Food-related hazards in China: Consumers' perceptions of risk and trust in information sources |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium;2. Department of Finance, China Women''s University, Beijing 100101, China;1. Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia dos Alimentos (PPGCTA), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Venâncio Aires, n° 2092, Apto 405, bairro Centro, CEP: 97010-000, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil;2. Curso de Nutrição do Centro Universitário Franciscano (Unifra), Santa Maria, RS, Brazil;3. Curso de Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, RS, Brazil;1. Department of Economics and Rural Development Policies, Agriculture University of Tirana, Tirana 1001, Albania;2. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy;1. Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada;2. School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada;3. Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada;1. Thuenen Institute of Farm Economics, Germany;2. Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft (Federal Office for Agriculture), Switzerland;3. University of Alberta, Canada;1. School of Economics and Management, Nanjing Tech University, China;2. Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper identifies segments of Chinese consumers based on their perception of personal risk, how worried they are and their subjective knowledge about seven possible food-related hazards: additives, residues, counterfeit, inferior, genetically modified, deteriorated and nutritionally imbalanced food. Data were collected through a consumer survey conducted in Beijing (534 participants) and in Baoding (437 participants). Three clusters were identified: worried and knowledgeable consumers (60.1%), worried and ignorant consumers (21.7%) and moderately worried consumers (18.2%). The first two groups reported a high level of worry and high perception of personal risk about food-related hazards in China. The two hazards they were most worried about were counterfeit food and inferior quality food. Television, internet and personal communication were the three information channels most frequently used by participants to obtain information about food safety. Worried and ignorant consumers reported less frequent use of magazines, books and brochures compared with other consumers. Medical doctors, personal experience and research institutes were the three most trusted information sources for the first two groups of consumers. Moderately worried consumers only placed high levels of trust in medical doctors and themselves. Consumers' perceptions about the knowledge, honesty and concern of different information sources significantly and positively affected their trust in those sources. The study concludes by making recommendations as to how to improve communications with the different identified consumer segments and identifies future research required to expand its validity. |
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| Keywords: | Consumer Food safety Genetically modified food Information Residues Risk perception |
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