Effect of Institutional Trust on Consumers' Health and Safety Perceptions and Repurchase Intention for Traceable Fresh Food

Interactive effects of trust in government information and perceived value on Chinese consumers' actual purchasing behavior toward contaminated seafood

Previous studies have separately examined the roles of trust in government information and perceived value in consumer food choices; however, the interactive effects of trust in government information and perceived value remain unknown. Therefore, this study explores the joint effects of trust in government information and perceived value on shaping consumers' actual food purchase behavior after food contamination. A logit model was used to estimate the interactive effects. The results from a sample of 710 Chinese consumers indicated that a lack of trust continues to make consumers concerned about the safety of seafood, which, together with the spread of internet rumors, leads to the fact that trust in government information does not directly affect consumers' actual purchase behavior. However, it can also indirectly influence purchase behavior through perceived risks and benefits. Specifically, trust in government information reduces risk perception among low-income consumers and enhances benefit perception among low-risk city consumers, thus enhancing purchasing behavior. Moreover, we find city heterogeneity in its impact on consumer purchasing behavior. Specifically, in low-risk cities, it significantly promotes consumer purchasing behavior, however, in high-risk cities, it does not directly affect consumer purchasing behavior. Overall, trust in government information does not directly affect consumer purchasing behavior. Perceived value is a key factor affecting consumer purchasing behavior. An interactive effect exists between trust in government information and perceived value on consumer purchasing behaviors. These results highlight the role of perceived value in amplifying the effects of trust in government information. These findings have significant implications for seafood producers and policymakers. Effective strategies should encompass both the provision of perceived value and the cultivation of trust in government information to promote consumer choices of contaminated food.

How Cognition Influences Chinese Residents' Continuous Purchasing Intention of Prepared Dishes under the Distributed Cognitive Perspective

Enhancing residents' purchasing intention of prepared dishes is crucial for the sustainable development of the prepared dishes industry. Understanding how residents' cognition influences their continuous purchasing intention can provide valuable insight for developing and refining company strategies, thereby reducing industry development obstacles. Based on the theory of distributed cognition, this study utilizes questionnaire data from urban residents in Beijing and Shanghai, and employs Structural Equation Modeling to explore the influence of cognition on the continuous purchasing intention of Chinese urban residents towards prepared dishes. The study results reveal that: (1) Individual power and geographical power have a significant positive effect on residents' continuous purchasing intention for prepared dishes, while cultural power does not have a significant effect. (2) Risk perception partially mediates the effect of individual power and geographical power on continuous purchasing intention and fully mediates the effect of cultural power on continuous purchasing intention. Recommendations include: (1) The government should enhance standardization and supervision to create a favorable consumption environment; (2) Enterprises should provide more objective and transparent information to improve residents' knowledge of prepared dishes and establish a good reputation.

A processing-type active real-time traceable certification system

In addition to substituting low-price and low-quality materials for high-quality materials at the food processing stage, many dishonest businesses risk adulterating chemical materials in products to reduce production costs or increase product flavor with chemical synthesis spices. As a result, the risks to food safety are increased. Most safety management and certification regulations proceed with on-site examination or sampling inspection. As current certification systems lack complete tracking and real-time certification processes, they cannot comprehensively check foods' processing and production processes and contents. Hence, food safety problems sway consumers' trust and confidence in certification systems. This study intends to improve the agricultural processing end's current food traceability certification system. Adding the design of raw material total quantity control provides a complete and sound real-time certification mechanism for citizens and businesses to assure consumer rights.

How can blockchain technology promote food safety in agricultural market?-an evolutionary game analysis

The governance of agricultural food safety issues is closely linked to social interests. To promote food safety supervision in the Chinese agricultural markets under the background of blockchain application, this paper develops a partnership comprising vendors, consumers, and the government. Using the theory of evolutionary game combined with the actual situation of China, the evolutionary process simulations of three participants prove that the tripartite subjects can realize a stable state under the specific relationship. Impact investigation results of typical influential factors indicate the following: (1) The behavior of vendors depends on the government's supervision and consumers' reporting attitude. Limiting the penalty amount for vendors to 66.7% of speculative gains can shorten the processing time for vendors to comply with the law. (2) Consumers play a vital role in food safety supervision of the agricultural market. The penalty for consumers should be limited to 1/3 of the reward amount. (3) The government's incentive-oriented and punishment-inhibited policies can promote blockchain technology in supervision. Punishment-inhibited and key influencing parameters can cooperate in obtaining the maximum regulatory benefits. The results of this study have certain reference values for promoting policy formulation and implementing blockchain technology in agricultural food safety supervision.

Chinese Consumers’ Trust in Food Safety Surveillance Sampling of Commonly Consumed Foods

In China, food has become safer over the past five years, especially commonly consumed foods. Food supervision sampling has played an important role in improving food safety. However, consumer acceptance of the results of food safety supervision have not kept pace. Communicating actual food safety risks to consumers and improving the public trust in food safety supervision sampling inspection has become an important issue. This study focused on food safety surveillance sampling of commonly consumed foods. In total, 4408 adult consumers were surveyed between August and October 2021. Structural equation modeling was performed for data analysis. This study found significant differences along gender lines and across different cities and levels of education with respect to evaluating competence trust and care trust on food supervision sampling inspection. This study identified the public’s competence trust, care trust, and perception of food safety as factors that significantly affect one’s attitude toward supervision sampling inspection. Care trust showed a more pronounced effect on trust enhancement than competence trust. The present study also provides some practical measures for food safety supervisors to improve public trust in the national food inspection. Specifically, the sampling process should be open and transparent.