Development and pilot testing of a questionnaire to assess sensory quality control (SQC) knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of food company employees

Integrating external stakeholders for improvement in green innovation performance: role of green knowledge integration capability and regulatory pressure

Purpose

Green innovation, particularly in manufacturing firms, is one of the most advocated methods to curb the effects of climate change. This study aims to investigate the impact of the integration of green customers and suppliers on the green innovation performance of food manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The institutional and resource-based view theories determine the moderating role of regulatory pressure and the mediating role of green knowledge integration capability (GKIC).

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from 511 middle management-level employees of food manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity. Hierarchical regression is used to test the proposed hypothesis.

Findings

A marginal improvement in integration with green customers can increase the green innovation performance (GIP) of a firm by 23.6%. Green supplier integration can improve the GIP by 14.2%, whereas the GKIC mediates the relationship between Green Customers Integration (GCI) and GIP but not for green suppliers integration (GSI). The moderating effect of regulatory pressure was significant for the relationship between GCI and GIP but insignificant for GSI.

Originality/value

Food manufacturing accounts for approximately 16% of global green house gases (GHG) emissions. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without a significant decrease in GHG emissions by food manufacturing companies. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate firms' green innovation performance in this sector. The findings of this study can help policymakers develop policies for achieving SDGs.

Construction and validation of a scale to measure consumers knowledge of food processing and acceptance of processed food

Negative impressions related to food processing can compromise consumer acceptance. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate a tool to assess consumer knowledge and acceptance of food processing. Semantic evaluation was performed with a lay public (n=13). Experts with experience in the area (n=9) participated in the content validation and semantic evaluation, using the Delphi Technique. Overall, there was strong agreement between the judges (Gwet's AC2 = 0.96 [clarity] and 0.81 [relevance]), with Fleiss Kappa equivalent to 0.78, indicating almost perfect agreement. After these phases, the instrument that totaled 37 items approved (W > 0.8) was applied for validation among Brazilian consumers (n = 200). An exploratory factor analysis offered a six-factor solution. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index found was 0.90. The Bartlett Sphericity Test was statistically significant (p<0.001). The final instrument contained 34 items. The calculated Cronbach's Alpha was 0.92, indicating an excellent reliability. The developed Consumers Knowledge of Food Processing and Acceptance of Processed Food (CKAFPAPF) was consistently validated and has proven to be a tool that can help identify information asymmetries, allowing the development of strategies that help consumers to have the correct information to make their food choices more consciously.