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The paper analyses the peculiarieties of social economy, focusing the scientific attention to social enterprises and their environment in EU and, especially, Lithuania. The research problem of the paper lays upon revealing the situation and development of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in EU and Lithuania, especially emphasizing rural areas and their peculiarities. The aim of the paper is to disclose the role of social economy and the importance of social enterprises in it, especially concentrating on the environment analysis for such business in Lithuanian rural areas. In the research paper, there were analysed social economy context and importance, legal, economic and social environment of social enterprises in Lithuanian rural area, and social enterprises in Lithuania in terms of latest statistical data. Main findings of the fulfilled research are following: social economy remains very important in EU countries, but the exposure of it is quite different in various countries. Lithuania is trying to implement the principals of social economy in the policy of the country. Now the attention is focused on social entrepreneurship and social enterprises as the unused potential for economy boost in the country. Environement analysis of social enterprises, especially focusing on rural areas of Lithuania, revealed that situation is getting better, but there are a lot of things to be improved for successful development of social business in the country. The improvement should start from public institutions and their focused activity to improve conditions for social enterprises. Otherwise, intentions from business actors are very important also. The further guidance of this research could lead to deeper analysis of social entrepreneurs’ intentions due to starting up social business gathering primary data from the potential and existing entrepreneurs. Rural areas remain as unexplored area for social business creation, especially when additional financial support is planned for them.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.11.18916

Per paskutiniuosius dešimtmečius pasaulyje vyko daug politinio, ekonominio bei socialinio pobūdžio transformacijų. Eilė šalių nustojo egzistuoti, o buvusios jų sudėtinės dalys įgijo ar atgavo nepriklausomybę. Toks kontekstas sudaro savitas sąlygas formuotis vartotojų požiūriui į kaimyninių šalių prekes bei pačias šalis. Daug tyrinėtas kilmės šalies poveikis gali būti pagrįstai siejamas su nostalgija, etnocentrizmu ir galimu priešiškumu konkrečiai šaliai. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama šių veiksnių tarpusavio sąveika bei jų įtaka vartotojų požiūriui į priešiškai vertinamos šalies prekes. Skirtingai nei ankstesniuose kitų autorių tyrimuose, nustatytas stiprus ryšys tarp neigiamo šalies vertinimo ir jos prekių vertinimo, atskleistas nostalgijos poveikis etnocentrizmui ir priešiškumui. Tikėtina, kad šie savitumai sietini su savita transformaciją patyrusių šalių vartotojų asmenine patirtimi, kurios poveikis negalėjo būti pastebėtas tiriant kitokiomis aplinkybėmis During the last two decades numerous societies have experienced major political, economic and social transformations. Many of them resulted in splitting of the former states and formation of new political units. New countries often emerged or re-emerged after the breakdown of the multinational political entities that had been founded on certain historical events and political power. This process has created new sets of attitudes towards countries and their products among the consumers of the countries that previously belonged to the same political unit. We presume that the most complex scope of perceptions has been developed towards the countries that previously were assumed as possessing formal or informal superiority over others in the conglomerate. When evaluating the products from such countries, consumers may be influenced by the product country-of-origin (COO) factor in a more complex way than usual, where ethnocentrism, nostalgia and possible animosity towards the country are involved. The research disclosed some unexpected findings. Unlike in the other studies on animosity, the analysis showed a correlation among animosity towards the country and the evaluation of its products. In addition, nostalgia appeared to be an important antecedent to animosity and was linked with ethnocentrism. Although these findings may be interpreted on the basis of the specific context analysis, our study outlines several directions for further research rather than draws firm conclusions

This study explores what drives consumers’ judgments and decisions – uniqueness perception of a foreign product with protected geographical origin cue or uniqueness perception of a domestic doppelgänger product. We find that uniqueness perception of domestic brands has greater impact on willingness to buy domestic brands compared with the uniqueness perception of the brand holding geographical origin labels. Next, our data shows that uniqueness perception of domestic doppelgänger brands has influence not only on willingness to buy such brands (positive influence) but also negative influence on willingness to buy true and unique brands denominated by protected origin. Thus, by perceiving the uniqueness of a domestic brand positively, consumers discount the original, unique and legally protected brand and are less willing to buy such a brand. The study offers theoretical implications for ingroup positivity and outgroup negativity research as well as managerial implications for managers and policy makers indicating how to improve marketing efforts and regulatory support to geographical origin labels.

Background Since regaining of independence in 1990, Lithuania has been undergoing substantial political, economic, and social changes that affected the nutrition habits of population. Dietary changes might have impact on the trends of dietary related risk factors of chronic diseases. The aim of the study was to compare trends in diet and lipid profile of Lithuanian rural population aged 25-64 during two decades of transition period (1987-2007). Methods Four cross-sectional surveys were conducted within the framework of the Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention Programme in five regions of Lithuania in 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2007. For each survey, a stratified independent random sample was drawn from the lists of the inhabitants aged 25-64 years registered at the primary health care centres. Altogether 3127 men and 3857 women participated in the surveys. 24-hour recall was used for evaluation of dietary habits. Serum lipids were determined using enzymatic methods. Predicted changes of serum cholesterol were calculated by Keys equation. Results The percentage of energy from saturated fatty acids has decreased from 18.0 to 15.1 among men and from 17.6 to 14.8 among women over the period of 20 years. The average share of polyunsaturated fatty acids in total energy intake increased from 5.3% to 7.1% among men and from 4.9% to 7.3% among women. The mean intake of cholesterol declined among women. Favourable trends in fatty acids composition were caused by increased use of vegetable oil for cooking and replacement of butter spread with margarine. Since 1987, the mean value of total cholesterol has decreased by 0.6 mmol/l. Total dietary effect accounts for a 0.26 mmol/l (43.3%) decline in serum cholesterol among men and 0.31 mmol/l (50.8%) decline among women. Conclusions Improvement in the quality of fat intake was observed in Lithuanian rural population over two decades of transition period. Positive changes in diet, mainly reduction in saturated fatty acids intake, contributed to decline in serum cholesterol level. Strengthening of favourable trends in nutrition habits in Lithuanian population should be one of the most important strategies of cardiovascular diseases prevention.