Under the impact of the recent global epidemic, a new round of technological innovation and industrial change is accelerating the restructuring of the food industry. Food safety is a matter of everyone's health and has always been a hot topic of consumers concern, who are influenced by information asymmetry, knowledge, and experience in assessing food quality. As such, consumers' perceptions of food quality may be uncertain, increasing their perceived risk and easily affecting their purchase intentions. The significant changes in the public's food consumption philosophy and demand, as well as the emergence of new business models and scenarios, have posed new challenges to food safety regulation.
Consumers’ information search and usage behaviors are the basis for their rational problem solving and purchasing decisions, which are affected by sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education level) and information asymmetry. Furthermore, with the development of the Internet and the increase in consumption, consumers are increasingly willing to pay for creativity. In general, young generations who grew up in urban areas, have university-level education, a certain base household income, and enjoy experiencing or owning new things, are the most important audience for new food consumption. For example “Netflix” food products (products promoted and sold through social media and connections of friends and networks) are attracting younger generations. The ensuing “Netflix economy” employs young and beautiful influencers as representatives, whose tastes and visions lead selection and visual promotion, converting social media popularity into purchasing power.
Regardless of the innovation in consumption patterns, the quality of the ingredients themselves and the authenticity of marketing campaigns remain key concerns for consumers, particularly regarding the uncertainty of the Netflix food market. Therefore, in order to reveal the influence between consumer behavior and food safety attitudes and perceived competence and information dissemination, a unique approach to exploration is required.
This Research Topic welcomes original research articles and timely reviews and perspectives focusing on the association between consumer behavior and various dimensions of food safety and security, including using recent new macro-policy and micro-exploration methods. Consideration of the consumer perceptions of climate change and environmental factors on nutrition and food security will also be considered. We look forward to receiving creative and innovative contributions that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics
• The extent to which food safety influences theories of consumer behavior
• Influence of social media marketing on the buying attitudes of businesses and consumers, including ‘Netflix’ economy and food products
• Evolution of buyer-seller network dynamics as a result of food safety
• Repercussions faced by companies and consumers due to the emergence of new and innovative food products in the post-epidemic era
• Meta-analyses of research into the impact of consumers’ health and illness on their food-purchasing behaviors
• The impact of food and agricultural policies and subsidies on food composition and quality
• The impact of climate, agricultural, and energy policies on human nutrition and consumers’ dietary shifts
• Health inequalities, socio-economic status and diet quality in relation to nutrition
• Impacts of environmental-oriented behaviors for food security in buyer-seller relationships
Under the impact of the recent global epidemic, a new round of technological innovation and industrial change is accelerating the restructuring of the food industry. Food safety is a matter of everyone's health and has always been a hot topic of consumers concern, who are influenced by information asymmetry, knowledge, and experience in assessing food quality. As such, consumers' perceptions of food quality may be uncertain, increasing their perceived risk and easily affecting their purchase intentions. The significant changes in the public's food consumption philosophy and demand, as well as the emergence of new business models and scenarios, have posed new challenges to food safety regulation.
Consumers’ information search and usage behaviors are the basis for their rational problem solving and purchasing decisions, which are affected by sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education level) and information asymmetry. Furthermore, with the development of the Internet and the increase in consumption, consumers are increasingly willing to pay for creativity. In general, young generations who grew up in urban areas, have university-level education, a certain base household income, and enjoy experiencing or owning new things, are the most important audience for new food consumption. For example “Netflix” food products (products promoted and sold through social media and connections of friends and networks) are attracting younger generations. The ensuing “Netflix economy” employs young and beautiful influencers as representatives, whose tastes and visions lead selection and visual promotion, converting social media popularity into purchasing power.
Regardless of the innovation in consumption patterns, the quality of the ingredients themselves and the authenticity of marketing campaigns remain key concerns for consumers, particularly regarding the uncertainty of the Netflix food market. Therefore, in order to reveal the influence between consumer behavior and food safety attitudes and perceived competence and information dissemination, a unique approach to exploration is required.
This Research Topic welcomes original research articles and timely reviews and perspectives focusing on the association between consumer behavior and various dimensions of food safety and security, including using recent new macro-policy and micro-exploration methods. Consideration of the consumer perceptions of climate change and environmental factors on nutrition and food security will also be considered. We look forward to receiving creative and innovative contributions that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics
• The extent to which food safety influences theories of consumer behavior
• Influence of social media marketing on the buying attitudes of businesses and consumers, including ‘Netflix’ economy and food products
• Evolution of buyer-seller network dynamics as a result of food safety
• Repercussions faced by companies and consumers due to the emergence of new and innovative food products in the post-epidemic era
• Meta-analyses of research into the impact of consumers’ health and illness on their food-purchasing behaviors
• The impact of food and agricultural policies and subsidies on food composition and quality
• The impact of climate, agricultural, and energy policies on human nutrition and consumers’ dietary shifts
• Health inequalities, socio-economic status and diet quality in relation to nutrition
• Impacts of environmental-oriented behaviors for food security in buyer-seller relationships