Journal submissions, review and editorial decision patterns during initial COVID-19 restrictions.

We use the full administrative records from four leading agricultural economics journals to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on manuscript submission, editorial desk rejection and reviewer acceptance rates, and time to editorial decision. We also test for gender differences in these impacts. Manuscript submissions increased sharply and equi-proportionately by gender. Desk rejection rates remained stable, leading to increased demand for reviews. Female reviewers became eight percentage points more likely to decline a review invitation during the early stage of the pandemic. First editorial decisions for papers sent out for peer review occurred significantly faster after pandemic lockdowns began. Overall, the initial effects of the pandemic on journal editorial tasks and review patterns appear relatively modest, despite the increased number of submissions handled by editors and reviewers. We find no evidence in agricultural economics of a generalized disruption to near-term, peer-reviewed publication.

Nutrition, hedonic or environmental? The effect of front-of-pack messages on consumers' perception and purchase intention of a novel food product with multiple attributes.

The present study aims to assess the effect of different Front-Of-Pack messages on consumer perception, willingness to buy and willingness to pay for a new food product, with multiple attributes, such as particular nutritional information, sensory characteristics, and a potentially positive environmental impact. Furthermore, this study explores the differences between consumers based on their individual latent traits in order to evaluate how these factors affect the willingness to buy the new product, as well as to outline a profile of target consumers attracted by innovative food products. A consumer survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1250 Italian consumers, using a between-subject design with different Front-Of-Pack messages as stimuli. Messages were related to different attributes: nutrition, environmental impact, hedonic characteristics, and process innovation. Empirical findings show that Front-Of-Pack messages do not directly affect consumer willingness to buy, but they do influence consumer perception of the product. The most effective message is the nutrition one. Consumer willingness to buy is particularly influenced by product perception and by their novelty seeking orientation in consumption. Furthermore, consumers were segmented through hierarchical clustering based on their novelty seeking orientation. The results obtained provide valuable suggestions for the design of new products' labeling and for the outline of the profile of potential target customers for innovative food products.