Assessing the manin influences on the food buying decision process of sojourners.

Resumen

A new consumption scenario has been developed during the past years due to the movement of immigrants around the world. In this global scene, a group of immigrants that stay short periods of time in the host country has been continuously growing over the past decades. This is one of the reasons why this group, known as sojourners, is increasingly attracting the attention of academics, scientists, practitioners and policy makers worldwide. Within this context, this Doctoral Thesis aims at addressing a research gap regarding the role of food during academic sojourns by international students. More specifically, this research mainly analyses how food values, dietary acculturation and ethnocentrism affect international university students¿ food buying decisions. It also assesses the influence of ethnocentrism, perceived risk and external influences on dietary acculturation. With this intention, this Doctoral Thesis provides an in-depth review of relevant literature and suggested hypotheses pertaining to the influence of: (i) food attributes, dietary acculturation and ethnocentrism on the different stages of the buying decision process of academic sojourners, considering gender differences and the continent of origin; and (ii) ethnocentrism, perceived risk and external influences on the dietary acculturation of this group of sojourners. Although it has commonly suggested that acculturation should be measured with qualitative methods as it is largely contingent upon specific contexts, the goal of this study is not to address acculturation itself; but to analyse how dietary acculturation relates to other variables intervening in the food buying process of these sojourners. For this reason, highly validated scales are to be used for assessment of the latter variables. With these ideas in mind, we gathered a wide sample from a population of 683 international university students enrolled in a Spanish university, and conducted factorial principal component analysis and linear parametric regressions for food attributes, dietary acculturation and ethnocentrism variables. In addition, in order to better understand the effects of ethnocentrism, perceived risk and external influences on these sojourners¿ dietary acculturation, it was also carried out a structural equation analysis. The main findings show how: (1) the greatest influence of food values occurs in the choice stage; (2) sojourners show a strong tendency to purchase products that reflect sustainable practices; (3) whereas European students exhibit a higher propensity to value sustainable production practices in the food choices, American students emphasize flavor and exhibit a greater degree of adaptation; (4) the influence of ethnocentrism is much greater in the food buying decision process for male sojourners; (5) the ethnocentrism is significant only in the second stage of sojourners¿ dietary acculturation process; (6) the level of perceived risk decreases along the adjustment process and depends on the features in common with the host culture; and (7) the external influences represent a high influence in all stages. These results provide key insights about the influence of food attributes, dietary acculturation and ethnocentrism on purchasing decisions, as well as about how ethnocentrism, perceived risk and external influences impact on dietary acculturation. No doubt that this information can serve to support more effective decisions along food distribution channels. Moreover, universities and local authorities can use these findings to design and develop improved strategies for attracting greater numbers of international students adequately ¿and also for dealing with them more effectively. It is also essential that public and private operators ¿ e.g., key stakeholders such as food manufacturers, importers, and retailers ¿ understand the dietary adaptation process of sojourners and develop particular strategies personalized to their needs. Keywords: sojourners; international university students; buying decision process; food values; dietary acculturation; ethnocentrism; perceived risk; external influences.