Consumers’ familiarity with and attitudes towards food quality certifications for rice and vegetables in Vietnam

Green-Labelled Rice versus Conventional Rice: Perception and Emotion of Chinese Consumers Based on Review Mining

The COVID-19 pandemic increased public health awareness, changing consumers' sensitivity and beliefs about food health. Food anxiety and health scares turn consumers toward safe and healthy foods to strengthen their immunity, which makes green food more popular. However, it remains unclear how to understand the gap between consumer intention to purchase green food and their actual purchasing behaviour. Taking rice as an object of study, comparing differences in consumer perceptions and emotions towards green-labelled rice and conventional rice is beneficial for understanding the components and psychological characteristics of consumer perceptions of green food. Therefore, we used topic modelling and sentiment analysis to explore consumers' focus of attention, attitudinal preferences, and sentiment tendencies based on the review (n = 77,429) from JD.com. The findings revealed that (1) consumers' concerns about green-labelled rice are increasing rapidly, and most have a positive attitude; (2) consumers of green-labelled rice are more concerned about origin, aroma, and taste than conventional rice; (3) consumers of conventional rice are more concerned about the cost-performance ratio, while consumers of green-labelled rice are also price-sensitive; (4) green label mistrust and packaging breakage during logistics are the leading causes of negative emotions among consumers of green-labelled rice. This study provides a comparative analysis of consumer perceptions and emotions between the two types of rice, thus revealing the main influencing factors of the intention-behaviour gap and providing valuable consumer insights for the promotion of green consumption and the sustainable development of the green food industry.

The Evolutionary Game Analysis of Low Carbon Production Behaviour of Farmers, Government and Consumers in Food Safety Source Governance

Whether the quality of agricultural products is safe or not is related to issues of food safety and low carbon production in agriculture. Based on evolutionary game theory, this paper establishes a game model among government, farmers and consumers and analyzes the dynamic evolutionary process and evolutionary stable strategies of the major stakeholders. The results show that: (i) government subsidy coefficient, farmers' penalty coefficient for not producing, consumer trust coefficient and willingness to pay carbon labelled agricultural products premium are positively related to farmers' adoption of low-carbon production behaviour, and fraud penalty coefficient and farmers' cost of adopting low-carbon production technology are negatively related; (ii) farmers' sensitivity to government regulation policies is: fraud penalty coefficient = farmers' cost of adopting low-carbon production technology > government subsidy The sensitivity of farmers to government regulation policies is: fraud penalty coefficient = cost of low-carbon production technology > government subsidy > penalty coefficient for non-production, and the sensitivity of farmers to direct market stimulation is: consumer trust coefficient > coefficient of willingness to pay premium for carbon labelled agricultural products, and the additional benefit coefficient has no significant effect on farmers' decision-making; (iii) In the early stage, the source control of food safety mainly depends on the government's policy intervention. In the later stage, the establishment of carbon label agricultural products market incentive mechanism can achieve long-term stable and effective source control of food safety.

Can the Participation in Quality Certification of Agricultural Products Drive the Green Production Transition?

The green production transition in agriculture is all about the quality of agricultural products at the source of production. Whether the product quality certification can accelerate the green production transition in agriculture is an issue of concern. We have measured the degree of green production transition of kiwifruit growers using a finite mixture model in this paper, and use research data from the main kiwifruit production areas in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to verify the impact of conducting product quality certification on the green production transition of kiwifruit growers. Besides, we use a multi-valued treatment effects model to verify the differences in the degree of green production transition among kiwifruit growers in the face of different certification types. Our findings are mainly as follows: the degree of green production transition among kiwifruit growers is not high, with an average of only 36.3%. Product quality certification can significantly promote the green production transition of kiwifruit growers, and the promotion effect of different certification methods in green production transition of kiwifruit growers significantly varies. The promotion effect of organic certification is greater than that of green certification and pollution-free certification. Further, the mechanism test analysis reveals that product quality certification can influence the green production transition of kiwifruit growers through three mechanisms: quality monitoring, market premium, and market access threshold. Based on this, this paper proposes policy recommendations to advance quality certification and green production transition among kiwifruit growers to increase the certification, enhance the willingness to green transition, and boost the differentiated certification system.

Willingness to Pay for Food Labelling Schemes in Vietnam: A Choice Experiment on Water Spinach

The growing concern for food safety and quality motivates governments and private sectors to improve consumers’ confidence in food systems, such as through adopting certifications and traceability systems. The recent emergence of diverse food labelling schemes and the turbulence in food systems in emerging countries have sparked questions about consumers’ valuation of such labels. Nonetheless, little is known on how the familiarity with, trust in and knowledge of these food labelling schemes affect consumers’ willingness to pay for labelling schemes in emerging market contexts. This study aims to address these literature gaps by investigating consumers’ valuation of existing certifications, branding and traceability labelling schemes in Vietnam. A face-to-face survey was conducted, including a discrete choice experiment on water spinach in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The findings indicated that Vietnamese consumers are generally willing to pay price premia for food labelling schemes, such as VietGAP certification, EU and USDA organic certifications, private branding and traceable Quick Response (QR) coding. While familiarity and understanding had no significant impact on Vietnamese consumers’ valuation, trust was found to be a critical factor shaping willingness to pay for products bearing VietGAP label. Policy implications and marketing strategies for organic certifications and traceability schemes in Vietnam are discussed.

The Effect of Food Safety-Related Attributes on Customer Satisfaction of Ready-to-Eat Foods at Hypermarkets

Food safety issues have become increasingly important in the retail sector. This study focused on the perception of the safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods at hypermarkets. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the perception of food safety-related attributes of RTE food and identify the key influencing factors to satisfaction at hypermarkets. A survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire that was administered at a hypermarket in Taipei, Taiwan. The hypermarket had a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points certification for RTE foods, while the target population was employees who had purchased RTE foods there. In total, 130 of the obtained questionnaires were valid. The statistical analysis encompassed descriptive statistics (means, percentages, and frequencies), exploratory factor analysis, and regression analysis. Four dimensions, i.e., facility, food, ambience/layout, and work staff, were identified to evaluate the food safety-related attributes of RTE foods at the hypermarket. A significant relationship between the food safety-related attributes and the overall customer satisfaction exists for ready-to-eat foods at hypermarkets. The facility, food, and work staff are all significantly impacting customer satisfaction. The results of this study promote a better understanding of consumer behavior toward food safety, thereby encouraging and supporting hypermarkets to design their layout and marketing strategies vis à vis RTE food.

A bibliometric analysis of food safety governance research from 1999 to 2019

Although the number of food governance-related studies increased rapidly in the recent decade, the current academic research still lacked systematic integration of food safety governance. To clarify the development trends of research therein, this study summarized research articles concerning food safety governance by the Web of Science Core Collection. An in-depth bibliometric analysis was then conducted through CiteSpace to summarize the current characters and hot spots of food safety governance research, and predicted future research trends. Results showed that food safety governance was multidisciplinary, which included environmental science, food science, economics, and agriculture. The United States had the largest number of relevant articles, and Wageningen University was the most influential scientific research institution. Among all the journals in this field, Food Policy ranked the first in publication volume and co-citation frequency. The development of food safety governance research was divided into three processes, namely the separate formulation of the standards for public and private sectors, the joint implementation of these standards, and co-governance by multiple sectors. The most popular research hot spots in this field were food safety policy integration and public-private partnership of food safety governance. Lower- and middle-income countries focused more on food supply and food system design, and regrettably not on food safety. Higher-income countries cared more about food safety and food nutrition. Besides, researchers of higher-income countries also concentrated on consumers' voices in participating in food safety governance. Food safety co-governance, online food governance, the willingness to buy safe food, and food safety governance under pandemics were considered as future research directions.

Explaining Consumers' Intention for Traceable Pork regarding Animal Disease: The Role of Food Safety Concern, Risk Perception, Trust, and Habit

Purpose. The aim of this paper is to explain a consumers' intention for traceable food in the context of the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak, in order to provide scientific knowledge for the government's intervention to mitigate the perceived risk and to promote the development of traceable food. Methodology. This research employed an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model in predicting purchase intention/attitude toward traceable pork. The structural equation analysis (SEM) was used on a sample of 230 students in Vietnam. Findings. The current context of food safety issues, as well as animal disease outbreak, is beneficial to direct consumption toward traceable products. Heterogeneous impacts of trust were confirmed on how consumers perceived risks associated with the ASF outbreak. Consumers' habits of shopping places and looking for the product origin incite the positive attitude toward traceable pork. Food safety concerns also promoted a positive purchase attitude. Originality/Value. The study's objective is first to equip knowledge regarding the consumers' intention toward traceable food under the impact of animal disease, particularly in the context of food safety issues in Vietnam. Extended knowledge promotes tailored policies to regain consumers' confidence and facilitate the development of traceable food.

Rural-urban differences in willingness to pay for organic vegetables: Evidence from Vietnam

Concerns about food safety together with rising disposable income means consumers in developing countries are willing to pay more for safe and high-quality food such as organic vegetables. At the same time, socioeconomic profiles differ in rural versus urban areas leading to differing intakes. This paper investigates regional differences in the determinants of willingness to pay (WTP) for organic vegetables in Vietnam. A contingent valuation survey was used to collect information on consumer preferences of organic vegetables in two regions of Hanoi. Using interval regression model, we found that consumer perception about organic vegetables, trust in labels, and disposable family income increased WTP for organic vegetables in both urban and rural regions. Risk perception of conventional vegetables was high in both regions. However, higher WTP prevailed only in the rural region. Besides, growing vegetables at home affected the WTP only in the rural region while education played a role in the WTP in the urban region. Since rural and urban consumers have different preferences toward organic food, they should not be treated as a homogenous group in formulating organic food policy. This paper also shows that very high price of organic vegetables and lack of trust in organic labels are key barriers to organic purchase. Thus, creating more trust and reducing the price of organic vegetables through lowering certification cost might be a good strategy to expand the organic vegetable market in Vietnam.