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1 – 10 of over 27000Jingjing Xing, Jun Zhang and Xue Wang
This study investigates how food safety trust works as a critical moderator in the Chinese online fresh agricultural market based on an extended technology acceptance model.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates how food safety trust works as a critical moderator in the Chinese online fresh agricultural market based on an extended technology acceptance model.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a research model that integrates attributes from the technology acceptance model, perceived product quality, logistics service quality, risk, and food safety trust. Structural equation modeling was applied to estimate the causal relationships using data from 851 Chinese customers.
Findings
The results indicated that perceived usefulness, product quality, and logistics service quality significantly enhance Chinese customers' intention to shop online for fresh agricultural products. Further, the positive effects increase when customer trust in food safety changes from low to high. In contrast, perceived risk reduces Chinese customers' willingness to engage in online shopping, but the negative influence is weaker for customers with high trust in food safety than for those with low trust. However, perceived ease of use plays an insignificant role in predicting online purchase intention and the impact does not vary depending on food safety trust.
Originality/value
This study suggests managers should consider the important moderating role of food safety trust to make effective strategies for fresh agricultural e-commerce development in China.
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Richard Kwasi Bannor, Bismark Amfo, Helena Oppong-Kyeremeh and Samuel Kwabena Chaa Kyire
This paper aims to assess the choice of supermarkets for purchasing fresh agricultural products among urban consumers in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the choice of supermarkets for purchasing fresh agricultural products among urban consumers in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Likert scale was used to investigate reasons for purchasing agricultural products from supermarkets, while heteroskedastic probit was used to estimate the determinants. Beta regression was used to examine the determinants of the proportion of food expenditure on raw/unprocessed agricultural products.
Findings
The principal reasons for purchasing agricultural products from supermarkets are convenience, a guarantee of assorted products, high-quality products and food safety, constant supply of products, conducive shopping environment, excellent customer service and social influence. The probability of purchasing agricultural products from supermarkets is high for consumers who are either males, young, educated, high-income earners or salaried workers. Consumers residing closer to supermarkets have a greater probability of shopping for agricultural products from same. The proportion of food expenditure on unprocessed agricultural products increases with age but decreases with education and distance to local markets.
Originality/value
Few prior studies have investigated supermarket’s surge in developing countries and its connection with consumer food-outlet choice. Unfortunately, little is evident in the extant literature on consumers' choice of supermarkets as purchasing outlets for fresh agricultural products. Hence, this study closes the gap on consumers and fresh agricultural product purchases from supermarkets in Ghana. Results from the study will provide grounding evidence to supermarket owners to adjust their services to meet consumers’ needs and provide relevant information to evolving supermarkets or investors who may venture into the supermarket business on the attributes that influence consumers to use supermarkets as a purchasing outlet.
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Qinyi Zhang, Wen Cao and Zhichao Zhang
With the rapid growth of the economy, people have increasingly higher living standards, and although people simply pursued material wealth in the past, they now pay more attention…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rapid growth of the economy, people have increasingly higher living standards, and although people simply pursued material wealth in the past, they now pay more attention to material quality and safety and environmental protection. This paper discusses the lack of motivation for investing in fresh-keeping technology for agricultural products by individual members of an agricultural supply chain composed of a supplier and a retailer by means of mathematical models and data simulations and discuss the optimal price-invest strategies under different sales models.
Design/methodology/approach
First, based on the model of no investment by both sides (NN), this paper considers three models: supplier only (MN), retailer only (NR) and cooperative investment (MR). Then, the authors analyze the influence of consumer price sensitivity and freshness sensitivity on the investment motivation of agricultural products under four models. Subsequently, the paper makes a sensitivity analysis of the optimal strategies under several models, and makes a game analysis of the suppliers and retailers of agricultural products. Finally, we conduct an empirical analysis through specific values.
Findings
The results show that (a) when the two sides cooperate, the amount of investment is largest, the freshness of the agricultural products is highest, and the sales volume is greatest; however, when both sides do not invest, the freshness of agricultural products and sales volume are lowest. (b) The price and freshness sensitivity of the consumer have an impact on investment decisions. Greater freshness sensitivity corresponds to a higher investment, higher agricultural product price, greater sales volume, and greater supply chain member income and overall income; however, greater price sensitivity corresponds to a lower investment, lower agricultural product price, lower sales volume, fewer supply chain members and lower overall income. (c) The investment game between the supplier and retailer is not only related to the sensitivity to price and freshness but also to the coordination coefficients of interest. At the same time, the market position of agricultural products should be considered when making decisions. The market share of agricultural products will affect the final game equilibrium and then affect the final benefit of the supply chain and individual members.
Practical implications
These results provide managerial insights for enterprises preparing to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.
Originality/value
At present, the main problem is that member enterprises of agricultural supply chains operate based on their own benefits and are resistant to investing alone to improve the freshness of agricultural products. Instead, they would prefer that other members invest so that they may reap the benefits at no cost. Therefore, the enterprises in each node of the agricultural product supply chain are not motivated enough to invest, and competition and game states are observed among them, and such behavior is definitely not conducive to improving the freshness of agricultural products. However, the current research on agricultural products is more about price, quality and greenness, etc., and there are few studies on agricultural investment. Through the establishment of the model, this paper is expected to provide theoretical suggestions for the supply chain enterprises that plan to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.
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Mu-Chen Chen, Chung-Cheng Lu and Yi-Ching Liu
The purpose of this paper is to deal with an optimal consolidation problem for fresh agricultural products (e.g. fruits and vegetables) in a multi-temperature joint distribution…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deal with an optimal consolidation problem for fresh agricultural products (e.g. fruits and vegetables) in a multi-temperature joint distribution (MTJD) system that is developed to resolve the challenge of timely delivery of small and diverse shipments in food cold chains.
Design/methodology/approach
An integer programming optimization model is developed to consolidate a set of agricultural shipments with different storage requirements into a number of distinct containers according to the classification criteria. The formulated model for consolidating fresh agricultural products is evaluated using numerical examples.
Findings
Critical factors that affect the quality or shelf life of fresh agricultural products are examined to form the criteria for classifying the storage requirements of these products. The formulated model can minimize the consolidation cost and the loss of product value due to a reduction in shelf life after consolidation.
Research limitations/implications
Although the decision model for product consolidation developed in this paper takes into account practical concerns as much as possible, some additional conditions in the cold chain of fresh fruits and vegetables can be included to further enhance the application of the proposed consolidation model.
Practical implications
Provided that the container environment is appropriately controlled, the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables can be maintained during the logistics process. As a result, product quality can be managed to reduce product loss.
Originality/value
This paper adopts temperature, relative humidity and ethylene production, which generally affect the quality and shelf life of fresh agricultural products, as the main factors for determining the product consolidation. It is among the first to deal with the optimal consolidation of fresh agricultural products in the MTJD system with the consideration of product shelf life.
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Hongdong Guo, Yehong Liu, Xinjie Shi and Kevin Z. Chen
The purpose of this study is to investigate e-commerce as a new means to ensure that the urban demand for food can be met during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate e-commerce as a new means to ensure that the urban demand for food can be met during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Because a number of COVID-19 e-commerce models have emerged, this paper discusses whether and (if so) why and how e-commerce can ensure the food supply for urban residents if social distancing becomes a norm and the transport and logistics systems are hindered.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used qualitative research methods following the lack of empirical data. The authors referred to relevant literature, statistical data and official reports and comprehensively described the importance of e-commerce in ensuring the safety of food supply to Chinese urban residents under the impact of the epidemic. Corresponding to the traditional case study, this study presented a Chinese case on ensuring food supply through e-commerce during an epidemic.
Findings
The authors found that three e-commerce models played a substantial role in preventing the spread of the epidemic and ensuring the food supply for urban residents. The nationwide e-commerce platforms under market leadership played their roles by relying on the sound infrastructure of large cities and its logistics system was vulnerable to the epidemic. In the worst-affected areas, particularly in closed and isolated communities, the local e-commerce model was the primary model, supplemented by the unofficial e-commerce model based on social relations. Through online booking, centralized procurement and community distribution, the risk of cross infection could be effectively reduced and the food demand could be effectively satisfied. The theoretical explanation further verifies that, apart from e-commerce, a governance system that integrates the government, e-commerce platform, community streets and the unofficial guanxi also impels the success of these models.
Originality/value
Lessons from China are drawn for other countries struggling to deliver food to those in need under COVID-19. The study not only provides a solution that will ensure constant food supply to urban residents under the COVID-19 epidemic but also provides some reference for the maintenance of the food system of urban residents under the impact of a globalization-related crisis in future.
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Wang Li‐juan, Wang Hong‐wei and Sun Xi‐chao
The purpose of this paper is to research the influence of inflation and delay in payment on the inventory model on Weibull distribution and present a new method of inventory…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to research the influence of inflation and delay in payment on the inventory model on Weibull distribution and present a new method of inventory control model for fresh agricultural products.
Design/methodology/approach
The previous researches deal with the inventory problems. However, these researches are based on deteriorating industrial products, so that the method for inventory model of agricultural products should be employed. According to agricultural products characteristics, the model assumes that deterioration is defined as fixed and demand is taken as Weibull distribution. An optimal order quantity and the minimum inventory total cost are formulated and solved under inflation and delay in payment.
Findings
The minimum inventory total cost and the optimal ordering quantity are convex with the length of the period with positive stock. When the delay period is longer than the length of the period with positive stock, the minimum inventory total cost and the optimal ordering quantity increase with permissible delay in payment increase and decrease with inflation rate increase, changing steeply with inflation rate and increasing permissible delay.
Research limitations/implications
The market demand of fresh agricultural products is on two‐parameter Weibull distribution.
Practical implications
The paper gives useful advice for agricultural supply chain managers.
Originality/value
The paper presents a new method of inventory control for fresh agricultural products.
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Yongchang Jiang, Hejie Zhu and E. Bai
The existence of the advertising delay effect and its impact on supply chain operations have been demonstrated in the current study. Therefore, this study develops a timely…
Abstract
Purpose
The existence of the advertising delay effect and its impact on supply chain operations have been demonstrated in the current study. Therefore, this study develops a timely inventory control strategy for the fresh produce supply chain to address the advertising delay effect in the fresh produce supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a game model based on the Nerlove-Arrow time delay differential equation and Pontryagin's maximum principle. Through comparative analyses of the optimal equilibrium strategies, the authors compare the optimal equilibrium strategies, product goodwill and optimal inventory trajectories for suppliers and retailers under secondary replenishment decisions and decentralized decisions.
Findings
The authors find that (1) Only when the sales cycle meets certain conditions can the overall profit of the supply chain under the secondary replenishment decision be greater than that under the decentralized decision. As the price markup coefficient increases, the total profit of the supply chain first increases and then decreases. (2) With the increase in the delay time, the replenishment quantity during the initial period gradually decreases. After the delay time elapses, the inventory depletion rate under secondary replenishment decisions is faster than that under decentralized decision-making. (3) Although there is a continuously increasing maximum value of product goodwill with the increase in delay time, it becomes difficult to achieve this value for longer delays.
Practical implications
The authors’ findings provide a theoretical basis for supply chain members of fresh agricultural products to select replenishment and inventory control strategies when adopting different levels of delay in advertising marketing.
Originality/value
Firstly, this paper explains the impact of advertising delay effect on fresh produce supply chain from a dynamic perspective, and secondly, it provides guidance on advertising formulation and inventory replenishment for fresh produce retailers under the influence of advertising delay effect.
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Hao Zhang, Bin Qiu and Keming Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to develop a quantitative risk assessment method for agricultural products cold chain logistics to assess the condition of the fresh agricultural…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a quantitative risk assessment method for agricultural products cold chain logistics to assess the condition of the fresh agricultural products cold chain process objectively and accurately.
Design/methodology/approach
A risk assessment index system of agricultural products cold chain logistics is designed on the basis of the risk identification for the process of agricultural products cold chain logistics. This paper first uses catastrophe progression method and a new maximum deviation method to build an improved catastrophe progression assessment model for agricultural products cold chain logistics. In order to verify the reliability and validity of the model, two representative enterprises are selected as the case in the study.
Findings
The results in the empirical research indicate strong support for the assessment model and coincide with the reality. The risk assessment index system can also reflect the key risk factors from agricultural products cold chain logistics scientifically. In addition, the improved catastrophe progression assessment method proposed in this paper can be scientific and reasonable to predict risk.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to provide a new risk assessment model for agricultural products cold chain logistics. The new model overcomes the limitation of subjective empowerment and it increases the objectivity and scientificity in the process of cold chain logistics risk assessment. This paper also shows that practitioners involved in the field of products cold chain logistics can manage the potential risk by a set of scientific methods for assessing the risk before the accident.
Practical implications
The paper provides a practical guideline to practitioners, especially for cold chain logistics managers, relevant management departments, and cold chain logistics management consultants. It is proved that the new risk assessment method and the risk assessment index system of agricultural products cold chain logistics can help them assess the risk scientifically and reasonably.
Originality/value
Although the calculation is simple, the new model can overcome the limitation of subjective empowerment scientifically and reasonably, and thus has important practical value.
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Le Bo and Xiaoli Yang
Consumers' willingness to pay premium (WTPP) for two different types of agricultural brand labels (enterprise and regional), are evaluated through a non-hypothetical Random n…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumers' willingness to pay premium (WTPP) for two different types of agricultural brand labels (enterprise and regional), are evaluated through a non-hypothetical Random n-price auction experiment during the online purchase of fresh agricultural products. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the two WTPP, compare their differences, and explore their sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in July–August 2020 from a sample of 310 consumers in Liaoning Province, China. A nonhypothetical random n-price auction experiment was implemented in a simulated online shopping environment.
Findings
The results show that WTPP exists, and WTPP level of regional brand labels is higher than that of enterprise brand labels. Consumers' WTPP is sustainable. Consumers with low WTPP for enterprise brand labels and consumers with high WTPP for regional brand labels have stronger willingness to repurchase.
Practical implications
The results have direct practical implications for developing brand agriculture and encouraging “brand consumption”. The results can provide theoretical reference for policymakers, enlightenment for the development and effective dissemination of agricultural brand labels and important information to e-retailers on how to sale agricultural products with agricultural brand labels.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous study has related WTPP and its sustainability for agricultural brand labels in China. We try to fill a gap in literature on consumers' WTPP for agricultural brand labels. And the authors explore the sustainability of WTPP by analyzing the impact of WTPP on repurchase intention and recommendation intention respectively.
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Wucheng Zi, Guodong Li, Xiaolin Li and JiaYu Zhou
This study explores how collaborative cost sharing between the buyer and the supplier in cold chain equipment and marketing and advertising affects the performance of a fresh…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how collaborative cost sharing between the buyer and the supplier in cold chain equipment and marketing and advertising affects the performance of a fresh agricultural produce supply chain (FAP-SC).
Design/methodology/approach
We use a contingency approach to modeling different scenarios and analyzing how fairness perception, interplaying with corporative–retailer cost sharing., influences the performance of fresh agricultural produce cold chains.
Findings
The findings of the research highlight the crucial role of the retailer's fairness concern. When the retailer's fairness concern is absent, cost sharing (in cold chain equipment and marketing and advertising) is found to help boost demand and enhance the profits of members of the supply chain; bilateral cost sharing is found to have a more significant impact than unilateral cost sharing. When the retailer's fairness concern is taken into account, however, cost sharing is found to reduce demand at a lower level of fairness coefficient but increases demand at a higher level of fairness coefficient; bilateral cost sharing boosts both demand and profit of the supply chain when the retailer is in a “high concern, high anger” state.
Originality/value
The findings of the research highlight the important role of the buyer's farness perception when supply chain partners adopt collaborative cost sharing programs. This study contributes significantly to research and practice in supply chain collaboration and agricultural cold chain performance.
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