How consumers link traceability to food quality and safety: An international investigation

It is not yet understood whether the implementation of traceability systems can contribute towards restoring consumer confidence in food quality and safety, one of the goals of the European Food Law. To date, little is known about how consumers perceive the role and potential impact of traceability within the supply chain. This paper aims to provide insight into how traceability information can offer guarantees of food quality and safety, and contribute towards increased consumer confidence. Data, collected in four EU countries, examines salient cognitions and attitudes that underpin consumer beliefs about product traceability that will influence their decision making. It will link traceability- related food attributes to perceived benefits (in terms of quality and safety) and important consumer values. Furthermore, variations between different consumer s are examined to illustrate how the concepts of food safety and food quality may have different meanings and consequences in the various European countries. Understanding which benefits consumer s associate with traceability will assist in providing consumers with traceability information in line with their requirement s.Traceability, Consumer Perception, Food Safety, Food Quality, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Consumer perceptions of food quality and safety and their relation to traceability

Purpose - The research presented here aims to gain understanding of consumers' perceptions of the concepts of food quality and safety, two concepts that play an important role in how consumers perceive food, and that are used in decision making.Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 163 consumers) were held in four European countries (Germany, France, Italy and Spain). Consumers'own definitions of the two concepts of food quality and safety were examined, together with the perceived interrelationship between quality and safety, and whether these concepts were linked to improved food chain traceability.Findings - The results indicate that most consumers see food quality and food safety as interlinked concepts, which becomes evident in their partly overlapping definitions of the two concepts. Consumers believe both food safety and quality are important to food in general, but pay relatively more attention to food quality when purchasing a product. Traceability was linked not only to food safety, but also to food quality in the mind of the consumer.Research limitations/implications - Future research on consumer perceptions of food quality and safety will need to take account of the observation that these concepts are strongly related in consumers' minds, and therefore cannot be easily separated in explaining consumer choices.Originality/value - Instead of investigating consumer perceptions of food quality and safety in relation to specific products, consumer perceptions of food quality and food safety in general, and how these were related to each other, were studied. Further understanding was gained of how consumers might use these concepts in judgements about food, which, in turn may influence their purchase decisions.</p

How consumers link traceability to food quality and safety: An international investigation

It is not yet understood whether the implementation of traceability systems can contribute towards restoring consumer confidence in food quality and safety, one of the goals of the European Food Law. To date, little is known about how consumers perceive the role and potential impact of traceability within the supply chain. This paper aims to provide insight into how traceability information can offer guarantees of food quality and safety, and contribute towards increased consumer confidence. Data, collected in four EU countries, examines salient cognitions and attitudes that underpin consumer beliefs about product traceability that will influence their decision making. It will link traceability- related food attributes to perceived benefits (in terms of quality and safety) and important consumer values. Furthermore, variations between different consumer s are examined to illustrate how the concepts of food safety and food quality may have different meanings and consequences in the various European countries. Understanding which benefits consumer s associate with traceability will assist in providing consumers with traceability information in line with their requirement s

The impact of adopting ethnic or civic conceptions of national belonging for others' treatment

National belonging is often defined in terms of “ethnic” ancestry and “civic” commitment (with the latter typically implying a more inclusive conception of belonging). The authors report three Scottish studies manipulating the prominence of these criteria. In Study 1 (N = 80), a Chinese-heritage target was judged more Scottish (and his criticisms of Scotland better received) when Scotland was defined in civic terms. In Study 2 (N = 40), a similar manipulation in a naturalistic setting showed a civic conception of belonging resulted in more help being given to a Chinese-heritage confederate. Study 3 (N = 71) replicated Study 2 and showed the effect was mediated by judgments of the confederate’s Scottishness. These studies emphasize the importance of exploring how ingroup identity is defined