A cross-cultural consumers’ perspective on social media-based short food supply chains

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to get a consumer’s cross-cultural insight on the potential of using social networking sites as short food supply chains. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach, using free listing tasks and sentence completion techniques, was adopted in this research. The research group decided to apply the study in three countries with different cultural backgrounds, namely, Mexico, Spain and Egypt. The final sample consisted of 424 respondents in total, including 209 Spanish, 111 Mexicans and 104 Egyptians, all of them actual users of social networks. Findings The most significant result that emerges from this study is that a high percentage of consumers within the three countries might be interested in these new short food chains. Also, the study offers food companies the most relevant motivations and barriers of consumers for their engagement to this initiative. Also, the study provides categories of foods that consumers would purchase via these chains in each country. Originality/value The multicultural perspective of this study might open new opportunities for food businesses around the world, especially for SMEs, to develop new short food supply chains enabling them to increase sale levels and, therefore, increase profitability and reduce costs.

Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Love: Promoting Loyalty in the Restaurant Landscape of Pakistan

“…The primary target of this examination is to get a buyer's culturally diverse understanding on the capability of utilizing social systems administration destinations as short nourishment supply chains (Elghannam, Arroyo, Eldesouky, & Mesias, 2018). To this end, it was chosen to apply the survey in three unique nations, to be specific, Mexico, Egypt, and Spain.…”

Consumers’ Perspectives on Alternative Short Food Supply Chains Based on Social Media: A Focus Group Study in Spain

“…These new marketing channels are called short food supply chains (SFSC) and their development can generate great opportunities for agricultural and agro-industrial producers, as SFSCs would put producers and consumers in direct contact, improving marketing and increasing added value. They could also contribute to improved food traceability, while at the same time creating conditions for a better transfer of the prices between producers and consumers [11]. Nevertheless, in certain conditions, the use of SFSCs could increase the final price paid by consumers, especially if logistic chains are not optimised or if SFSCs are over-extended.…”

“…Within this context, the development of social media, with its capability to build networks of users [1,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], opens up new opportunities to create SFSCs. Social media can allow producers to better identify their customers' socio-demographics, therefore improving the definition of their target segments and the adaptation of their marketing strategies to meet their demands [11]. Nevertheless, the perception of some consumers towards social media, as social but non-commercial platforms, can hinder their use [5,23].…”

“…The aim of this paper is to analyse consumer knowledge and acceptance of short food supply chains, but focusing on the use of social media and online word of mouth, as new tools to foster the development of SFSCs. A qualitative methodology was adopted for the purposes of this piece of research, as it has been frequently used in previous studies dealing with consumer perceptions on SFSCs in different countries [11,26].…”

The Role of Digital Connectivity in Supply Chain and Logistics Systems: A Proposed SIMPLE Framework

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