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Examines how perceived product safety may be affected by such product‐related factors as price, brand name, store name, promotion channels, source credibility, country of origin, nature of product testing authority and warranty. Shows that perceived product safety was significantly affected by all of the variables mentioned above. Implies that, by carefully manipulating these variables in formulating marketing strategies, managers can attract the large and growing market of safety‐conscious consumers and gain a competitive edge that cannot possibly be ignored.

The rapid transition from a command to market‐based economy in China has required the development of a food safety system for aquatic products where one did not previously exist. The pace of change has meant that food safety systems have struggled to keep up. In 2007 food safety incidents damaged the reputation of aquatic products in export markets. The Chinese Government has moved quickly to strengthen the safety regime for aquatic products. The purpose of this paper is to assess these initiatives in the context of their potential to regain international acceptance of Chinese aquatic products.

A regulatory assessment approach is used.

The findings are that increased government oversight alone is not likely to lead to a fully effective food safety system for aquatic products. The development of private sector‐based incentives to encourage investment in food safety is an essential co‐requisite to increased government oversight if China's access to international markets is to be assured.

The value of this study lies in the light it sheds on the efforts of a major player in the international market for aquatic products to improve the efficacy of its food safety system. China's regulatory regimes are often opaque, limiting the ability of those wishing to assess the advisability of importing food products from China.

The study investigates the impact of product‐related factors on perceived product safety. The factors examined include price, brand name, country of origin, store name, source credibility, product testing, promotion channels, discount offered and packaging. Results indicate that the perceived product safety is significantly affected by all of the mentioned factors. Implications are discussed and recommendations are offered to practitioners for attracting the large and growing market of safety‐conscious consumers.

The widespread adoption of online purchasing has prompted increasing concerns about product safety, and regulators are beginning to hold e-commerce sites accountable for dangerous product defects. For online consumers, understanding the many inherent safety risks among the extensive array of products they browse is a formidable task. The authors attempt to address this problem via a client-side software artifact that warns shoppers about potential product safety hazards at the point of sale.

In this study, the authors built four candidate designs and assessed their effectiveness by means of a large randomized controlled experiment (n = 466). The authors define effectiveness as significant changes in dependent variables associated with health behaviors and technology adoption.

The authors find that all of the designs score high on adoption likelihood, that designs incorporating highlighting and scoring are better at increasing safety knowledge and that simpler designs are better at enhancing safety awareness.

These findings will inform the design of safety information dissemination systems and open new areas of safety awareness enhancement research. More generally, the authors introduce a novel method of testing text visualization variations and their impact on behavioral decisions.

The announcement in the press on May 15 1996 that the daughter of a mother who died of Creutzfeldt Jacobs disease is launching legal action against the UK Government for failing in its duty of care to inform the public about the dangers of eating beef is a timely reminder of the horrendous commercial and legal consequences which can follow if an unsafe product gets onto the consumer market. The ‘mad cow’ disease crisis in the UK and the alleged link between BSE in cows and CJD in humans is likely to have a devastating impact on the medium and long term future of the British beef industry and raises serious issues about the failure to take appropriate steps at the right time to prevent such a crisis occurring. The purpose of this article is to examine the legal regime for preventing unsafe products reaching the marketplace in the first place. It will focus on non‐food products, though many of the provisions discussed also apply to food.

Products liability is having a substantial impact upon manufacturing industry. Marketing management is not immune and it is likely that products liability will lead to a major revision in product strategies.Starting from first principles, the monograph leads the reader through liability developments and liability issues as they pertain to death and personal injury. The major part of the monograph is devoted to central propositions that will assist the general manager and the marketing manager to review their present thinking and to provide new insights into this challenging, complex and strategic problem.

Globalization and increased outsourcing have contributed to increased supply chain complexity, exposing firms to greater vulnerability in the areas of product safety and supply chain security. Meanwhile, stakeholders pressure firms to ensure that their products are safe, and their supply chains are secure. Drawing from stakeholder theory, this paper aims to explore how the supply chain characteristics of distance and power affect the adoption of consumer protection (CP) practices, which ensure product safety and supply chain security.

Using primary survey data from a sample of Canadian manufacturing firms, this research examines the relationships among supply chain characteristics, adoption of CP practices and firm performance.

Analysis supported the use of two practices related to product safety (consumer education and product design) and three practices for supply chain security (packaging, tracking and authenticity). Greater cultural distance between the focal firm and its suppliers was positively associated with investments in safer design practices, while increased geographical distance between the focal firm and the customer was significantly related to increased consumer education. Moreover, as power of a focal firm relative to its suppliers increased, so too did investments in supply chain security. Finally, CP practices were related to improved operational performance along multiple dimensions.

This research focuses on the critical role of two key stakeholder groups in improving product safety and supply chain security: suppliers and customers. The authors add to the theoretical discussion of product safety and supply chain security by identifying critical differences between suppliers and customers for the focal firm. Second, the research informs the managerial community of the potential benefits of investments in CP practices.

Foodborne disease remains a significant public health threat and cause for concern. Despite numerous studies indicating that the domestic kitchen is a high-risk area for foodborne illness, consumers believe it is low-risk. The type of food being prepared in the kitchen has drastically changed, with an increased use of convenience products, perceived low-risk products. Little is known about consumers' behaviours with convenience meals. Therefore, it is essential to understand actual and perceived food safety behaviours in their use.

A mixed-methods approach using in-home observations and semi-structured interviews was undertaken with participants from the UK and the Republic of Ireland (N = 50). Observational data was summarized using descriptive statistics and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the qualitative data.

In this study general food safety behaviours, such as handwashing, use-by date checking, as well as identifying obvious safety hazard were suboptimal. However, participants' convenience meal safety behaviours were as optimal as possible with the provided instructions. The qualitative data supported the participants' struggle with the provided on-packet instructions. They also displayed participants' uncertain perceptions around different products, for example if oven-products could be reheated multiple times, and varying levels of concern around meat and dairy products. Consumers urged for more detailed and clearer instructions with these products. Recommendations for producers are provided to enhance consumer experience with the use of the products as well as contributing towards ensuring consumer safety.

Mixed-methods approach investigating consumers' real and perceived food safety behaviours.

Dairy products are an essential part of a healthy diet, and dairy is an emerging food industry in China. Meanwhile, the dairy industry is one of the “disaster zones” with quality and safety issues occurring more frequently in its supply chain than in others. Based on qualitative research focused on consumers in the Northwest and South of China, the present study aims to understand and provide information on consumer perception of food safety in dairy products.

Nine focus group interviews were carried out from January to April 2018. Altogether, 61 participants (24 males, 37 females, aged 18–60 years) were recruited in four cities. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted using Nvivo version 11.4.0.

A high concern with the safety of dairy products is widespread, particularly among participants with children, who are especially worried about the safety of dairy products. High prevalence of food safety incidents causes consumers to lower their confidence in food safety, and make them pay more attention to the news about food safety incidents. Consumers tend to become less sensitive to price, focusing more on food safety and quality, while purchasing dairy products. Brand and purchase venue are the most important indicators for consumers to determine the quality of dairy products. Safety certification becomes increasingly important.

It has some limitations. The focus group interviews covered different two regions (Northwest and South of China). However, the number of focus groups was limited to nine because of budget constraints. The participants come from Northwest and South of the country, which means that the findings may not apply for another area of the country. A more representative sampling with a larger sample size would be necessary to increase the validity of the study. However, the results can serve as input for further research.

This paper explores the Chinese consumers' perception of food safety and dairy products, consumers' behaviour concerning dairy products based on focus group interviews with consumers. This study offers valuable insights to members of academia, food suppliers and policy-makers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore product adoption beliefs and actions of a large retail food organization with both corporate-owned stores and privately held franchise stores.

The authors used a case study approach involving survey data collection from 190 corporate-owned and licensed retail outlets that were members of a large, single organization. Ordinary least squares regression and mean differences (t-tests) were used to test the data. Findings were elaborated upon based upon structured interviews.

Corporate-owned retail outlets invested heavily in food safety innovation, while franchised retail outlets pursued minimal investment to retain product flexibility. The level of adoption is contingent upon ownership structure, as well as institutional forces emanating from the corporate environment, the customer, and peer organizations.

The findings offer greater insight into methodological issues associated with measurement of new product adoption in particular. The authors have shown that it is critical for researchers to clarify the level of analysis of the study. Quantitative survey analysis revealed both safety and economic motivations to be desirable issues in product adoption considerations. However, when quantitative and qualitative results were combined, very different outcomes were realized as ownership structure differences appear to dominate product adoption decisions. Therefore, when conducting plural organizational form research, the data gathering efforts must be carefully undertaken to ensure that critical drivers of phenomena explored are not overlooked.

Adoption of new product adoption involves the complex interplay between ownership structure/control, economic cost/benefit, managerial choice, and societal norms. Often, organizational research relating to adoption of new processes and innovations collects individual-level data. However, this study shows that adoption decisions occur at multiple levels and that the ownership/structural context must be considered.

The study has implications from social innovation/responsibility perspectives. Recent press regarding food safety has put pressure on food processing establishments to consider methods of reducing food safety breaches. No doubt, this has alerted the consumer to potential risks in food processing and influenced their preferences in favor of food safety innovations. Nonetheless, perceptions of the importance of “safety” can be interpreted in a variety of ways, leading to differing courses of action. Interviews with corporate-level executives revealed that they preferred both corporate-owned and franchised retail outlets adopt case ready (CR) meats to stem safety concerns. Yet, this aspiration diffused throughout the organization differently.

Multiple organizational structure forms operating within the same organizational entity, or “plural form” organizations, offer unique opportunities for examination. Applying various theoretical lenses, including agency theory, the resource-based theory, and institutional theory, the authors offer rationale for why different structural types within the same corporate entity may differ in their beliefs and actions concerning product safety, cost, and adoption.