Opting Out? Gated Consumption, Infant Formula and China’s Affluent Urban Consumers

Hanser, Amy; Li, Jialin Camille

doi:10.1086/681662

Cited by 32 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…More food scandals followed and a new phrase was added to the Chinese vocabulary, "poisonous food". This led the affluent and more privileged Chinese to draw upon superior economic resources and social networks abroad to secure foreign infant formula (Hanser and Li, 2015). Since then, there has been acute public concern with food safety and urban, middle class consumers show a willingness to pay a premium for safe food (Liu, Pieniak and Verbeke, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovations in the agro-food system

McCarthy

Liu

Chen

2016

British Food Journal

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ResearchOnline@JCU 1Innovations in the agro-food system: adoption of certified organic food and green food by Chinese consumers Abstract PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors driving the adoption of 'green innovations' notably green food and certified organic food and to examine the attitudes of Chinese consumers towards genetically modified food. Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods approach was used. A total of 402 consumers responded to a structured questionnaire and 58 consumers responded to a survey designed to gather qualitative data. Data analysis involved content analysis, the probit model, frequency distributions and the t test for two unrelated means. FindingsThis study shows that affluent, middle class Chinese citizens are opting out of the conventional food market. There is a gender divide, with men showing a preference for green food and females showing a preference for certified organic food. Certified food purchase is associated with demographic variables, such as income, education, age, gender, presence of young children, household size, living in developed cities and overseas experience. A follow-up study shows that the absence of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) motivates the purchase of organic food. Overall, the results suggest that Chinese consumers are turning towards certified food for health reasons and are sceptical about GM food. Practical implicationsThis paper provides some insights into how Chinese consumers view innovations in the food sector. The study found that almost half of the sample is unaware that the concept of green food is different to that of organic food. The priority for the certified organic industry is to address this lack of knowledge and clearly explain what certified organic food is and how it differs from green food. Small-scale farmers could use consumer aversion to GMOs as a promotional tool. The ultimate goal of this paper is to help marketers better promote certified organic food, but inferences can be drawn in terms of Chinese sustainable consumption. Negative attitudes towards genetically modified foods exist due to human health concerns. Hence, Chinese policy makers need to confront these perceptions, real or perceived, if they wish to maintain public trust in biotechnology. OriginalityThe contribution of this research lies in examining what drives the adoption of 'green innovations', notably green food and certified organic food in China. This research is important given that little is known about what Chinese consumers think of, and how they react to, innovations in the agro-food value chain.Article classification: research paper 2

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovations in the agro-food system

McCarthy

Liu

Chen

2016

British Food Journal

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“…Although we focus on breastfeeding in this paper, we address both feeding choices and how women thought about the transition to formula. The elaborate consumer strategies for purchasing infant formula that these women adopted are the subject of another paper (Hanser and Li 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Curiously, relatively little attention has been given to parenting and motherhood for very small children in China, though some studies of pregnancy (Higgins 2015;Lin 2011;Zhu 2010), infant feeding (Gottschang 2007;Hanser and Li 2015), and the childrearing role of grandparents (Binah-Pollak 2014; Goh and Kuczynski 2010) examine how the care of babies, infants, and toddlers is organized in China. These studies suggest that even for pregnant and new mothers, contemporary discourses of motherhood are in full force: Anna Higgins has shown how the moral divisions between high-and low-suzhi persons are reflected in both taijiao (fetal education) directed at mothers, who must nurture a healthy, smart baby through pregnancy, and fetal testing, where the eugenic elements of population discourse are applied (Higgins 2015).…”

Section: Childrearing and Motherhood In Contemporary Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These trends have led to anxiety over the "breastfeeding problem" in China (Thomas 2015;Minter 2015;Liu 2015), concerns that have been exacerbated by the 2008 infant formula scandal. In September 2008, the Chinese government initiated a massive recall of domestically produced infant formula as a result of intentional contamination with the industrial chemical melamine; by the end of the year, it was estimated that at least six infants had died from kidney damage and another 300,000 had been affected (Hanser and Li 2015). In an effort to boost breastfeeding by new mothers, in 2013 China's State Council announced the goal of raising the 6-month exclusive breastfeeding rate to at least 50% by 2020.…”

Section: Breastfeeding In China Todaymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Liu Lihua (interviewee 24a), for example, described her problem not in terms of whether or not to breastfeed but rather when to wean. Because of her concerns about domestic infant formula, she waited to wean her baby until she had secured what she considered a reliable source of safe, foreign infant formula (see also Hanser and Li 2015). In some ways, deep and widespread fears about food safety represent a very "Chinese" characteristic , specific to the contemporary Chinese context and with clear consequences for childrearing, including breastfeeding.…”

Section: "Breast Milk Is Best": Rationales For Breastfeedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The hard work of feeding the baby: breastfeeding and intensive mothering in contemporary urban China

Hanser

2017

J. Chin. Sociol.

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Drawing upon the concept of culture as a "tool kit" from which social actors draw pragmatically, this paper explores the relationship between cultural definitions of good mothering and breastfeeding among middle-class, urban Chinese women. We argue that an emerging culture of "intensive mothering" that focuses on infant feeding is taking shape among privileged urban women. Based upon interviews with new mothers in urban Shanghai, we describe the intense efforts and commitment by these women to provide their babies with breast milk, and we consider the complexities of their attempts to put mothering ideals into practice. We suggest that the linkage between breastfeeding and motherhood represents a "gendered burden" for Chinese women and that infant feeding has become important, early terrain on which new mothers grapple with their own and others' expectations about mothering and caring for a child. We show that intensive, demanding forms of parenting now extend into the earliest years of a child's life, a period largely neglected in sociological studies of parenting in China.

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Towards Scalable Consortium-Based Organic Agri-Food Systems

Galkin

2023

Ecosystems Without Borders 2023

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Opting Out? Gated Consumption, Infant Formula and China’s Affluent Urban Consumers

Cited by 32 publications

References 28 publications

Innovations in the agro-food system

Innovations in the agro-food system

The hard work of feeding the baby: breastfeeding and intensive mothering in contemporary urban China

Towards Scalable Consortium-Based Organic Agri-Food Systems

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