Li Yanyan, Si Zhenzhong, Miao Yuxin, Zhou Li
School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, ON N2L 6C2, Canada.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2022 Nov 2;12(11):432. doi: 10.3390/bs12110432.
As social innovations that help to transition towards a more sustainable food system, alternative food networks (AFNs) in China have attracted much scholarly attention in recent years. However, studies of the community building behavior of AFNs at the micro-level in the Chinese social context are scant. Through in-depth case studies conducted between 2017 and 2021 and social network analysis, our study examines how founders of AFNs successfully facilitate community building among their customers. We find that in China, the traditional social-cultural construct, , plays a critical role in AFNs' community formation and expansion. The study identifies a three-stage framework for understanding the community building process of AFNs. First, a group of of the same kind would form a . Second, the initial is enhanced and expanded to multiple secondary . Third, these multiple together and the interactions among them constitute the community of AFNs. We argue that to strengthen the community, AFNs operators should inspire key members to form secondary by enhancing their cognitive trust and emotional trust.
作为有助于向更可持续的食品系统转型的社会创新，近年来中国的替代食品网络（AFNs）吸引了众多学术关注。然而，在中国社会背景下，对AFNs微观层面社区建设行为的研究却很少。通过2017年至2021年期间进行的深入案例研究和社会网络分析，我们的研究考察了AFNs的创始人如何成功地促进其客户之间的社区建设。我们发现，在中国，传统的社会文化结构， ，在AFNs的社区形成和扩张中起着关键作用。该研究确定了一个理解AFNs社区建设过程的三阶段框架。首先，一群同类的 会形成一个 。其次，最初的 得到加强并扩展到多个二级 。第三，这些多个 聚集在一起，它们之间的互动构成了AFNs的社区。我们认为，为了加强社区，AFNs运营商应该通过增强关键成员的认知信任和情感信任来激励他们形成二级 。
