomparative or individual evaluation of products. In addition, loyalty is measured and defined as self-reported repurchase behavior instead of purchase intention. The proposed model, with satisfaction as a mediator between quality and repurchase loyalty, was found to be an acceptable representation of the data across four products and for both comparative and noncomparative evaluations. The use of relative attitudes, however, indicated a much stronger relationship between quality, satisfaction, and loyalty than the attitudes toward a product when they are performed as an individual evaluation. With respect to predictive ability, the study findings suggest that quality, satisfaction, and loyalty should be defined and measured within a relative attitudinal framework.

Understanding the relationship between age and seafood consumption: the mediating role of attitude, health involvement and convenience

This study discusses and analyses the relationship between the consumers chronological age and frequent consumption of seafood, and how this relationship is mediated by three psychological variables: Attitudes/preferences towards eating seafood, involvement in healthy eating and perceived time used to prepare meals (convenience). This is done by cross-sectional data and with the assumption that peoples life course is important in modelling food consumption behaviour. By using structural equation modelling, we were able to estimate the strength and direction of direct and indirect relationships between external, internal and behavioural variables as proposed in general attitude theory. Age is positively related to the frequency of seafood consumption. This relationship is mediated by attitudes toward eating seafood, health involvement and perceived convenience. In developing and testing conceptual models which integrate the relationship between age and psychological mediator variables, we may approach a deeper understanding of the more complex relationship between external and internal psychological variables in peoples selection of food over their life course.

Intention to consume seafood—the importance of habit

The role of habit strength and past behaviour were studied in order to gain a better understanding of seafood consumption behaviour. A sample of Norwegian adults (N=1579) responded to a self-administered questionnaire about seafood consumption habits, past frequency of seafood consumption, and attitude towards and intention to eat seafood. Structural equation modelling revealed that past behaviour and habit, rather than attitudes, were found to explain differences in intention, indicating that forming intention does not necessarily have to be reasoned. The results also indicated that when a strong habit is present, the expression of an intention might be guided by the salience of past behaviour rather than by attitudes. The findings of this study might thus have consequences for dietary interventions.

Exploring the Relationship between Convenience and Fish Consumption: A Cross-Cultural Study

The purpose of the present study is to explore cultural differences in the meaning of convenience and the relationships between convenience, attitudes and fish consumption in five European countries. The results suggest that the meaning of meal convenience is not culture specific, whilst the absolute levels of convenience orientation and the perceived inconvenience of fish differ between cultures. Convenience orientation was highest in Poland, followed by Spain, and was lowest in the Netherlands. The relationships between convenience orientation and attitudes towards fish, and convenience orientation and fish consumption, were insignificant in most countries. However, convenience orientation was positively related to the perceived inconvenience of fish. Perceived inconvenience of fish was negatively related to both attitudes towards fish and to fish consumption. Together, these results confirm some earlier findings that fish is generally perceived as a relatively inconvenient type of food. This study suggests that convenience orientation can be crucial to understanding food choice or behaviour only when critical mediating constructs are explored.

Consumer involvement in seafood as family meals in Norway : an application of the expectancy-value approach

A theoretical model of involvement in consumption of food products was tested in a representative survey of Norwegian households for the particular case of consuming seafood as a common family meal. The empirical study is based on using structural equation approach to test construct validity of measures and the empirical fit of the theoretical model. Attitudes, negative feelings, social norms and moral obligation were proved to be important, reliable and different constructs and explained 63% of the variation in seafood involvement. Negative feelings and moral obligation was the most important antecedents of involvement. Both our proposed model and modified model with seafood involvement as a mediator fit well with the data and proved our expectations in a promising way.

Export market information use, organizational knowledge, and firm performance

Building on prior research in organizational knowledge, learning, and memory, this paper suggests that export market knowledge may provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between export market information use and export performance. Specifically, a conceptual model is developed linking different dimensions of information use to different dimensions of organizational knowledge as well as to export performance. This is then used to generate research propositions that provide insights into how export market knowledge integrates with export market information use and affects export performance.

Motives, barriers and quality evaluation in fish consumption situations: Exploring and comparing heavy and light users in Spain and Belgium

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate motives and barriers for eating fish among light users and heavy users, to discuss consumer evaluation of fish quality, and to explore the existence of cross‐cultural fish consumer segments.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected through six focus group discussions, three in Spain and three in Belgium. In each country, one group consisted of heavy users while two groups included light users.Findings – The same attitudinal motives and barriers for fish consumption can be found in both countries and across user groups, even though fish consumption levels differ considerably. The main motives for eating fish are health and taste, while the main barriers are price perception, smell when cooking fish, and that fish does not deliver the same level of satiety as compared to meat. Big differences are found between countries and user groups with respect to preparation skills and the use of quality cues. Heavy users are very skilled in eval...

The role of norms in explaining attitudes, intention and consumption of a common food (fish) in Vietnam

The purpose of this study is to apply the conceptual framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain the consumption of a common food (fish) in Vietnam. We seek to understand the role of norms in explaining intention to consume, and descriptive norms is included as extensions of traditional constructs such as attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control. The data were derived from a cross-sectional sample of 612 consumers. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the relationships between constructs, and evaluate the reliability and the validity of the constructs. The results indicate that the models fit well with the data. Attitude, social norms, descriptive norms and behavioral control all had significantly positive effect on behavioral intention. Finally, both intention and perceived behavioral control were highly associated with the frequency of consumption of the common food investigated.

Food risk and knowledge in the satisfaction‐repurchase loyalty relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the relationships among perceived risk, consumer satisfaction and repurchase loyalty, and to explore the moderating role of knowledge on the relationship between these constructs.Design/methodology/approach – The results are based on a cross‐section sample of 846 households in Vietnam using self‐administrating questionnaires, with fish as a main research object, and analyzed using structural equation modelling.Findings – The relationship between perceived risk and satisfaction is negative and satisfaction has a significantly positive effect on repurchase loyalty. This study suggests that perceived risk has an indirect effect on repurchase loyalty through satisfaction. Besides direct effects on perceived risk and satisfaction, knowledge proves to moderate negatively both the relationship between perceived risk and satisfaction, and the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase loyalty.Research limitations/implications – This study mainly focuses on fish...

The role of consideration set size in explaining fish consumption

This study demonstrates the relationship among attitude, knowledge and consideration set size (set size) and how these variables influence consumption frequency of fish. The proposed model was tested with cross-sectional data from a representative study of about 1100 Danish consumers. Structural equation modeling (LISREL) was used in order to simultaneously estimate the strength and direction of all relationships. The results of this study verify consideration set size as a partial mediator between both attitude and frequency and knowledge and frequency. Knowledge is suggested to be more important than attitude in forming the size of the consideration set. The size of the set is positively related to frequency of fish consumption, but with somewhat less direct effect than attitude and knowledge.