Beijing Food Safety Policy & Strategy Research Base, China Agricultural University, No.17 Tsinghua East Road, Haidian District, 100083 Beijing, P. R. China; College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, 108 Mailbox, No.17 Tsinghua East Road, Haidian District, 100083 Beijing, P. R. China.
Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen Economic Research, PO Box 35, Wageningen 6700 AA, the Netherlands.
J Dairy Sci. 2019 Oct;102(10):8807-8818. doi: 10.3168/jds.2019-16638. Epub 2019 Aug 14.
A series of food safety incidents related to domestically produced dairy in China harmed consumer confidence and caused a dramatic decrease in dairy consumption from 2008 to 2010. Compared with previous studies that mainly assessed consumer confidence in food or dairy in general, this study focused on 2 specific dairy products, milk and infant milk formula (IMF). Based on data from 934 Chinese consumers, confidence in the safety of milk and IMF was measured by using a multi-item scale with 2 dimensions-optimism and pessimism. We found that Chinese consumers were optimistic about the safety of milk and IMF but, at the same time, were concerned about the risks related to milk and IMF. Chinese consumers have less confidence in IMF than in milk. Structural equation modeling indicated that consumer trust in manufacturers and third parties in the dairy supply chain and confidence in other foods, such as meat and fish, can foster consumer confidence in the safety of milk and IMF, while the extent of recall of the melamine infant formula incident in 2008 and trait worry exert negative effects. In addition, consumers with more children or less family income are likely to be more confident in domestically produced IMF. These insights into consumer confidence and its determinants can assist dairy supply chains and regulatory institutions in formulating effective risk communication strategies to strengthen consumer confidence.
一系列与中国国产乳制品有关的食品安全事件损害了消费者信心，导致 2008 年至 2010 年乳制品消费大幅下降。与以往主要评估食品或乳制品整体消费者信心的研究相比，本研究专注于两种特定的乳制品，即牛奶和婴幼儿配方奶粉（IMF）。本研究基于 934 名中国消费者的数据，使用具有两个维度（乐观和悲观）的多项量表来衡量消费者对牛奶和 IMF 安全性的信心。我们发现，中国消费者对牛奶和 IMF 的安全性持乐观态度，但同时也对与牛奶和 IMF 相关的风险感到担忧。中国消费者对 IMF 的信心低于对牛奶的信心。结构方程模型表明，消费者对乳制品供应链中制造商和第三方的信任，以及对肉类和鱼类等其他食品的信心，可以促进消费者对牛奶和 IMF 安全性的信心，而 2008 年三聚氰胺婴幼儿配方奶粉事件的召回程度和特质担忧则产生了负面影响。此外，有更多孩子或家庭收入较低的消费者更有可能对国产 IMF 更有信心。这些对消费者信心及其决定因素的见解可以帮助乳制品供应链和监管机构制定有效的风险沟通策略，以增强消费者信心。
