Analysing acculturation to sustainable food consumption behaviour in the social media through the lens of information diffusion

TY - JOUR

T1 - Analysing acculturation to sustainable food consumption behaviour in the social media through the lens of information diffusion

AU - Choudhary, Sonal

AU - Nayak, Rakesh

AU - Kumari, Sushma

AU - Choudhury, Homagni

N1 - Funding Information: Sushma Kumari is a full-time Lecturer at University of Hull. Prior to that, she has worked as HR Executive in different international firms in India. She has also worked as a research assistant on numerous projects funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), British Academy (BA), Horizon 20–20, Innovate UK, Higher Education Academy (HEA). Her research articles have been published in various renowned journals of Operations Research and Operations & Supply chain Management. Funding Information: Sonal Choudhary , PhD, is a Lecturer in Sustainable Management at the Sheffield University Management School, UK. Her main research interests are in the areas of sustainability issues in food system, food loss and waste, circular economy, sustainable behavioural change and digital supply chain management. She has worked on numerous projects funded by European Commission (FP7), Marie Curie (ITN), British Academy, Newton Fund, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), N8 Agri-food, Science and Technology Facility Council (STFC) Food Network+ and has published in leading international OM/SCM journals. Publisher Copyright: © 2018

PY - 2018/10/30

Y1 - 2018/10/30

N2 - Drawing on theories of acculturation and information diffusion, this paper examines whether social media usage, intergroup contacts and information dissemination influence the cultural adaptation of three ethnic groups, and its implications on sustainable consumption behaviour. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews containing multiple dimensions of social media uses, acculturation, food consumption behaviour, and information diffusion were administered to a sample of Indians (living in the home country), British Indians (living in the host country for more than 10 years) and White British (natives of Britain) users of social media. Our findings suggest that there is a clear link between the integrated strategy of acculturation and information diffusion on social media, which influences acculturation to sustainable food consumption behaviour among social media users. Managerial implications of this research finding are that intervention in information diffusion aids acculturation through the social media, which serves to infuse social media and sustainability strategist with knowledge to best influence the consumers in developing sustainable food consumption behaviour. This research also identifies opportunities to expand this academic research and contribute further to the theories of remote acculturation on which limited research has been done.

AB - Drawing on theories of acculturation and information diffusion, this paper examines whether social media usage, intergroup contacts and information dissemination influence the cultural adaptation of three ethnic groups, and its implications on sustainable consumption behaviour. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews containing multiple dimensions of social media uses, acculturation, food consumption behaviour, and information diffusion were administered to a sample of Indians (living in the home country), British Indians (living in the host country for more than 10 years) and White British (natives of Britain) users of social media. Our findings suggest that there is a clear link between the integrated strategy of acculturation and information diffusion on social media, which influences acculturation to sustainable food consumption behaviour among social media users. Managerial implications of this research finding are that intervention in information diffusion aids acculturation through the social media, which serves to infuse social media and sustainability strategist with knowledge to best influence the consumers in developing sustainable food consumption behaviour. This research also identifies opportunities to expand this academic research and contribute further to the theories of remote acculturation on which limited research has been done.

KW - Acculturation

KW - Food consumption

KW - Information diffusion

KW - Social media

KW - Sustainable behaviour

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055703221&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.10.009

DO - 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.10.009

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85055703221

SN - 0040-1625

VL - 145

SP - 481

EP - 492

JO - Technological Forecasting and Social Change

JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change

ER -