Post-lockdown changes in diet in Italy and the USA: Return to old habits or structural changes?

This study analyses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption at the end of the first lockdown in the New York State (USA) and in Italy (spring 2020). The results of our study show that important changes occurred in food habits in these two countries, in which lockdown was very similar. Three models of response to the shock of the lockdown were noted in both countries.

Monocular 3D Body Shape Reconstruction under Clothing.

Estimating the 3D shape of objects from monocular images is a well-established and challenging task in the computer vision field. Further challenges arise when highly deformable objects, such as human faces or bodies, are considered. In this work, we address the problem of estimating the 3D shape of a human body from single images.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mass Market Retailing of Wine in Italy.

The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed framework of wine purchases in supermarkets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unexpected diffusion of the virus and the restrictions imposed in Italy to prevent its spread have significantly affected the food purchasing habits of consumers. By analyzing the scanner data of the wine sales in the Italian mass market retail channel, this study was intended to show whether and how the dynamics triggered by the pandemic have modified the overall value and type of wine purchases, focusing on prices, formats, and promotional sales.

Understanding the role of information and taste heterogeneity in consumer preferences for functional beef: The case of the omega-3 enriched burger.

Beef demand has progressively decreased due to an increasing number of consumers who perceive beef as harmful to their health, among other causes. In contrast, functional foods are one of the fastest-growing markets. This study aims to analyse consumer preferences and estimates the willingness to pay for beef enriched with omega-3 fatty acids.

Organic milk preference: is it a matter of information?

This study evaluates how textual information treatments (no information, animal welfare, quality, sustainability, and production cost) applied to organic production affect consumer preferences and willingness to pay for organic milk. We performed a choice experiment on 1250 Italian consumers, using a between-subject design. Our results show that without information, consumers on the average do not show a preference for organic milk.

Discrete choice experiments with multiple price vectors for products sold in a wide price range.

The discrete choice experiment is a widely used methodology in consumer studies. However, applying this method to investigate the market of products sold in a wide price range could present issues as to the quality of the estimate of preferences. In fact, for this type of product, frequently consumers may have different behaviours when faced with different price levels.

Investigating the role of personal and context-related factors in convenience foods consumption.

In the scenario of food consumptions, we witness the consumer's growing consideration for the "convenience" attribute. Our study intends to understand the consumer behaviour towards convenience-processed foods by analysing in a single model the role of beliefs, personal traits, social influence and market availability. We applied a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to a representative sample of 426 Italian consumers.

Artificial neural network for multifunctional areas.

The issues related to the appropriate planning of the territory are particularly pronounced in highly inhabited areas (urban areas), where in addition to protecting the environment, it is important to consider an anthropogenic (urban) development placed in the context of sustainable growth. This work aims at mathematically simulating the changes in the land use, by implementing an artificial neural network (ANN) model. More specifically, it will analyze how the increase of urban areas will develop and whether this development would impact on areas with particular socioeconomic and environmental value, defined as multifunctional areas.

Typical Vine or International Taste: Wine Consumers' Dilemma Between Beliefs and Preferences.

Background: The wine-growing sector is probably one of the agricultural areas where the ties between product quality and territory are most evident. Geographical indication is a key element in this context, and previous literature has focused on demonstrating how certification of origin influences the wine purchaser's behavior. However, less attention has been devoted to understanding how the value of a given name of origin may or may not be determined by the various elements that characterize the typicality of the wine product on that territory: vines, production techniques, etc.

Using the animal to the last bit: Consumer preferences for different beef cuts.

Meat is expensive to produce, making it is essential to understand the importance consumers pay to different meat cuts. Previous research on consumers' meat choices has mainly focused on meat species, while consumer preferences for meat cuts has so far only received limited interest. The aim of this study is to shed some light into this relatively unexplored area by answering four research questions.

Food habits. Changes among young Italians in the last 10 years.

The study aims to identify future trends in food habits by comparing the food choices made in Italy by Generation X in the year 2000 with those of Generation Y in 2009. The analysis was conducted utilising the food expenditures surveyed by the National Statistics Institute on a representative sample of consumers. Segmentation was performed using the Latent Class Clustering in order to identify the principal food patterns and their evolution in the span of a decade.