Athanasios Krystallis

• PhD Consumer Behaviour
• Professor (Full) at Aarhus University

Despite the recognized importance of political ideology in shaping consumer behavior across various contexts, it remains unclear whether conservatives and liberals exhibit different preferences when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Using survey data from 598 respondents in the United States, our findings indicate a positive correl...

Background This systematic review contributes to the understanding of the characteristics of built food environments that may be associated with choices of alternative protein foods (APF). Using the built food environment typology proposed by Downs et al., we investigated various environmental structures (e.g., supermarkets, other retailers, farmer...

We investigate the associations between political ideology and heterogeneous consumer preferences for food values. Marketing literature emphasizes the polarizing role of political ideology in consumer preferences. Despite the growing recognition of this relationship, scarce evidence exists regarding food value preferences across the political sp...

This paper presents the examination of a particular theoretical framework that incorporated the moderating role of demographics in a mediated by negative attitudes relationship between values and pro-environmental behaviour. The hypothesised hierarchical impact of Universalism (Un) on pro-environmental purchasing behaviour (PPB) through the mediati...

Purpose Although boycotting campaigns have been increasing, a limited amount of academic research has been focussed on the antecedents of consumers’ participation in the retail field. This paper presents an examination of consumers’ intentions to boycott the “unethical” supermarket products by a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) application. Materi...

This paper presents the examination of the pro-environmental purchase behaviour (PPB) by Greek consumers during the years of the economic crisis. It was found that the segment of the Greek consumers, who are more frequently than their counterparts engaged in PPB,has been substantially reduced since the pre-economic crisis years.The most frequently...

Presents the mediating role of negative attitudes (environmental unconcern) on the impact of values on pro-environmental purchasing behaviour. A survey was conducted through personal interviews on a sample of 360 residents in Thessaloniki, Greece. The sampling method was the one-stage area sampling. The hypothesized hierarchical impact of values on...

Recent literature has proposed the dynamic construct of customer value (CV) as an alternative approach to studying proenvironmental consumer purchase and loyalty behaviour. This study empirically tests and validates a model pertaining to the factors that motivate and/or hinder the development of the relationship between consumers and green brands....

Purpose The paper aims to address the issue of how customer value is created in the context of novel food products and how customer value influences product evaluation. Design/methodology/approach The study proposes a model formed by a series of causal relations among value (i.e. functional, social, hedonic, altruistic values) and cost perceptio...

Purpose This paper investigates the impact of assortment size and attribute quantity on the depth and content of consumer information searches. Design/methodology/approach For a computer-aided experiment using an information display board, participants (n=393) were placed in a simulated shopping situation that involved choosing a product among thr...

In the emergence of ethically conscious consumer segments across Europe, the expectation was that foods with a designation of origin–label (DOL) would make a production system of similar logic. Past analysis of the registration history of DOLs showed that the take-up of this European Union (EU) food quality scheme was concentrated in the south, whi...

This study examines Chinese urban consumers’ preferences for pig process attributes related to food safety. A consumer survey was conducted on 479 participants randomly selected in the cities of Nanjing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Changchun, Beijing and Guangzhou. The field survey was restricted to two kinds of retailing: supermarkets and local markets. The q...

This article analyzes the relationship between the preferences of European consumers for process attributes of pig farming, broadly related to sustainable oriented practices, and the individual human values as identified by Schwartz. A sample of 2,437 nationally representative individuals from five European countries was analyzed using a generalize...

The present paper offers empirical evidence about the impact of the type and characteristics of the brand category (i.e. perceived purchasing risk and involvement) as drivers of store brand choice. The means-end chains analysis methodology was applied on a sociodemographically homogeneous consumer sample, assigned through a 2 × 2 in-between subject...

Through a qualitative research approach, the present paper aims to explore the range and type of ‘values’ and ‘costs’ in formulating overall Consumer Value (CV) perceptions, in association with two emerging processing technologies that at the outset are neither distinctly positive nor negative in the eyes of consumers, in two culturally variant con...

Activists and policy makers strongly encourage consumers to act as responsible citizens when purchasing everyday products. Accordingly, retailers and brands are competing on the market introducing a plethora of sustainability labels that should address increasing customer demand. Nevertheless, the usefulness of these labelling schemes in aiding con...

High prices are often quoted as an obstacle to consumer purchase of organic food products. This article investigates the market performance of organic food products at different price levels and whether high price is necessarily a disadvantage for organic food products, especially with regard to generating repeat purchase. Based on analyses of pane...

The present study adds to the evolving literature on green consumer behavior by examining through statistically robust methods the effect and interrelationships of the key constructs of environmental concern, consumer environmental knowledge, beliefs about biofuels, and behavioral intention (i.e., willingness to use and pay) in the context of biofu...

Purpose – Values-attitudes hierarchical models are quite frequent in the consumer behaviour literature. In attitudinal models specific to food produced in an environmentally friendly way (i.e. “green” food), past research evidence mainly originating in Western cultures posits that the strongest path of the model can be found among collectivistic co...

The present paper uses a modified version of the Service Brand Verdict (SBV) model. The objective of the study is to incorporate service brand loyalty as an ultimate dependent measure seen as the outcome of consumers' evaluation of various service brand dimensions and communication, and test the generalizability of the modified SBV model in two dif...

This study investigates consumer response to food labels in an emerging market. More specifically, it measures the levels of awareness, objective and perceived understanding, perceived usefulness and perceived trustworthiness of the most prominent food labels found in the Romanian market. An online survey was conducted with a convenience sample of...

In many countries consumers have shown an increasing interest to the way in which food products are being produced. This study investigates Chinese consumers’ attitudes towards different pig production systems by means of a conjoint analysis. While there has been a range of studies on Western consumers’ attitudes to various forms of food production...

This conceptual article applies the customer value (CV) concept in the context of green marketing aiming to provide insights on the factors that motivate and/or hinder the development of consumer–green brand relationships. The article draws upon existing literature on the streams of CV, relationship marketing and environmental behaviour and synthes...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of tobacco differentiation attributes (i.e. nicotine and tar content, length, flavor and thickness) in market performance and loyalty levels of brands. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a stochastic approach to measure brand loyalty at the attribute level using the Dirichlet...

This study investigates if and how the translation of different types of functionality into measurable “amounts” of healthiness influences parents' preference for an a priori unhealthy (but tasty) food product (i.e., sweet or salty children's snacks). Moreover, it aims to explore whether perceptions about healthiness related to functionality types...

The Values Theory adopts a generic framework whereby a set of values is employed across consumer decision-making contexts in a manner that makes no distinction among various product categories. The present study advances this theory by exhibiting the adaptation capability of the generic values instrument (the Portrait Value Questionnaire, PVQ), dem...

China is one of the most dynamic economies of the planet. The dramatic economic development in recent decades has greatly influenced the structure and habits of Chinese society. This although still characterized by strong disparities between the poorer classes and the wealthy, shows a growing middle class and an increasingly high-income segment. Th...

This paper examines the role of quality assurance labels as drivers of customer loyalty in the case of traditional food products. More specifically, it investigates whether quality assurance labels, such as the Designation of origin labels (DOLs), perform as better drivers of loyalty in comparison to other brand-related attributes, such as price an...

Purpose Cask wine (bag‐in‐box, soft pack) has not received considerable attention in wine marketing research, but interest among winemakers and consumers has been increasing steadily. However, little is known about what drives consumer preferences for cask wine and, furthermore, what the profile of the cask wine consumer is. This study aims at fill...

The study explores the interrelationships between environmental concern knowledge, beliefs about and behavioral intention for bio-fuels. Data was collected from 1,695 respondents. Hypotheses were based on literature, and a conceptual model was tested through SEM. Results show that environmental concern has a positive and direct impact on knowledge,...

Several studies have explored the relationship between product involvement and brand loyalty (e.g. Olsen, 2007; Quester & Lim, 2003). The main finding drawn is that product involvement has a positive effect on brand loyalty. In other words, if an individual is more involved in a product category this increases the propensity of the same individual...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in wine preferences between Generation Y and older cohorts in the USA. Design/methodology/approach A total of 260 US consumers participated in a web‐based survey that took place in April 2010. The best‐worst scaling method was applied measuring the level of importance given by participant...

This study aims to analyse citizens' sustainability attitudes towards food production in the EU, Brazil, and China (n = 2885), using pork as an exemplary production system. The objective is to map citizens' attitudes towards sustainable characteristics of pig production systems, and investigate whether these attitudes coincide with people's general...

The study explores the interrelationships between environmental concern knowledge, beliefs about and behavioral intention for bio-fuels. Data was collected from 1,695 respondents. Hypotheses were based on literature, and a conceptual model was tested through SEM. Results show that environmental concern has a positive and direct impact on knowledge,...

This article evaluates consumers’ preferences among different pig production systems using a generalized random-parameter logit model for ranked outcome. The aim is to indagate whether process attributes are considered relevant by European consumers. Differences of preferences across subpopulations, among northern and mediterranean European countri...

During the last decade a strong consumer interest has emerged for food products with health protecting or enhancing properties. In this connection, health claims are used as communication tools conveying the health message of a product and further constituting the means of a brand’s differentiation strategy. Brands carrying a health claim are thus...

Purpose Schwartz's portrait value questionnaire (PVQ) has extensively been used in personal values research. The present paper aims to validate the 40‐item PVQ typology, using a nationally representative sample of 997 consumers. The main objective of the survey was to investigate whether higher‐than‐average regular purchasing of quality food produc...

Consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned with sustainable production and consumption. Recently, a comprehensive study ranked 17 countries in regard to their environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers. Brazil was one of the top countries in the list. Yet, several studies highlight significant differences between consumers' intentions t...

Understanding consumer needs should be a high-priority strategic objective in new product development (NPD). Despite their importance, however, NPD processes do not take full advantage of the consumer survey methodologies available. The authors investigate+ parents” preferences for three new functional children's snacks marketed in Greece. Usi...

Purpose This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the market structure of Greek red and white wine varieties and to measure the loyalty behaviour of frequent wine buyers in Greece. Design/methodology/approach The study measures brand performance and loyalty of four different Greek wine varieties. Based on stated preference data, basic b...

This paper presents the combined mid-term findings of the consumer research components of two EU Sixth Framework Programme integrated projects concerning meat, ProSafeBeef and Q-PorkChains. The consumer pillar of ProSafeBeef carried out eight focus group discussions in May 2008, in France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Q-PorkChains conducted a large-s...

The present study attempts to assess the impact of the COO effect on the evaluation of specific food products by Greek consumers. This issue has been examined exhaustively in the international literature, albeit there are very few studies concerning food products. A particular effort is geared toward measuring consumers’ ethnocentric tendency as an...

The objective of the study is to map citizen attitudes towards pig meat production systems, and to investigate whether these attitudes associate with pork and pork product consumption. A conjoint experiment was carried out with empirical data collected from 1931 individuals in four European countries with higher-than-average per capita meat consump...

Recognising the need for a more statistically robust instrument to investigate general food selection determinants, the research validates and confirms Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ’s) factorial design, develops ad hoc a more robust FCQ version and tests its ability to discriminate between consumer segments in terms of the importance they assign t...

During the last years, a strong consumer interest appears for food products with low caloric content (“light” products). Due to their popularity, the real success of these products in the marketplace is a worth-investigating issue. The creation of buyers that are loyal to light food brands constitutes an indication of this success. The present work...

The present article attempts an integrative review of knowledge on public trust in institutions and information sources regarding risk management and communication. The review is based on 27 empirical studies, and is organised around four groups of trust‐related factors. The empirical studies reveal that this field of research suffers from a lack o...

The present study initially fulfils a two-fold aim: first, to identify the functional foods most frequently purchased by a homogeneous group of well-educated consumers; and second, to define the most important functional food attributes that affect consumers’ purchasing decisions when examined in two separate age groups (young adults and early-midd...

In developing and implementing appropriate food risk management strategies, it is important to understand how consumers evaluate the quality of food risk management practices. The aim of this study is to model the underlying psychological factors influencing consumer evaluations of food risk management quality using structural equation modeling tec...

Crises in food risk management have often been attributed to disconnection between the stakeholders involved, as when consumers do not believe risk communications or dispute risk managers' priorities. Before this problem of disconnection can be resolved, however, there is a need to clarify the nature and extent of perceptual discrepancies between s...

While not much attention has been paid in the international literature to the consumption of premium food products with enhanced quality properties in Central-Eastern European Countries, the present survey aims to investigate consumer behavior in Romania with regards to honey as an example of such a product. The research concludes that, despite the...

While not much attention has been paid in the international literature to the consumption of premium food products with enhanced quality properties in Central-Eastern European Countries (CEECs), the present survey aims to investigate consumer behaviour in Romania as regards ‘honey’ as an example of such a product. The research concludes that, despi...

The European meat industry is confronted with substantial changes of consumer preferences in relation to the type and quantity of meat in everyday diet. One of the main reasons behind these changes is the public impression that meat is a “dangerous” to consume food. This feeling is the result of recent food scares where meat played a central role a...

Recent unfortunate food incidents increased consumers' concern about food and especially meat quality. The perception that meat is a hazardous commodity to consume resulted in a stabilization of the, so far increasing, meat consumption in Greece, as well as in the EU. The present survey aims to identify the general trends of meat consumption in Gre...

Purpose Seeks to provide answers to two questions: is willingness to pay (WTP) for organic products influenced by the same set of factors that affect purchasing of conventional foods? Does WTP for organic products vary according to different food categories? Design/methodology/approach Purchasers were approached during their food shopping in retai...

The objective of the present study is to describe the preferences of younger, more educated and higher income Greek consumers for "quality" olive oil brands - quality being defined as a bundle of extrinsic quality cues such as quality assurance labels, health-related information, country-of-origin indication, bottling material and price. The aim of...

It has been repeatedly claimed that the application of genetic engineering in the field of agricultural and food production is both beneficial and advantageous. However, biotechnology is developing in an environment where public concerns about food safety and environmental protection are steadily increasing. The present study aims at gaining an ins...

Following the means-end chain (MEC) analysis methodology, the study attempts to identify the psychologically-based, personal values-related motives of high-quality food purchasing in Greece. It is hypothesized that high social class consumers are quality-and health-conscious and exhibit a strong preference for high-quality foods. Olive oil is selec...

The effect of ripening on the chemical characteristics of fruits of the avocado (Persea americana) cultivars Ettinger, Fuerte and Hass was investigated. A study of some quality parameters of these main avocado cultivars grown on the island of Crete was performed. As the fruit ripened, a decrease in the moisture content was observed, with a high deg...

The growth of and interest in organic agriculture has emerged due to various problems encountered (health problems owing to pesticides, hormones, environmental problems brought on by to pesticides, decreasing biodiversity, threatened food security) which researchers hope to solve. Regulation EEC 2092/91 provided the organic farming sector with a me...

The commercial fish industry in Greece traditionally represents one of the most important natural resource-based industries. The process by which the wide variety of seafood products moves from the deck of a trawler, or the fish farm, to the consumer's dish is rather complicated. Considering the various species marketed, the seasonal nature of the...

The survey aims at analysing the current positioning of Greek feta cheese. A regional UK market is selected as a typical research location. Four components of feta cheese's marketing mix (country of origin, brand name, type of milk used and price) are included in a conjoint task of product evaluation. Based on the importance assigned to these attri...

The adoption of different quality assurance schemes, such as the Protected Denomination of Origin/Geographical Indication (PDO/PGI) by the European Union, has been a response to the growing demand for certified quality food products among consumers. Tries to offer some more insights into the effectiveness of the PDO scheme and its acceptance by the...

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek wine market with emphasis on wines produced from organically grown grapes by relating wine choice to consumers' personal value structure. With the use of a qualitative sample and applying the Means–end Chains methodology and the corresponding “laddering” interviewing technique, it att...

The present study aims at gaining a first insight into Greek consumers' attitudes towards low-fat food products. Although Greece, and in particular Crete, have enjoyed a great popularity in terms of the Mediterranean diet, there has been an almost complete lack of low-fat-related surveys concerning the Greek food consumer. Using this as a research...

A serious diversification of Greek consumers' food buying behavior can be observed during the last decade. Following similar trends worldwide, an important percentage of Greek consumers have been oriented to quality food products of higher added value. This value is delivered through the implementation of various certification strategies and the us...

A serious diversification of Greek consumers' food buying behavior can be observed during the last decade. Following similar trends worldwide, an important percentage of Greek consumers have been oriented to quality food products of higher added value. This value is delivered through the implementation of various certification strategies and the us...

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic market. It examines the organic products as “eco-products”, suitable for “green” consumers, who are ecologically/environmentally ecology-aware and who are concerned with health and quality-of-life issues. Analysing a countrywide sample, the survey concludes that three consumer...

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic market. It examines the organic products as “eco-products”, suitable for “green” consumers, conscious in matters of ecology-environment, who follow a wider health and quality-sensitive stance of life. Analyzing a countrywide sample, the survey concludes that three consumer typ...

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek wine market with emphasis on wines produced from organically grown grapes by relating wine choice to consumers' personal value structure. With the use of a qualitative sample and applying the Means-end Chains methodology and the corresponding "laddering" interviewing technique, it att...

Quality constitutes the main topic of numerous seminars. It is top priority for the organization of research groups and the reorganization of structures within firms. The adoption of different quality assurance schemes such as the Protected Denomination of Origin/Geographical Indication (PDO/PGI) by the EU has been a response to the growing demand...

Green food is perceived by Chinese consumers as environmentally friendly and safe to consume. Through a hierarchical values-attitudes model, the paper examines the degree to which attitudes towards green food is determined by consumers’ values and their general attitudes towards environment and nature and technological progress. The link between co...

The objective of this study is to map Brazilian citizen attitudes towards pig meat production systems and to investigate whether these attitudes associate with pork and pork product consumption. A conjoint experiment was carried out with empirical data collected from 475 respondents interviewed in southern and central-western states of Brazil. The...

In order to operationalize brand loyalty, various models have been applied that estimate brand measures and further describe patterns and the structure of the markets. A well known model in this area is the Dirichlet-NBD model. Despite major advancements to those models, how buyers' characteristics and psychographics influence actual brand measures...