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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andy Jin, Yasuhiro Matsuoka, Dr Glyn Jones, Professor Lynn FrewerORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2024. Consumers are increasingly focused on making sustainable food choices, necessitating transparent and trusted systems for providing sustainability information. This can be implemented, for instance, through application of traceability systems that “carry” sustainability information about production and distribution. Currently, the literature on traceability mainly addresses consumer perceptions regarding the benefits of traceability concerning food safety and recalls. This research assessed consumers’ perceptions of the benefits of tracing food sustainability information in relation to purchase decisions. Data were collected using online surveys in China (n = 1515) and the UK (n = 1656). Path analysis indicated that higher perceived benefits of tracing sustainability information had small positive impacts on purchase intentions in both countries, with these being more pronounced for traced beef compared to milk and apples. The impacts of perceived environmental benefits on purchase intentions were partially mediated by perceptions of improved food safety and quality. This indirect influence was more prominent among UK respondents, implying potentially stronger safety and quality “halo” effects associated with environmental sustainability information compared to Chinese respondents. Stronger pro-environmental attitudes and greater perceived environmental threats linked to food production correlated with higher perceived environmental benefits of tracing food sustainability information and purchase intentions for traced foods in both countries. Positive correlations between pro-environmental attitudes and perceived environmental threats were only observed for UK respondents, suggesting that environmental issues related to food production might be more integrated into the general environmental attitudes of UK respondents. Implications for marketing strategies and policymaking are proposed considering diverse consumer responses to traced foods between the UK and China, food categories, and socio-demographic groups.
Author(s): Jin S, Matsuoka Y, Yue M, Jones G, Frewer LJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environment, Development and Sustainability
Year: 2024
Pages: ePub ahead of Print
Online publication date: 07/06/2024
Acceptance date: 27/05/2024
Date deposited: 27/05/2024
ISSN (print): 1387-585X
ISSN (electronic): 1573-2975
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05097-0
DOI: 10.1007/s10668-024-05097-0
Data Access Statement: Data and code will be made available on request.
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