Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0488-1434).
J Food Prot. 2020 Mar 1;83(3):452-459. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-415.
Social media offers numerous advantages for personal users and organizations to communicate, socialize, and market their products. When used correctly, social media is an effective tool to communicate and to share food safety news and good practices. However, there have been reports of fake food safety news shared via social media, fueling panic and resulting in a loss of revenue. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the consumers' awareness, trust, and usage of social media in communicating food safety news in Malaysia. A questionnaire divided into five sections-(i) demographics, (ii) reaction to food safety news, (iii) consumers' awareness, (iv) social media truth and level of trust, and (v) social media uses and content creation-was created and shared online. A total of 341 questionnaires were returned of which 339 surveys were valid. This study revealed that less than one-third of the study group (27.1%) knew which of the food safety news were fake. Most respondents (67.8%) were less likely to purchase the affected foods if the foods were featured in social media as problematic, although no differences were made between true and fake news and how that would influence respondents' willingness to purchase affected foods. Overall, 62% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed about the usage of social media and its ability to prevent food poisoning cases, while more than 50% of the respondents were in total agreement that social media allow consumers to act more responsibly by sharing food safety news. Respondents tended to trust information shared by scientists (67.5%) and family members and friends (33%). Respondents would most often share the news after verifying its authenticity (46%). If respondents experienced a personal food safety issue (e.g., discovered a fly in their meal), they seldom or never took photos to post online (56.1%). It is possible that the respondents preferred to inform the food handlers and/or shop owners about the affected products rather than post the photos online. It is suggested that targeted food safety information and media literacy be provided to improve consumers' awareness and to positively influence self-verification of the food safety information before sharing. This study provides crucial insights for a range of stakeholders, particularly public authorities, food bloggers, and the public, in using social media effectively to build consumers' awareness and trust in food safety information.
社交媒体为个人用户和组织提供了众多优势，可用于沟通、社交和推广产品。如果使用得当，社交媒体是传播和分享食品安全新闻和良好做法的有效工具。然而，有报道称社交媒体上分享了虚假的食品安全新闻，引发恐慌，导致收入损失。因此，本研究旨在调查马来西亚消费者对社交媒体在传播食品安全新闻方面的认知、信任和使用情况。本研究设计了一份问卷，分为五个部分：（一）人口统计学特征，（二）对食品安全新闻的反应，（三）消费者认知，（四）社交媒体真实性和信任度，以及（五）社交媒体使用和内容创作，并在线分享。共收回 341 份问卷，其中 339 份有效。研究结果表明，研究组中不到三分之一的人（27.1%）知道哪些食品安全新闻是假的。大多数受访者（67.8%）表示，如果社交媒体上出现问题食品，他们不太可能购买受影响的食品，尽管他们没有对真假新闻做出区分，也没有表明这将如何影响他们购买受影响食品的意愿。总体而言，62%的受访者同意或强烈同意社交媒体的使用及其预防食物中毒案例的能力，超过 50%的受访者完全同意社交媒体允许消费者通过分享食品安全新闻来更负责任地行事。受访者倾向于信任科学家（67.5%）和家人及朋友（33%）分享的信息。受访者在验证新闻真实性后最常分享新闻（46%）。如果受访者遇到个人食品安全问题（例如，在餐中发现苍蝇），他们很少或从不拍照上传到网上（56.1%）。这可能是因为受访者更倾向于向食品处理人员和/或店主报告受影响的产品，而不是将照片上传到网上。建议向消费者提供有针对性的食品安全信息和媒体素养教育，以提高消费者对食品安全信息的认知，并在分享之前积极影响自我验证。本研究为一系列利益相关者提供了重要的见解，特别是公共当局、食品博客作者和公众，以便他们有效利用社交媒体建立消费者对食品安全信息的认知和信任。
