The Impact of Consumer Participation Certification on the Trust of Eco-Agricultural Products Based on the Mediating Effects of Information and Identity

Abstract

With the increasing distrust of food safety, both third-party certification systems (TPC) and participatory guarantee systems (PGS) play a vital role in restoring consumer trust. Although the fact that previous research has focused on consumer trust and the factors that impact it in TPC products, little emphasis has been made on how consumer participation in certification affects trust. The goal of the study was to explore how consumer participation certification affects trust in eco-agricultural products under PGS. We constructed a theoretical framework of consumer trust in eco-agricultural products under PGS, based on consumer trust theory, and clarified the relationship between consumer participation certification, information quality, social identity, and consumer trust. After obtaining 238 valid questionnaires on consumers from 12 PGS organizations nationwide, a structural equation model (SEM) was conducted. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Consumer participation has a positive impact on consumer trust, and the direct effect is not significant, but the indirect effect is significant; (2) Information quality and social identity have been identified to play full intermediary roles in the relationship between consumer participation and trust. We suggest relevant research implications and recommendations for future research on consumer trust in PGS based on the findings.

Research of blockchain-embedded agricultural quality credit regulation influencing factors

“…In addition, the security, privacy and trustworthiness of hosted information can be enhanced on the basis of distributed trust and reputation management (Bellini et al ., 2020), solving the problems of information asymmetry and difficulty of information tracing. Information quality and social identity play an important role in the relationship between consumer participation and trust in agricultural quality and safety (Ge et al ., 2022).…”