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This study aims to investigate the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on consumers' evaluation of blockchain-based traceability information. It also examined how the use of quick response (QR) codes for traceability affects consumers' evaluation of traceable food products.

An online choice experiment was conducted to determine consumers' evaluation of the blockchain-based traceability of Feta cheese with a quota sample of 715 Greek consumers. Pearson bivariate correlation and mean comparison were used to examine the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and QR use behaviour. Random parameter logit models were employed to examine consumers’ valuation of the examined attributes and interaction terms.

The results show that ethnocentric consumers are willing to pay more for blockchain-based traceability information. Ethnocentric consumers tend to scan QR codes with traceability information. Spending more time reading traceability information embedded in QR codes does not lead to a higher willingness-to-pay (WTP) for traceable food products.

The findings suggest that patriotic marketing messages can draw consumers' attention to blockchain-based traceability information. The modest WTP for and low familiarity with blockchain-based traceability systems raise the need for educating consumers regarding the benefits of blockchain in traceability systems.

This is the first study to provide timely empirical evidence of a positive WTP for blockchain-based traceability information for a processed dairy product. This study is the first to attempt to distinguish the effects of the intention to scan QR codes and reading information embedded in QR codes on consumers’ valuation of food attributes.

Traceability is an increasingly important tool for reducing food safety risks and managing supply logistics. Given the costs of implementing and maintaining traceability systems, it is crucial to understand consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for traceable products.

The authors conducted a scoping review to collate the existing literature on consumer WTP for traceability in food products to determine the nature of the evidence base and to identify research gaps.

A total of 77 articles were included in the review. The number of studies published per year generally increased over the review period, and China and the United States were the most common countries in which studies were conducted (43.6 and 14.1% of total studies, respectively). All but one of the studies investigated at least one factor that might influence consumer WTP for traceability, the most common of which was socio-demographic characteristics (72.7%). Three-quarters of studies used hypothetical methods to elicit WTP values (75.3%), whereas one-quarter used non-hypothetical methods (24.7%). Most studies included some measure of preference heterogeneity (83.1%).

There is some potential for systematic bias in the evidence due to the predominance of studies from only a few countries and the possible presence of hypothetical bias. These potential biases could be corrected through future research.

To the authors’ knowledge, no previous study systematically and comprehensively identifies and summarizes the evidence base on consumer WTP for traceable food products.

The purpose of this paper is to assess impact of literacy on the combinations of traceability information on food packages of chilled chicken nuggets and fish fingers consumers choose.

A discrete choice experiment, belonging to the “stated preference method” was designed to meet the purpose of this study with 512 German and Greek consumers. According to this method, the information is gathered using methods of distinct preference asking individuals face to face questions about their behaviour.

The results indicate that literacy has an impact on the combinations of information consumers choose; specific information is most useful and sought by high- and low-literate consumers; and price is an important factor for the consumer choices presented in the current study, but cannot overshadow other equally important factors.

Marketing issues are raised because of the importance and utility consumers attach to traceability systems.

This is a novel research concerning literacy’s impact on the combinations of package information chosen by consumers in Germany and Greece in relation to the two studied chilled chicken and fish products (i.e. chilled chicken nuggets and fish fingers).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the seafood industry perceives benefits of traceability implementation. Furthermore, ex ante cost‐benefit analyses (CBAs) of adopting new traceability systems are conducted for two firms, operating at different steps of the seafood supply chains, to obtain preliminary knowledge on the net benefits of the project and on how costs and benefits are distributed among the actors.

This is a case‐based study.

The surveyed companies perceive improving supply chain management as the most important benefit of traceability. Other benefits are increase of the ability to retain existing customers; product quality improvement; product differentiation; and reduction of customer complaints. However, the quantifiable benefits are perceived differently by the actors at different steps in the supply chains, e.g. implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on pallets in the seafood trading company case study shows tangibly quantifiable benefits.

The paper is useful for both practitioners and academics regarding perceived benefits of traceability in fish supply chains. The research provides initial insight into seafood companies' perspectives on the benefits of adopting RFID‐based traceability solutions. The paper suggests that the financial burden of implementing traceability may be borne by the processing firms, while gains are reaped by firms in the distribution business closer to the end consumer. This could provide a partial explanation as to why traceability has been slow to gain ground as a visible value‐adding marketing tool, and is mainly being driven by food safety regulations.

The development of the short food supply chain (SFSC) is one of the issues of the current agri-food systems. Consumers are re-connecting the food they eat with the farming process and are increasingly asking for fresh, seasonal and traceable food products from known producer source. The purpose of this paper is to analyse consumers’ opinions towards the SFSC and willingness to pay (WTP) for local honeys in Mar del Plata, Argentina before and after a hedonic evaluation test.

In an incentive compatible approach, using real purchasing scenarios, two non-hypothetical discrete choice experiments were applied, accounting for the impact of the SFSC understanding and hedonic evaluation on consumers’ WTP.

Results showed that consumers’ WTP, a premium for local honey products, is conditioned to specific quality cues and the global sensory acceptance. Consumers with high level of agreement with the social and environmental roles of the SFSC were more quality demanding and exhibited higher WTP towards the locally produced honeys. The development of local market by re-connecting producers and consumers, allowing for in-site tasting, has a strong implication for the structure of the honey added-value chain due to the potential role that may play in satisfying consumers’ preference and needs.

The authors measured consumers’ opinions towards the SFSC and analyse their impact on consumer WTP for honey product by including real purchasing scenarios and hedonic evaluation test, to reduce the hypothetical bias of the traditional surveys. Questionnaires were completed in a controlled laboratory environment for with real product and real money.

This paper explores how firms develop and mature sustainable supply chains (SSCs) in developing nations (DNs). The primitive resources, infrastructures and understanding of SSCs in DNs often hinder both the ability of SSCs to mature and their effectiveness in delivering environmental, social and economic goals. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

Through the supply chain life cycle (SCLC) lens, the authors analyzed an embedded case study of a Vietnamese end-to-end food supply chain (using 32 semi-structured interviews and archival data) and interviewed senior leadership of three other food companies in early 2019. A post hoc study including five reinterviews in the same Vietnamese case company's supply chain also further validated the study in 2021.

The authors’ analyses reveal that changes in DN stakeholders' behaviors can quickly move firms' SSCs along the SCLC closer toward a mature stage, in which firms and their network stakeholders can create more sustainable value. They also identify strategies for firms to consider when developing their SSCs to activate these behavioral changes.

While many authors discuss SSCs' benefits for the environment and society, few assess how firms can design and operate SSCs effectively given the limited resources, infrastructures and SSC knowledge in DNs. This paper offers a compelling framework focusing on engaging various DNs' stakeholders to understand the life cycle of SSCs in less developed countries, in order to accelerate DNs' firms through early development toward a more SSC.

This study explores the influence of the following factors on consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability (BFT): innovation-adoption characteristics, segmentation, expertise in food traceability, expertise in blockchain technology, food categorical preferences and perceived important features of BFT.

The data was collected via an online questionnaire with 1,401 participants in New Zealand. Exploratory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and segmentation analysis were undertaken.

Consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability was significantly influenced by two innovation-adoption characteristics – perceived incentives and perceived complexity, as well as their expertise in food traceability. Two consumer segments were identified: Conservatives (48%) and Pioneers (52%). Significant differences were found between these two segments in terms of gender, age, education, occupation, residential area and ethnicity. Consumers are more willing to use BFT for purchasing fresh, imported, staple and normal foods than for processed, domestic and upscale foods. Their perceived important specific features of BFT are product origin, food safety information, quality control, food safety information, hygienic condition and scarcity management.

This study contributes knowledge to address the current knowledge gap regarding consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability by using a large sample set. It is also the first study to recognise consumer segments for BFT; to provide information about consumers' important socio-demographic characteristics, food categorical preferences and perceived important features towards BFT; and to explore the influences of consumers' innovation-adoption characteristics, expertise in food traceability and expertise in blockchain technology on their adoption of blockchain food traceability.

This study aims to explore and analyze the application of blockchain technology (BKCT) in agrifood supply chain management (AFSM).

A systematic literature review (SLR) using Scopus, Emerald and Web of Science covering publications from 2016 to 2021 (till June). Out of 429 papers, 89 papers were shortlisted from journals based on citation analysis. The citation analysis was followed by a content analysis was for an in-depth analysis.

Regarding the application of BKCT in the agrifood supply chain, the study highlights the issue of food safety, traceability, transparency, eliminating intermediaries and integrating Internet of things (IoT) with BKCT as prominent applications in the agrifood sector. The study also uses the case of honey supply chain to use the explored applications in the agrifood sector and provides a traceability solution based on blockchain integrated with IoT. The challenges of BKCT as identified in the study are scalability, privacy, security, lack of regulations and lack of skills and training.

The review considers only academic papers obtained from specific databases with their relevance based on number of citations.

The study contributes to filling the existing research gap through this SLR on the application of BKCT in AFSCM. The content analysis further assists in exploring the benefits and challenges of BKCT in the agrifood sector. Thus, the academic articles selected aid in this process.

This study aims to explore and describe the main enabling factors affecting the implementation of blockchain technology (BCT) in a strategic sector such as the wine industry, as well as the motivation behind this choice.

In light of the novelty of the phenomenon studied, a case study approach was adopted analyzing three Italian wineries. A conceptual framework, based on the dynamic capabilities, absorptive capacity and dominant logic theories, was developed. Primary and secondary data were collected.

Results show that wineries working in a highly dynamic and competitive market invest more in knowledge acquisition and internal assimilation and less in transformation and exploitation of acquired knowledge, in particular preferring to outsource the application phase of BCT. The particularity of the wine industry, indeed, demonstrates the existence of hybrid alternatives in which exploration and exploitation processes can be balanced. These findings confirm the value of the conceptual framework developed to explain how wineries implement BCT in their business.

The present work must be considered in light of the research scope and its qualitative nature.

Findings suggest that the adoption of BCT depends on the wineries’ ability to invest more in effective knowledge management systems to acquire and assimilate knowledge internally and in managerial skills and dominant logic that become strategic resources that can improve their innovation performance.

Compared to previous studies on BCT adoption in the wine industry, this work helps us to better understand how wineries implement BCT as it focuses on their ability to acquire, manage and capitalize on the flow of knowledge, as a strategic resource, which forms the basis for creating dynamic capabilities and value. Findings are of interest to develop strategies aimed to ensure the effectiveness of this innovation in a strategic sector.

The purpose of this paper is to study how a small to medium‐size enterprise (SME) in Campania (Italy) integrated sustainability into its corporate strategy, and how its sustainable corporate strategies reflect on intangible assets.

The paper, an exploratory study based on grounded theory, analyzes are interviews with the entrepreneurial team and top and middle management. Findings are integrated with documentary analysis, internal process data and archival material.

Ethics and value systems play a significant role in devising sustainable corporate strategy. Competitive strategies, innovation, quality and responsibility are reflected in management procedures and the supply network system involving partners in sustainable innovation processes.

A single case study obviously limits the generalizing of the findings.

Entrepreneurs and managers can benefit from the study to build a relational network for sustainable development.

The process of sustainable value creation, sharing and the co‐creation of knowledge emerges fully in the case study analyzed. The study pivots on issues of innovation and eco‐sustainability as drivers for corporate sustainability and business ethics.