PurposeDairy products are an essential part of a healthy diet, and dairy is an emerging food industry in China. Meanwhile, the dairy industry is one of the “disaster zones” with quality and safety issues occurring more frequently in its supply chain than in others. Based on qualitative research focused on consumers in the Northwest and South of China, the present study aims to understand and provide information on consumer perception of food safety in dairy products.Design/methodology/approachNine focus group interviews were carried out from January to April 2018. Altogether, 61 participants (24 males, 37 females, aged 18–60 years) were recruited in four cities. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted using Nvivo version 11.4.0.FindingsA high concern with the safety of dairy products is widespread, particularly among participants with children, who are especially worried about the safety of dairy products. High prevalence of food safety incidents causes consumers to lower their confidence in food safety, and make them pay more attention to the news about food safety incidents. Consumers tend to become less sensitive to price, focusing more on food safety and quality, while purchasing dairy products. Brand and purchase venue are the most important indicators for consumers to determine the quality of dairy products. Safety certification becomes increasingly important.Research limitations/implicationsIt has some limitations. The focus group interviews covered different two regions (Northwest and South of China). However, the number of focus groups was limited to nine because of budget constraints. The participants come from Northwest and South of the country, which means that the findings may not apply for another area of the country. A more representative sampling with a larger sample size would be necessary to increase the validity of the study. However, the results can serve as input for further research.Originality/valueThis paper explores the Chinese consumers' perception of food safety and dairy products, consumers' behaviour concerning dairy products based on focus group interviews with consumers. This study offers valuable insights to members of academia, food suppliers and policy-makers.
Dairy products are an essential part of a healthy diet, and dairy is an emerging food industry in China. With rapid economic development, Chinese consumers are increasingly health-conscious and are becoming more selective about the quality and safety of dairy products. Adopting a qualitative approach, we explored Chinese consumers' perception of dairy food safety and attitudes toward traceable dairy products through 9 focus group interviews administered in 4 urban locations in North and South China, with a total of 61 participants. Results showed that a prevalence of food safety incidents triggers consumers to lower their confidence in food safety and to pay more attention to the news about food safety incidents in the media, including social media. Chemical residues ranked as the first concern for food safety in the dairy industry. Meanwhile, traceable dairy products were not well known among consumers. Although the possibility to trace back all stages of the food supply chain in the dairy sector was considered important, respondents raised doubts about the truthfulness of traceability information.
Country of origin (COO) is one of the key extrinsic factors to consumers in their decision-making process. This research evaluates the effects of COO image on food purchase intentions in terms of Chinese processed foods among Uzbekistani customers, and there are four dimensions of COO image: product, economic, people, and international relationships. A questionnaire was distributed to consumers in the city of Tashkent, and a total of 287 valid samples were collected. The collated data were analyzed using frequency distribution and charts in addition to Cronbach’s alpha, which was utilized to determine the reliability of the variables. In addition, definitions and explanations were provided with the aid of means and standard deviations, percentages, correlation, and regression. The results showed that product image and people’s perception of COO image influence customers’ food purchase intentions, but there is no significant correlation between economic image or international relationship image and customer purchase intentions inclined towards foods manufactured in China based on the view of Uzbekistani consumers. Furthermore, the outcomes indicated that the effect of COO image would vary based on the nationality of the consumer.
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