Factors affecting the motivation to notice food safety symbol by consumers for buying decision: the case of vegetable buying

Abstract

Food safety symbol is a certificate issued by the Ministry of Public Health to guarantee that the food is free from some selected contaminants. Objective: To determine the factors affecting consumers’ motivation to notice safety symbol for buying decision using fresh vegetable buying as a case study. Methods: The study consisted of two parts. The first study was a qualitative study using in-depth interviewing to investigate the factors affecting the use of food safety symbol in vegetable buying. The subjects were 2 consumers whom always looked for the symbol before buying, 5 occasionally looked for the symbol and 3 never looked for the symbol. The results from this part of the study were used to form the conceptual framework and develop the instruments for the second study. The second study was a quantitative study collecting the data from 115 consumers who bought vegetables from the vendors with the certificate and 115 consumers who did not do so. Results: The qualitative study identified attitudes, perceived norm and perceived barrier of the use of certificate as factors contributing the actual use of the symbol in buying decision. Factors affecting the attitudes toward use of the symbol were knowledge on food contaminants and their dangers, health concern, belief in the safety of food from the vendors with certificate, and belief that food from the vendors with certificate was more expensive. The belief among close friends and family members were the causes of perceived norm in looking for the symbol. The perceived paucity of vendors with certificate contributed to the perceived barriers in using the symbol. The quantitative study in 174 subjects who could correctly identify the symbol found that 77.2% of the customers knew the food safety symbol. Motivation to use the symbols was the only significant predictors of the interested behavior, buying from the vendors with a certificate (odds ratio=1.86, 95% confidence interval=1.40-2.48, p<0.001). The significant and strongest predictors of motivation to use the symbol were perceived norm in observing the symbol, followed by attitudes toward the use of the symbols. The significant predictors of attitudes toward the use of the symbols were health concern, belief in safety of food from a stall with the symbol, knowledge on the dangers of food contaminants. Belief among close friends and family members were the significant predictors of perceived norm for using the symbol in buying decision. Conclusion: The motivation to use food safety symbol in buying decision among consumers could be stimulated by portraying the behaviors as a social norm and strengthening the attitudes toward the behaviors.