Analyzing the Effects of Government Subsidies on Dual-Channel Fresh Food Supply Chains with the Implementation of Blockchain Traceability Technology

Abstract

With the rapid development of the social economy, consumer preferences have evolved significantly. Nowadays, consumers place a higher emphasis on product quality and origin. The challenge is to ensure effective supervision of the entire food production process, from farm to consumers' tables, and to address traceability and accountability issues when food safety problems arise. The emergence of blockchain technology offers a promising solution. Blockchain's decentralization and traceability capabilities can effectively monitor food status information. However, given the cost of implementing blockchain technology and the varying degrees of sensitivity consumers have to product quality and price, the question arises: should supply chains have strong incentives to adopt blockchain technology? This paper focuses on the fresh agricultural product supply chain, encompassing both online and offline retailers, and employs the Stackberg game model to examine the impact of blockchain technology adoption under a government subsidy scenario. The research findings of this article indicate that the decision to introduce blockchain technology by online suppliers is influenced by the cost associated with each unit of fresh products. Furthermore, government subsidies prove advantageous primarily for online retailers.