Special Issue "Marketing of Agricultural Products and Consumer Behavior in Sustainability"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marija Cerjak
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: marketing of agricultural products; market research; consumer behavior; regional and rural development
Prof. Dr. Vlade Zarić
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade,Nemanjina 6, 11080 Belgrade - Zemun, Serbia
Interests: agribusiness management; agri-food marketing; agri-food supply chains

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent developments in the agri-food market, especially regarding awareness of the impact of agricultural production and distribution on the environment as well as the introduction of innovative technologies and digitalization in the sector, have prompted significant changes both at the supply as well as at the demand side. Changes in food consumer behavior have been additionally intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated that the competitive advantage of the agri-food businesses cannot be based solely on the production of high-quality products but must also incorporate innovative marketing and selling, respecting sustainable principles.

This Special Issue aims to address these global business and societal challenges and to contribute to the development of a sustainable agri-food system by covering the following topics:

  • COVID-19 pandemic and sustainability of agri-food markets
  • Innovative agri-food marketing initiatives and sustainability
  • Digital agribusiness marketplaces and sustainability
  • Local agri-food products
  • Novel food and sustainability
  • Consumers’ motivation for buying sustainable agricultural products
  • Farmers’ perception on sustainable agricultural products
  • Social sustainability in agriculture

Prof. Dr. Marija Cerjak
Prof. Dr. Vlade Zarić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agri-food markets
  • agricultural producers
  • consumers
  • motives and behavior
  • innovative marketing initiatives
  • sustainability

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Exploring the Representation of Cows on Dairy Product Packaging in Brazil and the United Kingdom
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8418; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158418 - 28 Jul 2021
Viewed by 455
Abstract
Food packages must communicate mandatory information, but they can also be used for marketing practices such as promotion and are a communication pathway from industry to consumer. Considering that cows are the main beings affected by the dairy industry, it is essential to [...] Read more.
Food packages must communicate mandatory information, but they can also be used for marketing practices such as promotion and are a communication pathway from industry to consumer. Considering that cows are the main beings affected by the dairy industry, it is essential to scrutinise what dairy product packages convey about them. The aims of this study are to analyse the occurrence of reference to cows on the packaging of dairy products in popular supermarket retail stores in Brazil and the United Kingdom and to discuss ethical implications of promotional practices of dairy producers. We found that in both countries most packaging does not refer to cows at all. In the UK, an average of 31% of the packaging used some visual reference to cows, and in Brazil an average of 15% of packaging used some visual reference to cows. We identified four modalities of cow signifiers with a strong common appeal to nature that reflect and reaffirm an idyllic narrative of milk production. Our findings reflect the concept of absent referent, coined by Carol Adams, both on the packages containing some type of cow representation and on the packages not containing any. Considering that it might influence the consumer’s understanding and attitude towards cows, we highlight that the lack of adequate information about cows’ conditions and the obscuring of problematic issues in cows’ exploitation through the globalization of the happy cow narrative are two important issues to be placed on the Marketing Ethics concerns. Full article
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