Vol. 7, No.1, March 2023, 7-30
Received: 06.12.2023, Revised: 19.02.2023, Accepted: 28.02.2023
Shopping for fresh food online during Covid-19 in Shanghai
Authors: Kim JANSSENS
Open University of the Netherlands
Janjaap SEMEIJN
Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Aim: The main goal is to examine the role of perceived risk in determining customers’ willingness to purchase fresh food online.
Research methods: Data were collected through an online survey. Respondents were recruited via a call on online platforms. A total of 287 fresh food e-commerce consumers participated.
Conclusions: The results showed that perceived risk of COVID-19 infection had a positive effect on purchase intention, perceived risk of purchase behavior had a negative impact on purchase intention, and attitude was a mediating variable between perceived risk and purchase intention. Past experience moderated the relationship between perceived risk of purchase behavior and attitude. Actual consumer behavior was explained directly by purchase intention
Originality: Next to attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, the effects of perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, perceived risk of purchase behavior, and past experience on purchase intention and actual behavior to purchase fresh food online were examined in an extended Theory of Planned Behavior model. Previous studies measured overall risk perception as risk perception associated with purchase behavior and risk perception related to Covid-19 infection. The influence of both types has rarely been examined distinctively.
Implications: Retailers can contribute to lowering consumers’ risk perception of purchasing fresh food online and offer creative promotions to attract repeat purchases.
Limitations: Only attitude correlated significantly with purchase intention, implying that additional variables may influence purchase intention. Also, although the influence of past experience is considered, a detailed distinction was not made.
Keywords: Theory of Planned Behavior, fresh food e-commerce, perceived risk, purchase intention, past experience, Covid-19
JEL: D01, D81
Vol. 7, No.1, March 2023, 31-61
Received: 15.01.2023, Revised: 15.03.2023, Accepted: 22.03.2023
Crash Course in prediction and mitigation for a crashing system: a complex biocultural sociological perspective of sudden social decline
Author: Laurenc DE VITA
Independent Scholar, USA
Aim: To present a condensed but inclusive discussion of the nature of the complex global system and the impediments to, but also the advantages of, means of prediction and action in a rapidly declining society to offer a compendium of the potential to assess the difficulty of predicting complex social systems.
Research methods: A review and synthesis of research material on: the function of dissipative systems, most specifically the global social system; the means to discern, measure and assess three kinds of energy through functional networks; the intractable difficulties with prediction and agency.
Conclusions: Regardless the inherent difficulty in prediction and agency in complex systems, there is a benefit to having some methodology. That is, it is better to understand how the system works, and to be able to identify, if just a short while in advance, what might happen and what responses we might have, and to do that we need to have an organized way to look at things.
Originality / value of the article: Offers, to a broad variety of large and small organizations, a brief guide to conceptualizing the global system, its functioning parts and sources of energy, and the imperative and difficulty of predicting and strategizing for changes in a declining system.
Implications of the research: There is benefit to a thorough understanding of the complex social system, if it allows prediction and response to system changes.
Limitations of the research: It is a “crash course”, and ideas are explored but not exhaustively described.
Keywords: complex systems, disaster management
JEL: D91, E71, H12
Vol. 7, No.1, March 2023, 63-75
Received: 22.01.2023, Revised: 02.02.2023, Accepted: 07.02.2023
Space Debris as a Threat to Space Sustainability
Author: Kadir YOZKALACH
University of Wrocław, Poland
Aim: The issue of space debris (or space junk) is an important aspect of the sustainability of space. If not properly managed, the accumulation of space debris could make some orbital paths too dangerous to use, potentially limiting our ability to explore and utilize space. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the space debris problem.
Design / Research methods: This article is based on a review of official statistics, policy papers, and media coverage related to the topic of space debris.
Findings: The data shows that intentional and non-intentional debris-creating events are still occurring. The increasing amount of debris brings higher risks to functional satellites and missions. While there are new projects to mitigate debris, these are challenging to put into action due to their high cost and high level of technology.
Originality: This paper presents an overview of the space debris problem in the context of the sustainability of space, by focusing on legal and technological aspects. The paper also touches upon different ways to mitigate space debris.
Keywords: Space debris, space sustainability, satellite, debris mitigation
JEL: Q56, Q57